| ABC News in Chicago has
yanked and replaced a story in which retiring Rep. Henry
Hyde (R-IL) indicated that the attempt to impeach President
Clinton came in retaliation for the move to impeach
President Nixon because they felt the story was too
opinionated, RAW STORY
has learned.
The piece was removed from the ABC Chicago affiliate's
(WLS) website Friday because the network felt it had
too much commentary by the author, a staffer says. The
affiliate also took down a video which included comments
from Hyde.
“It was much more commentary than was necessary,"
a source inside ABC 7 Chicago told RAW
STORY Friday morning.
Asked if the story was removed because the piece was
editorialized, the staffer said "yes."
The staffer said ABC News is currently "researching"
the details of the story, and expected to repost it
when the article has been revised.
"We are researching it," the source quipped.
The story has since been reposted in a different form.
The original said Hyde "made some surprising comments
Thursday on the impeachment hearings of President Bill
Clinton..."
"Asked if 'the Clinton proceedings were payback
for Nixon's impeachment," Hyde said, 'I can't say
it wasn't."
The piece is now back on the website, but the focus
and title has changed; it is titled "Rep. Hyde
reflects on 30 years of office."
The video, however, has not been replaced.
###
EXCERPTS
FROM THE ORIGINAL STORY:
Clinton impeachment was retaliation
for Nixon, says retiring congressman
By Andy Shaw
April 21, 2005 — Republican Congressman Henry
Hyde made some surprising comments Thursday on the impeachment
hearings of President Bill Clinton.
He now says Republicans may have gone after Clinton
to retaliate for the impeachment of Richard Nixon.
In an exclusive interview Hyde said he might not try
to impeach President Clinton if he had it to do all
over again.
When asked if he would go through with the Clinton
impeachment process again, Hyde said he wasn't sure.
It turned into a personal and political embarrassment
for Hyde when an extra-marital affair he had in the
1960's became public amid accusations of hypocrisy.
He called the affair a youthful indiscretion.
"Accusations hurled at me to intimidate me were
misplaced, and I regret having to deal with them, but
they didn't intimidate me," Hyde said.
The veteran DuPage County congressman acknowledged
that Republicans went after Clinton in part to enact
revenge against the Democrats for impeaching President
Richard Nixon 25 years earlier.
Andy Shaw asked Hyde if the Clinton proceedings were
payback for Nixon's impeachment.
"I can't say it wasn't, but I also thought that
the Republican party should stand for something, and
if we walked away from this, no matter how difficult,
we could be accused of shirking our duty, our responsibility,"
said Hyde.
Hyde's comments reflect what Democrats have been saying
for years about the Clinton impeachment. It will be
interesting to see what happens when Hyde's comments
hit the national media.
Hyde's style will be missed in Washington, as well
as his sense of civility, even though a lot of people
will not miss his rigid ideology.
Correction:
The original version of this story appeared to suggest
that President Nixon was impeached. Articles of impeachment
were prepared and advanced but the President resigned
before any impeachment measure was passed.
Article originally published Apr. 22, 2005.
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