Lewinsky affair indefensible, says Clinton

FORMER President Bill Clinton has called his fight against impeachment a “badge of honour” and his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky “morally indefensible” in a CBS television interview.

In the hour-long interview to air on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday, two days before publication of his memoir, My Life, Mr Clinton said he was proud of his successful fight against impeachment.

“I didn’t quit, I never thought of resigning and I stood up to it and beat it back,” he said.

“The whole battle was a badge of honour. I don’t see it as a stain, because it (the impeachment process) was illegitimate,” he added.

Mr Clinton’s 957-page memoir is published next Tuesday. He was reportedly paid a $10 million advance for the book.

Mr Clinton described the Lewinsky affair as “a terrible moral error”.

“I did something for the worst possible reason. Just because I could,” Mr Clinton said of his infidelity.

He said his wife, Hillary, and daughter, Chelsea, were able to overcome the effect of the revelation of the affair through family counselling.