David Schippers

{{short description|American lawyer}}

David Philip Schippers Jr. (November 4, 1929 – September 28, 2018){{cite web |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=190355734 |title=David Phillip Schippers Jr. 1929 - 2018 |date=September 30, 2018 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=September 30, 2018}} was an American lawyer from Chicago, Illinois. He received his bachelor's and law degrees from Loyola University Chicago.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120512143642/http://www.ashbrook.org/events/lecture/1999/schippers.html "David Schippers"]. Ashbrook Center. Archived from [http://www.ashbrook.org/events/lecture/1999/schippers.html the original] on May 12, 2012. His most notable cases include prosecuting Sam Giancana, as well as being the chief investigative counsel during the Clinton impeachment trial.

He became a public figure when a friend of his, Congressman Henry Hyde, asked him to be the chief investigative counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. The committee was holding an inquiry into whether President Bill Clinton had committed impeachable offenses in his handling of the Paula Jones sexual harassment suit, during which he had committed perjury regarding his affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Schippers was a lifelong Democrat but accepted and took the job in April 1998.Pound, Edward T. (n.d.) [http://laborers.org/USA_Schippers.html "Lawyer Heading Inquiry Ready For Task"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080524022644/http://www.laborers.org/USA_Schippers.html |date=2008-05-24 }}. USA Today. - via Laborers.org.

On December 10, 1998, Schippers said to the committee: "Indeed, how can anyone, in or out of our country, any longer believe anything Bill Clinton says?{{Cite web | title=Washingtonpost.com Special Report: Clinton Accused | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/schippers121098.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817185751/http://www.washingtonpost.com:80/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/schippers121098.htm | access-date=2025-01-12 | archive-date=2000-08-17}} The President, then, has lied under oath in a civil deposition, lied under oath in a criminal grand jury. He lied to the people, he lied to his Cabinet, he lied to his top aides, and now he's lied under oath to the Congress of the United States. There's no one left to lie to."Baker, Peter & Eilperin, Juliet (December 11, 1998). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/impeach121198.htm "Debate on Impeachment Opens"]. The Washington Post.

This comment was the inspiration for the title to Christopher Hitchens' 1999 book about the Clintons titled No One Left to Lie To.Hitchens, Christopher (1999). No One Left to Lie to. Twelve Books. {{ISBN|978-1455522996}}

After an investigation, the committee voted in December 1998 to impeach Clinton, a decision supported by Schippers.{{Cite web |first=J. Michael |last=Waller |date=January 1, 2001 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_1_17/ai_72273372 |title=Schippers Exposes Impeachment Debacle |work=Insight on the News |access-date=February 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701234252/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_1_17/ai_72273372/ |archive-date=July 1, 2012 |url-status=dead}}

In early 1999, Schippers wrote Sellout: The Inside Story of President Clinton's Impeachment, a book which attacked the Clinton White House and portrayed some members of the Senate unfavorably.{{cite journal |last1=Boychuk |first1=Ben |title=Who's Sorry Now |journal=Claremont Review of Books |date=Fall 2000 |volume=1 |issue=1 |url=https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/whos-sorry-now/ |access-date=4 March 2022}}

Schippers died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 88 on September 28, 2018, at his home in Grayslake, Illinois.{{Cite web|last=O'Donnell |first=Maureen |date=October 1, 2018 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/10/1/18423396/chicago-attorney-david-schippers-a-key-figure-in-bill-clinton-impeachment-dies |title=Chicago attorney David Schippers, a key figure in Bill Clinton impeachment, dies |work=Chicago Sun-Times}}{{Cite web|last=Seelye |first=Katharine Q. |date=October 3, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/obituaries/david-p-schippers-dead.html |title=David P. Schippers, 88, House Counsel in Clinton Impeachment, Dies |work=The New York Times}}