Lewinsky: Clinton affair ‘gross abuse of power’

NEW YORK — Monica Lewinsky says the affair that led to impeachment proceedings against then-President Bill Clinton “was not sexual assault” but “constituted a gross abuse of power.”

Lewinsky writes in the March issue of “Vanity Fair” that she is “in awe of the sheer courage” of women who’ve been confronting “entrenched beliefs and institutions.”

The former White House intern says she was recently moved to tears when a leader of the #MeToo movement told her, “I’m so sorry you were so alone.”

Lewinsky says she’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress from being “publicly outed and ostracized,” and lauds the “#MeToo” movement for providing “the safety that comes from solidarity.”

“Now, at 44, I’m beginning (just beginning) to consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a White House intern,” Lewinsky said.

“I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot. (Although power imbalances — and the ability to abuse them — do exist even when the sex has been consensual,)” she wrote. “He was my boss. He was the most powerful man on the planet. He was 27 years my senior, with enough life experience to know better. He was, at the time, at the pinnacle of his career, while I was in my first job out of college,” she said.

Lewinsky