Impeachment: American Crime Story has found its Hillary Clinton: Sopranos actress Edie Falco will play the former First Lady. It’s the latest entry in the FX anthology series from producer Ryan Murphy. The first season dealt with the O.J. Simpson trial, while season two focused on the murder of Gianni Versace. This latest season won’t deal with death, but rather the infamous ’90s sex scandal that lead to the impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton.

Collider broke the news that Edie Falco would play Hillary Clinton on Impeachment: American Crime Story. Falco joins a cast that includes Clive Owen as Bill Clinton, Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones, and Billy Eichner as Matt Drudge, and Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky. The season is based on the political sex scandal involving Bill Clinton and Lewinsky, who was a 22-year-old White House. Matt Drudge’s Drudge Report broke the news that President Clinton had had an affair with Lewinsky; Clinton denied the affair but eventually admitted that it happened. The President was impeached, primarily for perjury, and later acquitted.

Jeffrey Toobin’s book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President will serve as the source material for the season. Here’s the book’s synopsis:

First published a year after the infamous impeachment trial, Jeffrey Toobin’s propulsive narrative captures the full arc of the Clinton sex scandals—from their beginnings in a Little Rock hotel to their culmination on the floor of the United States Senate with only the second vote on presidential removal in American history. Rich in character and fueled with the high octane of a sensational legal thriller, A Vast Conspiracy has indelibly shaped our understanding of this disastrous moment in American political history.

It’s probably worth noting author Toobin would be part of a scandal of his own many years after writing the book – he was fired from The New Yorker in 2020 for allegedly masturbating during a Zoom call with New Yorker and WNYC radio staffers.

I’m iffy on most of the work of Mr. Ryan Murphy, but the American Crime Story shows have been pretty damn great. The first season, The People v. O. J. Simpson, was excellent. The Assassination of Gianni Versace was quite good, too (though not as good as O. J.). In addition to telling their central stories, the seasons so far have also dealt with further-reaching socio-political issues in America. O. J. dealt with issues of race while Versace focused on sexuality, and it’s probably safe to assume that Impeachment will reveal how different the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal looks now, in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The casting for this season is particularly good, with Falco being an inspired choice to play the former First Lady.

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