It depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is. If the—if he—if “is” means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement.

Bill Clinton delivered this line during his videotaped deposition in the Paula Jones sexual-harassment lawsuit, taken while he was President in 1998. The questioning concerned his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and, specifically, how to interpret earlier statements denying a “sexual relationship.” Clinton’s parsing of the verb “is” became emblematic of the legalistic, evasive rhetoric that characterized parts of the scandal. The deposition was later made public and was widely replayed in news coverage as the Lewinsky investigation intensified and impeachment proceedings loomed.

The remark is an attempt to exploit ambiguity in tense and definition to preserve the technical truth of a denial. By distinguishing between “is” as present-tense (“there is”) and “is” as implying an ongoing condition that “never has been,” Clinton suggests that a statement could be “completely true” depending on how the key term is defined. The quote has since become shorthand for sophistry: the idea that language can be manipulated to evade accountability while maintaining a veneer of precision. It also highlights the collision between legal standards of testimony and public expectations of candor.