ATLANTA — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in a recent interview that impeaching President Bill Clinton was a mistake because the proceedings centered on sex rather than perjury.

“I think it was a mistake because the real problem wasn’t Lewinsky,” he said. “The real problem was he had committed perjury in a case involving sexual harassment while he was governor. Perjury is a felony. In fact, he was stripped of his law license in Arkansas after he left the presidency and for five years couldn’t practice because he clearly committed a felony.”

Gingrich said allowing the impeachment to revolve around a sexual affair “trivialized it.” He recalled a pivotal moment in August 1998 at the OK Cafe in Atlanta with his two daughters, who were in their early 20s at the time. “And they both said to me, ‘If our friends lose money on their 401(k) because of some stupid intern, we are going to be mad at you because frankly it ain’t a big enough deal for us to lose a lot of money, right?’”

The impeachment effort originated from an investigation into a 1991 sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones. Independent counsel Ken Starr was appointed to investigate that case, and his inquiry later uncovered Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton denied under oath having an affair with Lewinsky during Starr’s investigation. The House of Representatives subsequently impeached him on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, though the Senate later acquitted him. After leaving office, Clinton was stripped of his Arkansas law license for five years due to findings of false testimony.