Sen. Jeff Bingaman
CIR News:
During a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 3 at Hotel Santa Fe, retired U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) will react and respond to the Senate trial of President Trump by offering key reflections on his experience in the January 1999 trial of President Bill Clinton.
Interviewed by Amb. Vicki Huddleston, Sen. Bingaman will provide a behind-the-scenes look at an impeachment trial, reviewing the oft-cited trial rules set by the US Senate in 1999 for such a trial, and the role that evidence, including witnesses and partisanship played in President Clinton’s eventual acquittal.
Amb. Vicki Huddleston
Following these reflections, Sen. Bingaman will offer his perspective on current U.S. challenges in Iraq and Iran, and how the fateful 2003 decision to invade Iraq continues to shadow US foreign policy. Beyond this, he also will discuss the breakdown of governing norms both in Congress and in the executive branch.
Jesse Francis “Jeff” Bingaman Jr. served as a United States Senator from 1983 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and served as Chairman of Committee Outreach for the Senate Democratic Caucus. Previously, Sen. Bingaman was Attorney General of New Mexico from 1979 to 1983. On February 18, 2011, he announced that he would not seek reelection in 2012, and was replaced by Sen. Martin Heinrich. After he left the Senate, he returned to his alma mater, Stanford Law School, as a fellow of their Steyer–Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. He also is a member of the ReFormers Caucus at the nonprofit political organization Issue One.
Amb. Vicki Huddleston is a retired career Senior Foreign Service Officer whose last assignment was as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from June 2009 through December 2011. Before that she was Chargé d’Affaires ad interim to Ethiopia, United States Ambassador to Mali, Principal Officer of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar. She was Chief of United States Interests Section in Havana from 1999–2002 and was earlier the Deputy and then the Coordinator of the Office of Cuban Affairs. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, she was a visiting scholar at Brookings Institution. She was Chief of Party for a USAID-funded capacity building project in Haiti from 2013-2015. She is the author of the recent memoir, Our Woman in Havana: A Diplomat’s Chronicle of America’s Long Struggle with Castro’s Cuba.
Registration for nonmembers is $50 and $40 for CIR members ($75 for a couple), which includes lunch provided by Amaya Restaurant. For more information on registering for the lectures, visit www.sfcir.org or telephone the office at 505.982.4931.
The Santa Fe Council on International Relations is a non-partisan, 501c(3) non-profit educational resource dedicated to the stimulation of dialogue about current foreign affairs issues that affect the United States. One of more then 100 nationwide affiliates of Global Ties U.S. and a member of the World Affairs Councils of America the organization facilitates cultural and educational exchanges between U.S. and foreign peers, sponsors lectures by recognized experts, arranges world affairs discussions, and organizes educational trips abroad. For more information, visit www.sfcir.org.