The President, nonetheless, in response to media and congressional pressure, decided to ask the Attorney General to appoint an Independent Counsel and she did. A few months later, as predicted by Nussbaum, three appellate judges replaced the Counsel appointed by the Attorney General and selected Kenneth Starr as the Independent Counsel. An investigation then took place which never resulted in criminal charges against the President, but lasted for over seven years, until after the end of the Clinton presidency. It did, however, result, based on subsequent personal conduct (involving a White House intern) separate from the Whitewater mater, in Clinton being impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998, He was ultimately acquitted by the Senate, but the Clinton impeachment proceeding subsequently effected future Presidential elections, first involving Vice President Al Gore and later Hillary Clinton.