Larry Flynt has been especially busy during President Bill Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial.

The controversial owner and publisher of Hustler Magazine has been looking into the sexual histories of various Republican senators and congressmen.

Flynt already has exposed Former House Speaker Designate Bob Livingston’s adulterous affairs; the Republican quickly resigned from the House after learning of Flynt’s plan to go public with the information.

Flynt, an ardent liberal and Clinton supporter, has promised to expose more Republican congressmen by the end of the month. He has charged that the Republicans are guilty of hypocrisy for criticizing Clinton’s character while some have reportedly had affairs of their own.

His efforts have not gone unnoticed by the Iowa State community, and reactions to Flynt’s search range from disgust to approval.

Steve Erickson, senior in history and member of the Campus Republicans, said Flynt is focusing on an incorrect aspect of the trial.

“What Larry Flynt is doing is trying to shift the impeachment trial to a discussion of sex,” Erickson said. “This whole [trial] is about perjury — lying under oath.”

Alison Kraus, sophomore in apparel merchandising, thinks Flynt himself is being a hypocrite.

“I think he really has no right to be judging people’s moral standards; I really don’t want to know,” she said.

Lily Erdahl, freshman in biology, does not believe government officials’ past indiscretions are Flynt’s business.

“I’m sure that he’s done some things that haven’t been so kosher in his life,” she said.

Flynt’s life has been marked by controversy, and he has participated in several outrageous public protests, including wearing an American flag as a diaper to a U.S. Supreme Court hearing.

Bryan Blizzard, junior in civil engineering, believes Flynt’s actions fit his outrageous public persona.

“As far as [Flynt’s investigation] having a legitimate place in the trial, it’s kind of childish,” he said. “Larry Flynt likes to be in the spotlight, and he has the resources to do it.”

However, Flynt does have his defenders.

Benjamin Bayless, sophomore in political science, doesn’t think Flynt’s actions are totally reproachable. “I can see both sides of it, I can see how it affects people, but I don’t think that it’s bad [for Flynt to expose the affairs] because you’re supposed to have some sort of morals or decency [in a political office],” he said.

Paxton Williams, member of the ISU Democrats, also thinks Flynt is simply using his right to find information that he deems important.

“I think it’s very unfortunate that something like this has to occur, but it’s his right to use whatever avenues he has available,” said Williams, junior in political science and communication studies. “This is his way to use his voice in the political process.”

Mary Ann Tetreault, professor of political science, said Flynt has some legitimacy.

“He says his investigation is to expose hypocrisy,” she said. “Now, everybody likes to dump on Larry Flynt, and I certainly don’t want to know anything about anyone’s sex lives, but I think the hypocrisy issue is a very big one.”