Legal net draws tight on Clinton

By David Espo

WASHINGTON - Within hours of the ceremonial convening of the 106th Congress today newly sworn-in members of the House of Representatives will vote on authorising key lawmakers to present evidence against President Bill Clinton in a Senate impeachment trial.

Dennis Hastert, the Illinois Republican on the brink of election as House Speaker, said he hopes the proposal - identical to the one that cleared the House last month - will pass, and Republican vote-counters expressed confidence.

"I would certainly like to see Henry Hyde be able to present the testimony and what he needs to do to put his case forward," Hastert said yesterday in a reference to the Illinois lawmaker who chaired the impeachment inquiry in the House.

Hastert made his comments as Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott struggled to line up fellow Republicans behind a bipartisan plan for a truncated trial-like proceeding that could be wrapped up within days, without testimony from any of the key principals in the case.
Key conservatives expressed unhappiness with the suggestion.

At the White House, the President's lawyers continued to develop an elaborate defence that could take weeks or months to present if the case goes to a full-blown trial.

Advisers familiar with the developing defence strategy said lawyers are working on trial motions concerning evidence and an opening presentation that would sharply attack the House conclusions and the evidence from prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

The opening presentation "would be far more extensive and sharper in tone and content" than the one Clinton's lawyers made before the House Judiciary Committee in arguing that the evidence did not warrant impeachment, one lawyer said.

The House approved two articles of impeachment on December 19, accusing Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with an attempt to conceal his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

The requirement for a repeat vote on appointing so-called House managers, or prosecutors, in the new Congress means newly elected lawmakers will vote on the momentous issue on their first day in office.

It also gives fresh opportunities to Democrats - who gained seats in the November elections - to affect the course of an impeachment they have sought to thwart.
Democratic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, listed several options, including a new attempt to place the House on record in favour of censure, a plan to try to limit the jurisdiction of the House's prosecutors and a plan to try to add Democrats to the team of prosecutors.

While each of these suggestions is under discussion, each has pit-falls and Democrats may ultimately decide against pursuing any of them, these officials added.

The certainty of a House vote today stood in marked contrast to the unsettled situation in the Senate, where Lott struggled to fashion a procedure for a trial that could satisfy half his own Republican members and win Democratic support.- AP