Lewinsky Could Testify This Week
|
|
Clinton greets Lewinsky in this recently discovered video during an October 1996 Democratic National Committee fund-raising event in Washington
| |
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, August 2) -- Prosecutors interviewed Monica Lewinsky this weekend in advance of her grand jury appearance, which could come as early as this week, sources say.
One source told CNN that Lewinsky was speaking to prosecutors Saturday and perhaps would do so again Sunday as part of the pre-interview process before facing Independent Counsel Ken Starr's grand jury.
The grand jury is set to meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes is among the witnesses already scheduled for this week.
Lewinsky, who now enjoys immunity from prosecution, apparently is willing to say she had a sexual relationship with President Bill Clinton after all.
Clinton has maintained he never had a "sexual relationship with that woman." He is expected to repeat those denials during his own grand jury testimony scheduled for Aug. 17 via closed-circuit television from the White House.
Poll: Americans don't want impeachment
As the investigation moves toward its conclusion, Americans are divided about what version of events they believe and what should happen to Clinton if Lewinsky is telling the truth.
Even if Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with the former White House intern, most Americans don't want him to be impeached, according to a Newsweek poll.
Thirty-five percent of adults polled said a presidential apology would be appropriate, while 19 percent thought no action should be taken at all. Thirty-nine percent favored impeachment.
A slightly higher percentage of Americans -- 44 percent -- think the president should be impeached if he encouraged others to lie under oath.
The poll of 602 adults, taken July 30 and 31 and released in the magazine's Aug. 10 issue, showed that the nation is split over whether Clinton owes the public an explanation -- 49 percent said no, 47 percent said yes.
A majority of Americans -- 67 percent -- say they doubt Congress will decide to impeach. But about a quarter -- 26 percent -- believe Congress will take some action against Clinton.
Taking into account the survey's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, those surveyed were divided on whose word they believe -- Lewinsky's or Clinton's. Given no other evidence about what allegedly happened, 39 percent said they would believe Lewinsky and 36 percent would believe Clinton.
Still, more than half -- 59 percent -- said they did not believe the president's denial of the allegations.
Clinton's TV testimony
Clinton will give his own grand jury testimony via a
closed-circuit audio-video hookup that will allow grand jurors to question the president.
Clinton's attorney, David Kendall, issued a statement Saturday confirming the arrangement, which, he said, was supposed to have been kept confidential for security reasons.
Kendall said he was only issuing a "clarifying" statement because of "leaks" detailing the TV transmission of the president's testimony.
"Because of mutual concerns about communications security, the Office of Independent Counsel and I agreed that the audio-video transmission would be kept confidential," Kendall's statement said. "In view of the leaks concerning this matter, this clarifying statement seems appropriate."
CNN Congressional Correspondent Bob Franken and CNN White House Correspondent John King contributed to this report.
|
News
Clinton
Players