Senator Lieberman calls Clinton's behavior 'immoral and harmful (9-3-98)
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WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Aug. 15) -- Will he or won't he?

Speculation is running rampant this weekend in Washington over whether President Bill Clinton will admit to a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky before a federal grand jury Monday.

And there is considerable debate within the administration over whether the president will either address the nation or make a less public statement after his testimony.

White House press secretary Mike McCurry said at a Friday briefing that if the president wanted to say anything or have his staff say anything, they would inform the media after Clinton's testimony.

Sources tell CNN that a final decision won't be made until Monday, and it will be made by the president himself. Most of the president's political team believe he should make a public statement.

CNN sources say the president has called several friends in recent days, posing hypothetical questions about his testimony.

But what Clinton will say to jurors and attorneys for Independent Counsel Ken Starr remains a mystery.

"A lot of people are going to speculate going into this weekend about events on Monday," McCurry said. "And you don't know what the questions are. We don't know what the questions are. You don't know what the answers are. We don't know what the answers are the president will give, what the president decides to say or decides not to say."

Several sources close to CNN say Clinton's top advisers are urging him to acknowledge an intimate relationship with Lewinsky and simultaneously argue that he did not commit perjury in the Paula Jones case because of the definition of sex he was given for that deposition.

In the Jones case, Clinton denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky.

But the former White House intern reportedly told the grand jury she had more than a dozen sexual encounters with the president over an 18-month period beginning in late 1995.

White House officials and others caution that Clinton's strategy is known only to his lawyers.

One source said flatly: "Anyone who says they know what the president will do is speculating at best."

The president's attorneys, David Kendall and Nicole Seligman, and White House Counsel Charles Ruff, will be present during the questioning, which is set to begin about 1 p.m. EDT Monday, McCurry said. Clinton will testify from the Map Room on the ground floor of the White House.

CNN's John King contributed to this report.

Saturday, August 15, 1998

• New York Man Protests Clinton-Lewinsky Investigation
• Suspense Mounts Over Clinton's Testimony