WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, September 17) -- Lawmakers on the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee wrangled at length Thursday over the public release of two potentially explosive videotapes of President Bill Clinton's testimony, but came to no final decision.

A committee spokesman said the panel made progress, but refused to answer specific questions on the potential public release of videotapes of Clinton' grand jury testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair and his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

The committee broke shortly after 6 p.m. EDT without a decision, and plans to reconvene Friday morning. The spokesman said the panel could finish its work Friday, with the potential release of the videotapes Friday, over the weekend or next week.

Rep. Henry Hyde's committee spent more than five hours debating behind closed doors. Most of that time was spent going line-by-line through Monica Lewinsky's grand jury testimony, sources tell CNN. Democrats, sources say, want some sexually explicit testimony, including questioning about a specific unusual sexual encounter with the president, redacted from the transcript.

The committee did not even begin to address the question of what to do with the president's Lewinsky grand jury videotape and an additional 2,600 pages of supporting documents from Independent Counsel Ken Starr's sex-and-perjury investigation of Clinton.

In a surprise development, the committee also has gained access to the videotape of Clinton's January 17 deposition in the Jones sexual harassment case. Judge Susan Webber Wright agreed to provide it to the committee in a conference call Thursday morning, and it should be in the panel's hands in a matter of two to three days, sources told CNN.

An early move by Democrats on the panel to at least open the session to the public failed.

Rep. Peter Deutsch

Two moderate Democrats not on the committee, Rep. Gary Condit of California and Rep. Peter Deutsch of Florida, said they planned to try to force a floor vote to release all of the information, not an edited version.

"It's the people's business and the people clearly have a right to know," said Deutsch, who said he was disappointed at selective leaks of the information.

Condit said speedy release of all the information would expedite the process, "and we frankly think that's what the American people want us to do."

Dispute over Clinton's videotaped testimony

On computer screens or on paper, the written details of Clinton's affair with Lewinsky have been embarrassing enough. But if the four-hour Lewinsky tape is released, the scandal could quickly get even more vivid -- and even worse for Clinton.

House leaders last week made public Starr's report, which cited 11 instances of alleged impeachable offenses by Clinton, including perjury and obstruction of justice.

The report also included dozens of sexually explicit details, designed to demolish Clinton's claim he had not engaged in sexual relations with Lewinsky according to the narrow definition he was given in the legal proceedings.

But the full House directed the Judiciary Committee to go through the supporting materials, including the videotape, to see what else to make public.

Clinton has repeatedly apologized for his relationship with Lewinsky, but has denied he lied under oath or asked anyone else to do so.

The Lewinsky videotape shows an angry, defiant and evasive president struggling with questions about his extramarital affair, sources told CNN.

Some Republicans fear the prosecutors' dogged questioning of the president on the tape could elicit sympathy for the president and spark a backlash against Republicans for making it public.

The tape's release comes as lawmakers consider a possible impeachment inquiry, weighing the president's actions against his continuing strong job approval ratings.

Committee spokesman Sam Stratman said before the meeting that any committee vote would be on a resolution to block the release of further documents or the videotape of the president's grand jury testimony. A vote last week gave the committee authority to release all materials by September 28. Thus, any new vote would be a vote to limit the release of either the documents or videotape or both.

Minority Democrats on the Judiciary Committee said showing the Lewinsky tape would be unfair to the president, who became the only witness videotaped when he insisted that his August 17 questioning take place in the White House.

Jurors at the federal courthouse watched a closed-circuit TV signal of the testimony, with extraordinary security measures in place to prevent electronic interceptions.

Lawyers familiar with Clinton's testimony said the videotape shows the president at times angry with sexually graphic questioning by Starr's aides -- at one time even accusing them of attempting to criminalize his private life.

A few times, Clinton appears caught off guard by a question and struggles to answer it, the lawyers said. And many times when pressed to give more details, Clinton keeps referring back to the narrowly legalistic statement his lawyers prepared to answer questions about the sexual nature of his relationship with Lewinsky.

White House officials worried the tape may undo the contrite image Clinton carefully built over the past two weeks with frequent public apologies about his "indefensible" and "wrong" relationship with the former White House intern.

And they also worried that the public release of the Lewinsky video would begin appearing in Republican political attack ads and fund-raising appeals.

There also is speculation that the tape will quickly be reproduced and be available for rental in video stores.

Thursday, September 17, 1998

• House refuses to consider Clinton's $18 billion IMF package
• More Democrats in Congress think Clinton should resign
• House, Senate vote to avoid government shutdown
• Burton will ask House to hold Reno in contempt
• GOP wants FBI to probe source of Hyde story
• No decision on Clinton videotapes
• More Republicans build campaign ads around Clinton
• Clinton says marriage doing fine
• Reno skipped graphic Starr details
• Clinton opposes Jones case sanction
• Impeachment e-mail floods Capitol
• Proposals for federal tax cuts
• Clinton policies fuel continued black support for president
• Hero of `Velvet Revolution' takes up Europe's future with Clinton

ARCHIVES

Search CNN/AllPolitics by           Enter keyword(s)       go    help