President's legal team attacks Starr report as flawed

House Judiciary Committee continues process toward impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, September 22) -- While congressional Democrats are trying to draft a tough, alternative punishment to avoid impeachment proceedings, President Bill Clinton's legal team is using some of the 3,000 pages of supporting material released by Congress Monday to attack Independent Counsel Ken Starr's report as unfair.

Also in this story:

Democrats look for an alternative to impeachment
Possible points of punishment
Bipartisan fighting continues
Lott: 'Demeaning for the country'


Charles Ruff

In a letter sent to House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) and the panel's ranking Democrat, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, Clinton attorneys David Kendall and Charles Ruff warned the committee that the Starr Referral "significantly distorted" Monica Lewinsky's testimony.

"We write today to bring to the Committee's attention a critical flaw in the Referral -- a flaw that calls into question ... the factual premise on which it rest and the legal conclusions it draws," the Clinton legal team writes.

DOCUMENTS

Kendall and Ruff's letter to Judiciary Committee leaders:
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"The OIC chose to print over 150 pages of gratuitous and graphic sexual details but could not find space for a single sentence quoting Ms. Lewinsky's sworn testimony which directly undermines the central obstruction-of-justice allegations in the Referral," Kendall and Ruff added.

The president's attorneys were referring to a quote from Lewinsky's newly released grand jury testimony in which she claims "no one ever asked me to lie and I was never promised a job for my silence."


David Kendall

Hyde responded Tuesday afternoon by saying that he had received the letter from Kendall and Ruff, but after checking with this staff he was assured the allegations presented in it were not valid.

Starr's office disputed the White House allegations in a letter from Starr deputy Robert Bittman released Tuesday night. The Starr report, Bittman said, contained these less direct references to Lewinsky's testimony:

"Ms. Lewinsky has stated that the President never explicitly told her to lie."
"In this case ... there is no evidence that Ms. Lewinsky received an explicit proposal where someone said: 'I'll give you a job if you lie under oath.'"

Democrats look for an alternative to impeachment

While Clinton's legal team continues to attack Starr, Democrats on Capitol Hill are looking for a way to avoid an impeachment inquiry.

Still in early stages of development, the plan for an alternative punishment for Clinton has the blessing of House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)


Sen. Tom Daschle

The drafters acknowledge Republicans are in no mood to accept a deal right now and some of the provisions are likely to prove objectionable to Clinton as well.

Sources in both parties have considered an impeachment inquiry "inevitable."

And while word of a possible deal continues to circulate in Washington, a Republican source flatly denies the leadership is involved in any discussions, privately or otherwise, involving a so-called "plea bargain."

"There is a process in place," said one House Republican source.

But Democrats want the alternative package ready should there be a shift in the political climate.

Democrats are particularly looking for any signs of broad-based nervousness in the Republican ranks after the release the president's videotaped testimony and the appendix to Starr's report to Congress.

While the four hours of testimony was broadcast Monday morning, more than 3,000 pages of supplemental material began to circulate simultaneously on Capitol Hill.

And although the supplemental documents are not expected to shed much new light on the Clinton case, there are more materials still to be released. The House Judiciary Committee must decide by September 28 what to do with 17 boxes of material still locked inside the Ford House Office Building and Clinton's videotaped deposition in the since-dismissed Paula Jones sex harassment lawsuit.

The committee received the copy of the Jones tape Monday, after it was released last Thursday by Judge Susan Webber Wright.

Hyde announced Tuesday that the committee will meet again Wednesday and go through the last four boxes of material from Starr to make redactions before an anticipated release.

"We went over a series of suggested redactions concerning personal data, irrelevancies embarrassing things that have no relation to the subject of what we're looking at," Hyde said."It's laborious, but we made a lot of progress."

When asked about the possible release of the president's videotaped deposition for the Paula Jones case, Hyde said: "We haven't seen it yet. That's a decision we'll make next week."

The chairman said the committee only had four boxes left to sift through.

Possible points of punishment

The ideas under discussion for punishing Clinton include a strongly worded resolution of censure that would not only condemn the president's conduct with Monica Lewinsky but also rebuke Clinton for demeaning and diminishing the office of the presidency, say several sources familiar with the internal Democratic discussions.

Various financial penalties, including a fine to cover the Lewinsky portion of the Starr's investigation or some docking of the president's pension are also under discussion.

The sources stressed the discussions are just gaining speed and they acknowledged the plan is solely a Democratic proposal; no Republicans or White House officials have been involved.

But the proposal could become a Democratic alternative if Republicans bring a resolution calling for an impeachment inquiry to the House floor, allowing Democrats to vote against an inquiry and still claim they voted in favor of a tough punishment as they campaign for re-election this fall.

Bipartisan fighting continues


Rep. Dick Gephardt

Separately, Democratic sources said Gephardt planned to complain to House Speaker Newt Gingrich Tuesday, accusing Republicans of a partisan rush to smear the president. Gephardt was expected to lay out several demands for a more bipartisan approach as the Judiciary Committee debate moves forward.

As a sign of Democratic pique, Gephardt would oppose a request by the Speaker's office for a joint photo opportunity after a Wednesday meeting between Gingrich, Gephardt and the GOP chairman and ranking Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, sources said.

Meanwhile Republican leaders are continuing to publicly attack the president and push for an impeachment inquiry.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) Tuesday called the allegations against the president of the "utmost, utmost gravity" and said the American people will expect both houses of Congress to consider impeachment in a nonpartisan manner.


Sen. Arlen Specter

"I do hope that when we in the Congress, both in this body -- when responsibilities come to the Senate -- and the other body, in the House of Representatives, there will be an approach which is bipartisan and nonpartisan in nature," said Specter in a brief speech on the floor of the Senate Tuesday morning.

"We are proceeding in a matter of the utmost, utmost gravity -- the potential for impeachment of the president of the United States -- and I think American people will demand and are entitled to that kind of bipartisanship," Specter said.

Lott: 'Demeaning for the country'

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) says he only watched portions of the Clinton's taped testimony, but what he saw he found "sad in many respects."

Speaking Tuesday morning, Lott said the "whole thing is demeaning for the country ... and it is unfortunate to have it drag out for eight months because of delays by the president."

Lott laughed at the idea of the White House spin machine in overdrive: "Spin forward -- spin backwards. He didn't get killed, so he survived."


Sen. Trent Lott

The majority leader also took a shot at the president's parsing of words.

"It was pretty much what I suspected, like defining 'is,'" Lott said with a smile.

Lott said he tried unsuccessfully to contact Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) about his suggestion that Clinton appear before the House Judiciary Committee.

"Anytime the president can come forward and come clean, it would be a positive development," Lott said.

On Sunday Kerry said Clinton should appear before the House Judiciary Committee soon "to explain exactly what he did, exactly what he was thinking" so Congress can move ahead quickly.