WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, December 9) -- In its last formal opportunity to address the House Judiciary Committee before the panel votes on articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, the White House legal team attempted Wednesday to argue the facts and prove the president did not commit perjury, abuse his power or obstruct justice.

But while White House Counsel Charles Ruff was busy Wednesday in the hearing room delivering his final, point-by-point defense of the president, committee Republicans publicly released the first draft of four articles of impeachment against Clinton.

Charles Ruff

The four articles included two charges of perjury, one of abuse of power and one of obstruction of justice. (Full story)

Although the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee is all but certain to vote to impeach Clinton, Ruff spent 4 1/2 hours Wednesday arguing that Clinton's conduct in the Monica Lewinsky affair, though "morally reprehensible," did not warrant removing him from office.

"The president knows what he did was wrong," Ruff told the House Judiciary Committee. "He's admitted it. He's suffered privately and publicly ... But, Mr. Chairman, the president has not committed a high crime or misdemeanor ... His conduct, although morally reprehensible, does not warrant impeachment."

Clinton's actions did not subvert the government and do not justify "overturning the mandate of the American electorate," Ruff said.

Ruff finesses the defense

Ruff's comments came on the second and final day of Clinton's defense before the committee. And while much of his testimony rehashed the legal arguments that his staff has advanced since the president acknowledged his relationship with Lewinsky, Ruff did reveal four new nuances to the president's position: Clinton may have lied under oath; he may accept a censure to avoid impeachment; he may be subject to criminal penalties once out of office; and he would not pardon himself or accept a pardon from a successor.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner

In the question-and-answer session that followed his testimony, Ruff was asked straight out by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) if the president had lied under oath.

"He did not," Ruff answered. But Ruff also told the committee, "Reasonable people ... could determine that he crossed over that line and that, what for him was truthful and misleading or nonresponsive and misleading or evasive, was, in fact, false."

Ruff said Clinton testified truthfully before the Lewinsky grand jury, but even if the committee decides he committed perjury, there is no basis for impeachment on any reasonable reading of constitutional standards.

In his testimony, Ruff also alluded to the possibility of an alternative punishment for the president, saying Clinton's team was "open to any reasonable suggestion from any side as a way of finding an end to this."

Committee Chairman Henry Hyde said he would permit a committee vote on censuring Clinton, an alternative Democrats have pushed for weeks.

Before Hyde's announcement, Democrats on the committee who have been pushing for a vote to censure Clinton were joined by the former governor of Massachusetts, William Weld, a moderate Republican. Weld testified on the fourth and final Clinton defense panel to appear before the Judiciary Committee.

Touching on the possibility that Clinton could face criminal prosecution after he leaves office, Ruff said, "He is prepared to accept the obloquy that flows from his misconduct and he recognizes that, like any citizen, he is and will be subject to the rule of law."

In response to a question from Republican Steve Chabot on whether the chief White House counsel was sure that Clinton would not pardon himself or accept a pardon from any successor, Ruff answered, "Absolutely."

While Ruff may have tried to placate Democrats who wanted a more conciliatory tone from the president's team, he did not totally abandon the tried-and-true strategy of attacking Independent Counsel Ken Starr's report to Congress.

Ruff accused Starr of overreaching in his recounting of the question of gifts that Clinton and Lewinsky and exchanged and how some of the gifts ended up in the possession of Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie.

Lewinsky provided at least 10 versions of the events, Ruff said, but Starr's team in a "simplistic summation" chose the one version most damaging to Clinton and ignored the others.

On the same day that Lewinsky returned gifts to Currie, Clinton gave her more gifts, Ruff said. "That's very strange conduct for a bunch of conspirators," the president's lawyer said.

Ruff charged that Starr's referral also twisted the facts of Lewinsky's job search in an attempt to build a link between her affidavit in the Paula Jones civil case and help finding a job in New York. "You will search the referral in vain for an honest description of these events," Ruff declared.

Ruff said Lewinsky told the FBI she was not offered a job in exchange for signing the affidavit she gave in the Jones case. The record, said Ruff, is that she wanted a job in the White House.

If Clinton had wanted to give her a job to keep her silent, said Ruff, "I know someone at the White House who could have given her a job." Yet, said Ruff, Clinton did not.

After 15 hours over two days of defense testimony, it fell to Ruff to sum up the sex-and-perjury scandal and convince lawmakers why they should not vote to impeach Clinton.

Rep. Henry Hyde

With the House Judiciary Committee all but certain to approve at least one of the proposed articles of impeachment and send it to the full House, the White House crafted much of its defense to appeal to the handful of GOP moderates still undecided on the impeachment vote.

Those moderates are being bombarded by those trying to affect their vote. And before Ruff's testimony the Clinton Administration recruited Weld to argue against impeachment. Weld suggested that Congress not impeach Clinton but subject him to a process that would require him to admit wrongdoing, pay a fine and leave himself open to prosecution after he leaves office.

In a move targeted at those same moderate Republicans, a spokesman for Hyde also announced the chairman plans to ask the committee to allow David Schippers, the Republicans' chief counsel, to play the videotape of Clinton's January 17 deposition in the Jones case during his closing remarks Thursday. Hyde hopes the tape, which has never been aired publicly, would help bolster the Republicans' case that Clinton lied, committee spokesman Paul McNulty said.

Weld suggests 'censure-plus' alternative

"I think the dignity of Congress and the dignity of the country demands something more than merely censure here," Weld said.

William Weld

Weld said the grand jury that investigated Clinton's affair with Lewinsky could issue a detailed, written report; the president could be required to issue a statement admitting wrongdoing; a fine could be imposed; and Clinton could be left to "take his chances" with the legal system after he leaves office.

"It's a political suggestion because it is a political process," Weld said.

The White House hoped that testimony from a well-known moderate Republican like Weld might resonate with other party moderates who are still undecided on impeachment when and if articles of impeachment are passed by the committee and come to a full House vote.

Before he was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1990, Weld was the head of the Criminal Division in the Reagan Justice Department as well as a former U.S. attorney with extensive experience prosecuting government corruption cases.

Weld stepped down as governor after being nominated by Clinton to be U.S. ambassador to Mexico but the nomination was withdrawn after Weld ran into confirmation problems with congressional Republicans because of his moderate views on abortion and gay rights. Since then, he has gone back into private law practice.

Weld agreed with his fellow panel members of former prosecutors -- the fourth and final Clinton defense panel -- that if Clinton were a private citizen he would not be facing prosecution for the allegations outlined in Starr's report to Congress.

Former prosecutors testify burden of proof not met

Thomas Sullivan

"If the president were not involved, if an ordinary citizen were the subject of the inquiry ... this case would simply not be given serious consideration for prosecution," Thomas Sullivan, former U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois, testified. "It wouldn't get in the door. It would be declined out of hand."

Edward Dennis, Jr., former acting U.S. deputy attorney general, echoed Sullivan's claim.

"A criminal conviction would be extremely difficult to obtain in a court of law. There is very weak proof of the criminal intent of the president," Dennis said. "And I believe that a jury would be sympathetic to any person charged with perjury for dancing around questions put to them that demanded an admission of marital infidelity."

Edward Dennis, Jr.

Weld, Sullivan and Dennis were joined on the fourth Clinton defense panel by Richard Davis, former task force leader for the Watergate Special Prosecution Force from 1973-75, and Ronald Noble, former undersecretary of the Treasury.

The 37-member Judiciary Committee reconvened at 8 a.m. ET, to hear from a panel of Clinton witnesses on "prosecutorial standards for obstruction of justice and perjury."

Those who tuned into the hearing to see the fireworks that characterize the highly partisan panel were not disappointed Wednesday, as the questioning of Ruff degenerated into a platform for impassioned pleas for and against impeachment.

Near the end of the 10-hour session, Republican Rep. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina challenged Ruff about several press accounts that characterized Lewinsky as an unstable stalker. Claiming that the president abused his power by circulating these accounts and feeding the rumor mill, Graham delivered an emotional attack on Clinton.

"If she didn't have that blue dress proving a relationship, they would have cut her up," Graham said. "The president of the United States used the full power and force of the White House to go after a young lady so that she couldn't hurt him."

When he asked the members of the committee, "especially the female members" to view Clinton's treatment of Lewinsky like a defense attorney in a rape trial who says the victims "wear their skirts too tight, and they're flirtatious," Democrat Maxine Waters of California took great offense.

"Every member of this committee should be offended by the ... wild spin that was just put on by Mr. Lindsey in attempting to somehow send a message to Monica Lewinsky that she has been undermined by the president of the United States and thus set her up to be angry at the president in case she's called as a witness," Waters said angrily. "We're no fools."

Defending Clinton: Day 1

Clinton's legal team opened its defense of the president during a marathon committee session Tuesday, offering three groups of witnesses to argue that the president's behavior in the Monica Lewinsky affair, while wrong, did not rise to the level of impeachable offenses.

The president has admitted to an illicit relationship with Lewinsky, but denied he committed perjury or obstruction of justice to try to cover up their affair.

Greg Craig

During Tuesday's daylong hearing, Republican lawmakers grilled Clinton's lawyer and witnesses, pushing them to evaluate the truthfulness of witnesses and explain why they favor censure over impeachment.

White House Special Counsel Gregory Craig, four history and legal scholars, three former members of the House and two career prosecutors appeared on Clinton's behalf.

Clinton's team also provided the Judiciary Committee a 184-page rebuttal to Starr's charges that Clinton lied under oath, obstructed justice and abused his powers. (Full story)

CNN's Wolf Blitzer, John King, Bob Franken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wednesday, December 9, 1998

• Judiciary Committee unveils four articles of impeachment
• White House lawyers wrap up Clinton defense
• Poll: Public says censure Clinton, don't impeach him
• Full text of the proposed articles of impeachment
• Text of Democratic censure resolution
• As it happens: The president's defense, day 2
• Profiles of the attorneys for Clinton and the committee
• Hyde asks GOP members to hold off on impeachment decision
• Sen. Albert Gore Sr. remembered as an 'inspiration'
• Starr: Clinton report 'misleading'
• Clintons, Sosa lead lighting of national Christmas tree
• Chicago mayor to seek third term
• Trooper quits amid allegations of affair with Oklahoma lieutenant governor
• Clinton largely ignores impeachment doings in public appearances
• Analysis: How much contrition is enough?
• Lawmakers use loophole to help colleagues
• Citizens turned off by impeachment hearings, opinions and all
• Trimmed cases against Democratic fund-raisers move ahead

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