WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, December 23) -- Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott plans to form a bipartisan panel of senior senators to advise him once Chief Justice William Rehnquist is sworn in and the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton has officially begun, two Senate sources told CNN Wednesday.

One leadership source emphasized it would not be a formal committee, but an informal group of advisers "to whom he (Lott) could turn to for advice and counsel."

Another senator, a Republican, told CNN that the group of advisers "could be the group that could broker a deal," meaning the panel would offer advice to Lott when and if the time comes to work out a censure plea bargain.

Clinton, who was impeached by the House last weekend, faces a Senate trial on charges that he committed perjury and obstruction of justice trying to conceal his extramarital affair with ex-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The White House assumed a low profile Wednesday to avoid the appearance of lobbying senators, a sensitive issue with members on both sides of the aisle. But aides have been encouraged by speculation about a possible deal and latest poll results showing Clinton with a 73 percent job approval rating.

Another Republican senator told CNN he was approached about a week ago by a leader of organized labor to hear suggested alternatives that might be part of a censure deal.

The senator said they went down a list of conditions for a deal on censure, including an admission of lying, immunity from prosecution and prohibition of Clinton ever again holding public office.

When the conversation turned to possible reduction or elimination of Clinton's retirement benefits, the labor emissary said, according to the senator, "Well, what about Hillary and Chelsea?" Then they went on to discuss other provisions.

The next day, according to the senator, the labor leader called back "to tell me that their conversation had been reported to the White House."

A leading Democratic senator told CNN that neither side has really formulated a plan or discussed many specifics. He said Republicans have a vested interest in working out a plea bargain deal because the GOP would suffer politically from a long trial.

As for what makes up an acceptable censure deal, all agree it would have to amount to "more than a scolding," as Sen. John Chaffee (R-Rhode Island) calls it, but also be something acceptable to Clinton.

If, as proposed, it would require the president's signature, "you don't want to go through this," said the Democratic senator, "and then have him veto this resolution."

Another top Democratic senator says there is debate within both party caucuses over whether a deal should be concluded at the beginning of the trial or later.

While many Republicans clearly savor the idea of any damage an extended trial could cause the president, there are Democrats, too, said the senator, who feel that the "longer it goes, the more political damage it does to the GOP."

However, the source concluded that the "prevailing view in both parties is for a shorter period of time."

Sources also told CNN that friends of Clinton are continuing to solicit ideas for a censure proposal from so-called political "elders" from both political parties.

Sen. Robert Byrd

In the days and weeks ahead, more than a dozen House Republican moderates are expected to come forward to say the Senate should adopt a punishment short of Clinton's removal from office, even though they voted for impeachment. That could create some momentum toward a bipartisan compromise.

One lawmaker who already has spoken is Rep. Bob Franks of New Jersey. He issued a statement supporting "a bipartisan censure resolution" with a big condition: that "the president must acknowledge that he lied under oath."

In another development, some senators were quick to dismiss a statement from Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd in which he called on "the White House or any entity beyond the current membership of the Senate" to stay out of the censure negotiations.

Sen. John Chafee

"I think that it would be pretty hard to do this -- the censure route --without ... talking at all with the White House, the people who are going to be censured," said Chafee.

Vice President Al Gore, who remains one of Clinton's strongest defenders, was asked whether Clinton would ever acknowledge that he lied under oath. That demand from some lawmakers is shaping up as a possible sticking point in any censure negotiations. Clinton's advisers fear that any such admission would put him in legal jeopardy after he leaves office.

"The president has said that he did not lie under oath," Gore said in an interview with the Rev. Jesse Jackson. "He has acknowledged that he gave statements that were less than helpful to his interrogators, and he was misleading. But that's a very different proposition." Gore's full interview will appear on "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson" at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday on CNN.

DeLay: Censure would not have passed House

House Majority Whip Tom DeLay

Meanwhile, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay is not abandoning his campaign against Clinton. Although the impeachment matter is no longer before the House, DeLay weighed in Wednesday as talk of a censure deal in the Senate intensifies.

"I can tell you with great certainty that a censure resolution would have failed in the House," DeLay said in a written statement.

The Texas Republican criticized any rush to a quick deal in the Senate. "Before people look to cut a deal with the White House or their surrogates who will seek to influence the process, it is my hope that one would spend plenty of time in the evidence room," DeLay said, referring to the office where Independent Counsel Ken Starr's supporting evidence is available to legislators. "If this were to happen, you may realize that 67 votes may appear out of thin air. If you don't, you may wish you had before rushing to judgment."

Public wasn't riveted by debate

It may have been historic, but the public wasn't riveted by Saturday's House debate and impeachment vote.

Only about a third of Americans said they paid very close attention to the impeachment proceedings, according to findings released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

The poll was based on telephone interviews December 19-21 with 805 adults, and had a margin of sampling error of +/- 4 percentage points.

The poll also found most people saw partisan motives in the House vote; 67 percent said House members who voted for impeachment did so for political reasons, while just 25 percent said lawmakers voted for impeachment because they felt Clinton's actions justified removing him from office.

All Monica, all the time

Another survey found that ABC, NBC and CBS did more stories on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal than their combined total about the Asian and Russian economic crises, the crisis with Iraq, the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, the autoworkers' strike, the troubled Middle East peace process, nuclear tests by India and Pakistan and John Glenn's triumphant return to space.

"We thought that nothing could top the O.J. Simpson story and this proved us wrong," said Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a Washington-based think tank.

Through December 15, the three evening news broadcasts produced 1,502 stories about the scandal, consuming nearly 43 hours, the study discovered.

The second biggest television story of the year -- the weapons inspection standoff with Iraq -- generated 502 stories and 13 hours worth of time.

Wednesday, December 23, 1998

• Sen. Lott ready to seek bipartisan advice
• Clinton suggests record funding for homeless
• Transcript: Clinton speaks on housing issues
• Utah attorney general asks congressmen to swear marital fidelity
• Profile: William Rehnquist
• Questions raised about dual payments to Burton staffer
• Hastert a conservative at heart
• Cover-up charged in clerk's case
• Leading impeachment Senate players
• Rehnquist in impeachment spotlight
• Displaced steel workers put pressure on administration

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