January 15, 1999
Web posted at: 7:09 p.m. EST (0009 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, January 15) -- As the House prosecutors continue during their opening statements to urge the senators to allow witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial, they have made no final decision on whether to ask the Senate to invite President Bill Clinton to testify, a spokesman said Friday.

House Judiciary Committee spokesman Paul McNulty said Friday the question of whether to ask Clinton to testify will be considered as a separate item from a possible motion to subpoena other witnesses. The Senate will take up any motions regarding witnesses after opening statements are completed by the prosecutors and White House lawyers.

The senators postponed a decision on the controversial question of witness when they agreed to the bipartisan roadmap for the trial, allowing opening statements to begin this week.

Judiciary Committee sources say such an invitation to the president is a "possibility" and "a thought" shared by many of the 13 managers, all Republican committee members.

But Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) said he didn't see much point in Clinton testifying because "I'm confident that if he did come he would simply repeat the same kind of tortured evasions that he's had before and then claim those are accurate statements."

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) agreed that the president should not be forced to testify, though for different reasons. He said the president "already comes to this with less rights than most people have in a case where they're accused."

"Are we going to remove that last vestige of American jurisprudence, which is you're innocent unless you're proven guilty?" Leahy asked "And you do not under any circumstances, you do not -- do not -- say that somebody has to come before whatever the tribunal is and prove their innocence. It's up to the House of Representatives to prove the president's guilt."

Committee sources tell CNN the managers' final wish list of witnesses will be submitted to the Senate, with five or six names that could include Monica Lewinsky, Vernon Jordan, Betty Currie, White House Chief of Staff John Podesta and White House Adviser Sidney Blumenthal.

Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Arkansas) told CNN Friday that former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey, who alleges Clinton fondled her in a room off the Oval Office, would not be on the list of potential witnesses to be submitted by House prosecutors. But other committee sources would not rule out that possibility.

Clinton has denied Willey's accusation.

Democrats and the White House do not want witnesses called, and argue that the mountain of evidence passed on from the House should serve as the official record

Rep. Asa Hutchinson

White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart argued that witnesses would unnecessarily force the trial to continue for months: "There is an inherent discrepancy in the idea that they need witnesses and that they have to have witnesses -- there have been witnesses. There have been hundreds of witnesses. There is thousands and thousands of pages of testimony."

"The time now is to stop efforts to delay. The time is to argue the case, argue the record. Let the White House argue their side, let the Senate ask their questions and let's move toward making a decision," Lockhart said.

The first two days of the House managers' opening presentation much of the arguments have been devoted to convincing the senators of the necessity of witnesses.

Hutchinson, who laid out the House case on obstruction of justice Thursday, said there were areas of evidence the witnesses were not asked about during their previous appearances before Independent Counsel Ken Starr's grand jury.

Citing Clinton's personal secretary Betty Currie as an example, Hutchinson said he would ask Currie about cell phone records that she was not questioned about.

Witnesses are also necessary to clear up contrary testimony, Hutchinson said. In the case of Monica Lewinsky, Currie, and the president's close friend, Vernon Jordan, "There is a conflict between their testimony and the defense of the president," Hutchinson said.

Rep. Steve Chabot

"The only way to judge who is telling the truth is to weigh their credibility together. And secondly, I made the point that you cannot substitute for looking a witness in the eye. You ask a question. How comfortable are they? What kind of presentation do they make. That's the only way to determine their truthfulness. That's what our system of justice is about," he said.

Addressing complaints that Republican "managers" from the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday presented no new information in their case against the president, a member of the prosecution team said Friday the Senate could remedy that by allowing witnesses.

"One of the reasons it may sound like a rehash is because they haven't yet permitted us to have any live witnesses ... and we hope the senators will allow us to call witnesses," Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) told CNN.

Friday January 15, 1999

• Managers say evidence, law prove perjury, obstruction of justice
• No decision yet on Clinton as witness
• Prosecution has swayed some senators on witness question
• First family's private lawyers question Linda Tripp under oath
• Senator objects to 'juror' label
• Clinton planning to deliver a one-hour State of the Union address
• Reno: No wrongdoing by former top Gore aide
• Hustler's Flynt hospitalized with pneumonia
• Man who shot Reagan wins mental hospital release
• Roth proposes new type of 401(k), alternatives to Social Security
• Clinton Administration considers sale of Ginnie Mae
• Clinton plans cigarette tax hike to balance budget
• Clinton urges Wall Street to invest in distressed areas

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