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Lawyers wrap up questioning of Jordan on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, February 2) -- Some Senate Republicans whose staff reviewed Monica Lewinsky's videotaped deposition said Tuesday they do not see a reason to call her to testify in person at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Meanwhile, lawyers finished their questioning of presidential friend Vernon Jordan in mid-afternoon.


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"Based on what my staff told me, there is nothing new. If there in fact is nothing new, I would not expect her to be called," Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) told The Associated Press, discussing the Lewinsky deposition.

Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, a member of the Republican leadership, said "Probably not," when asked whether it would be useful to call Lewinsky for live testimony based on the videotape.

Senators and staff who watched the videotape were required to sign an oath they would not discuss its contents.

Senators began to privately review Lewinsky's videotaped deposition as Jordan, the second of three witnesses subpoenaed by the Senate, faced questions from House prosecutors and attorneys for the president.

The Jordan deposition ended in mid-afternoon, suggesting there may have been few if any questions from the president's legal team.

Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Arkansas), who took the lead in questioning Jordan, said afterward he would report back to other House prosecutors and they will decide after Wednesday's deposition of White House aide Sidney Blumenthal whether to ask the Senate to hear live testimony. The Senate must also decide whether to make public the videotaped testimony.

On Monday, when it was the president's lawyers turn to question Lewinsky, they asked her nothing. Instead, attorney Nicole Seligman read a statement on the president's behalf expressing "regret" for all that Lewinsky had gone through during the yearlong controversy.

Lewinsky walked back across the street Tuesday afternoon from her lawyers' office to her hotel after reviewing a transcript of her deposition with her attorneys. Sources said she hoped to leave Washington later in the day.

Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky goes from The
Mayflower Hotel to her lawyers'
office across the street 		 

On Capitol Hill, senators who wanted to review Lewinsky's testimony were told to go to one of four rooms in the Capitol to view the videotape. Clinton's impeachment trial resumes Thursday, and the Senate could vote then whether to seek additional testimony.

Jordan's deposition began at 9:10 a.m. EST, sources said. He was questioned in a secure room at the U.S. Capitol by Hutchinson on behalf of the House prosecutors.

Jordan was expected to be questioned about inconsistencies in his testimony and Lewinsky's. For example, Lewinsky said she showed gifts the president had given her to Jordan, but in previous testimony Jordan did not recall seeing any gifts.

The White House said Seligman, Cheryl Mills, Emmet Flood and David Kendall would represent Clinton at the Jordan deposition.

The third and final prosecution witness, Blumenthal, will be questioned in the same room in the building's attic on Wednesday by Rep. James Rogan (R-California).

Looking for inconsistencies

Jordan, a longtime friend of Clinton, certainly is not a hostile witness to the White House, but his testimony gets to the heart of the obstruction-of-justice charge against the president.

"Mr. Jordan is the key player in obtaining the job for Miss Lewinsky and it was at the same time that she was a witness, and we have to probe the interconnection between those two events," Hutchinson said before the deposition.

Jordan has denied helping Lewinsky find a job in exchange for her silence. To undermine the credibility of that denial, the House prosecutors are likely to probe contradictions in Jordan's previous grand jury testimony.

For example, records show Jordan paged Lewinsky three times in one hour on January 19, 1998, the morning after the story of her affair with the president became public on an Internet Web site.

During his first grand jury appearance, Jordan said, "I'm certain that I was not calling Monica Lewinsky to ask her about the Drudge Report."

Three months later, Jordan told the grand jury, "I wanted to ask her what she knew about the Drudge Report."

The House prosecutors also want to probe contradictions between Jordan's testimony and Lewinsky's, especially regarding Lewinsky's affidavit denying a sexual relationship with the president.

Jordan has said he did not help her prepare the affidavit, except to refer her to another lawyer. But Lewinsky told the grand jury she consulted with Jordan about making changes in the affidavit before she signed it.

The president's lawyers point out that Jordan has already testified five times before the grand jury, making it unlikely that he will say anything new. But Tuesday was the first time Jordan has been questioned since the testimony of the two key witnesses: Lewinsky and the president.

Harsh words from Sen. Byrd

On Capitol Hill, Clinton suffered a blow when a key Senate Democrat, Robert Byrd of West Virginia -- who sponsored an unsuccessful motion to dismiss the impeachment trial last week -- said "there's no question about his (Clinton) having given false testimony under oath" on more than one occasion.

In an interview with CNN, Byrd said Clinton's false testimony may not constitute perjury in the "strict legal sense," but he added, "For the chief executive to give false testimony under oath willingly, knowingly and intentionally and repeatedly, certainly to me gets awfully close to abusing and violating the public trust and trust in the judicial system."

Byrd said, however, that he did not believe the president should be removed from office.

CNN's Jonathan Karl contributed to this report.
Investigating the President

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Tuesday, February 2, 1999


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