Impeachment trial set tobegin tomorrow

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON - Without a clear blueprint on how to conduct the impeachment trial to remove President Clinton from office, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott announced yesterday that the proceeding will open tomorrow nevertheless.

Among the unresolved matters that continued to split the Republican majority on the eve of the historic trial were questions over such basic procedural issues as how long the trial would last and whether witnesses would be called.

Underscoring the murky outlook, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), who is to argue the case against Clinton in the trial, emerged from a meeting with aides last night and conceded he had little idea of what to expect.

"Everything is under negotiation. All kinds of rumors are going around. Time is wasting. We need to agree on a format," Hyde said, echoing a frustration shared by his team of 12 "managers," all fellow House Republicans, who will assist him in the prosecution.

Despite such unresolved matters, the White House reacted yesterday with equanimity - in sharp contrast to the confrontational tone it adopted during the House impeachment proceedings.

White House lawyers are "preparing for all eventualities," presidential spokesperson Joe Lockhart said. "We expect this process to move forward in a way that's fair, bipartisan and expeditious."

Lott (R-Miss.) announced the trial opening after he and his Democratic counterpart, Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), discussed the case at the Supreme Court with Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who will preside over the trial.

Adding still more uncertainty to the timetable is Rehnquist's schedule for next week. The chief justice told Daschle and Lott that oral arguments at the Supreme Court may prevent him from presiding over the trial on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, sources said.

Lott later closeted himself in the Capitol, and, in a race against the clock, met throughout the day and into the night with senators from both parties, trying to cobble together a plan for an impeachment trial that he vowed would "proceed expeditiously and fairly."

"I am ... seeking common ground and a non-partisan approach to the grave matters before us," Lott said. But even as he read his prepared remarks, another senator emerged from Lott's office with a somber pronouncement.

"I don't think there's a consensus on anything," Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said.

Later, Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah,) agreed. "There is no Republican position," he said.

Both the House and Senate officially convene today, with newly elected members taking their oaths of office.

Tomorrow, Rehnquist is expected to be sworn in as the trial's presiding officer. He would then administer a special oath of office to the 100 senators, who will serve as jurors.

The flurry of meetings yesterday occurred in the largely deserted Senate side of the Capitol as senators darted in and out of various hide-away offices. As the negotiations intensified, Lott also consulted by telephone with constitutional scholars.

Democrats and Republicans are scheduled to caucus among themselves today. Out of those meetings, especially that of the GOP senators, who hold a 55-45 edge in the chamber, a more detailed plan for the trial likely is to emerge.

The senators' sense of urgency was prompted by more than tomorrow's start date.

"... The longer this drags out, the more acrimonious, the more political and the less helpful it'll be," Daschle warned in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.

Since he publicly proposed a plan last week to hold an abbreviated trial, Lott has been catching flak, in private and in public, from many of his conservative GOP colleagues.

Under that scenario, senators would vote immediately after hearing presentations by Hyde and by attorneys for the White House - without the testimony of any witnesses.

If fewer than 67 senators vote to continue the trial, the proceeding could be adjourned and then a censure resolution taken up - presumably leading to a reprimand of Clinton for his conduct in the Monica Lewinsky affair.

The Constitution requires 67 votes, or a two-thirds majority of the Senate, to convict a president and remove him from office. But a vote to adjourn an impeachment trial requires a simple majority of 51 votes.

As envisioned by the vaguely worded proposal by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), the whole trial could be over within a week.

But in the face of growing opposition from conservative Republicans, who are demanding a full trial, that plan was rapidly losing support yesterday.

Even some members of Lott's own leadership team opposed the proposal.

"A two-thirds vote to continue is not going to be part" of the trial scenario, declared Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles (R-Okla.). On the other hand, he added, "You can always at any point make a vote to adjourn. I hope that doesn't happen. I hope we would not even have that vote till the evidence is presented."

However, Democratic sources said a new option being considered would keep the short timetable but drop the controversial test vote: The idea calls for arguments lasting less than a week but ending with up-or-down votes on each of the articles of impeachment, one charging Clinton with perjury and the other alleging obstruction of justice in his efforts to conceal his affair with Lewinksy.

And even conservative Republicans who were demanding a full trial indicated they wanted some limits on its scope.

"If they submit a list of 25 witnesses, then I would say that senators of both parties would stand up and say, 'Hey, wait,' " said Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho.).

Lott is said to be concerned that a lengthy impeachment imbroglio could cost the GOP Senate seats in 2000, when 19 Republicans will be up for re-election, compared to only 14 Democrats.

Democrats face the opposite challenge. If they push too aggressively and too soon to abort the trial, they run the risk of looking like they are playing politics.

01-06-99