Lawyers for Clinton wrap up defense

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott

(R-Miss.) leaves the Senate chamber yesterday to speak with reporters.

WARREN ZINN/

Daily

By Mike Spahn
Daily Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON - Amid growing speculation over the future of the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton, the White House Defense team closed its case yesterday, calling the attack on the President dangerous and nightmarish.

Former Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) closed the proceedings with an address that - in addition to returning a little laughter to the chamber - provided history lessons, literary allusions and an eloquent assessment of the meaning of the Constitution.

Bumpers' speech, which was called the greatest ever presented on the Senate floor by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), attacked pieces of the House case against the President, but mainly focused on the Constitutional standard for impeachment.

"A decision to convict holds the potential to destabilize the office of the President forever," Bumpers said.

He added that the "most intense investigation ... by anyone in history" did not provide the necessary means for conviction, and at this point is very dangerous.

"Javert's pursuit of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables pails by comparison," Bumpers said. "There's been nothing but sleepless nights and agony for this family for five years."

But while the address drew rave reviews from both Democrats and Republicans, it did not cause a great shift in sentiment from Republicans. As they continued to call for his removal, even Bumpers conceded the President's actions were "indefensible, outrageous, unforgivable and shameless."

Following Bumper's address, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) praised the former senator's speech but added that he felt bringing in the popular former senator was an attempt to shore up Democratic support.

Sen. Tom Harkin(D-Ia.) dismissed that possibility.

"If there were any softness in the Democrats, after the end of yesterday, there was none," Harkin said.

Bumpers' closing address followed an exhaustive examination of the evidence in the case by White House lawyer David Kendall. Kendall focused on the obstruction of justice charge the President faces, reading from testimony and using charts, some his own and others "borrowed" from the House managers, in an effort to show that the Republicans' presentation was incomplete.

"If you look at the presentation of the House managers you would not be aware of the direct evidence which refutes obstruction of justice," Kendall said.

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), who chaired the House Judiciary Committee's drafting of the articles of impeachment, said that while the presentation was eloquent, it was not the whole truth. Hyde said the House managers made a mistake when they did not fight for rebuttal time in the Senate, but added he hopes the impending question period will serve that purpose.

"Hopefully, they'll give us a little wiggle room so we can get in some rebuttal," Hyde said.

As the President's case drew to a close, senators switched their focus to the next phase of the trial - their questions and the following votes on dismissal, witnesses and the articles themselves. But there was some disagreement about just how that process will proceed.

Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) said early in the day that he had been told in a caucus meeting of all Senate Democrats that the push for witnesses by "some hard-core Republicans" was waning, and a vote on the articles might come early next week.

But Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said that while he had heard that rumor in the press, it is not true.

"I've heard that spin from the Democrats," Lott said after the trial. "We're continuing to talk to each other across the aisle."

Lott said he hoped senators would not jump to a vote on the article without first deposing witnesses, a proposition that some Democrats are circulating, Chief among those Democrats is Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who said an option to move past the vote on dismissal and straight to a vote on the articles is "percolating".

"The effect (of the proposal) would be to take politics out of the current construct," Kerry said.

Lott said many proposals are being discussed, but there has not been a decision on the exact way to proceed. He said the Senate will do its best to gain all the pertinent information and draw conclusions base on the facts.

"That way we'll be able to walk away knowing we did the right thing, and hopefully it's the right thing for America," Lott said.

Democrats insist there is bi-partisan support for a move to a final vote, but they will not specify from where the Republican support is coming.

"We'll be better off if we can make some decisions and move on," Sen. Bryon Dorgan (D-N.D.) said. "I think the American people are better served by a vote up or down on the articles."

01-22-99