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Senate subpoenas three impeachment witnessesVideotaped depositions due to start Monday
January 29, 1999 WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, January 29) -- The Senate issued subpoenas Friday to compel three key witnesses -- Monica Lewinsky, Vernon Jordan and Sidney Blumenthal -- to give depositions next week in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.
The Senate's sergeant-at-arms, James W. Ziglar, left the Capitol at about 2:30 p.m. EST to deliver the subpoenas to attorneys for the three. Under a plan approved by the GOP majority in the Senate Thursday, lawyers for the prosecution and defense will interview the witnesses individually behind closed-doors on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. House prosecutors requested witness testimony to try to resolve conflicts in the impeachment case record. Senate Republicans are trying to strike a delicate political balance. Their goal appears to be to give House prosecutors their day in court, convince Republican conservatives they are not selling out and still bring the trial to a relatively speedy conclusion. Senate Republicans scored a decisive victory in laying out a process for securing the videotaped testimony of Lewinsky, presidential friend Jordan and White House aide Blumenthal. It's still undecided whether the videotaped testimony will be shown publicly.
After Thursday's vote, Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Washington) said the GOP "insisted on a complete search for the truth" in pushing forward with its blueprint for the trial's next phase. Just three weeks ago, though, Gorton was fighting to prevent witnesses at the trial and had a fair amount of support from his Republican colleagues. Then came the request from House prosecutors for testimony from a pared-down list of witnesses, and senators found themselves looking for a way to be seen as treating the House managers fairly. GOP senators, who voted as a bloc on Thursday, face conflicting political pressures as they look for a process to bring the trial to a conclusion. There has been plenty of heat. Conservative activists have made it clear they would remember if Senate Republicans cheated House prosecutors out of their day in court. "There would be anger in the Republican base and among conservatives because they would think that the leadership, looking at polls or making a deal, had short-circuited a process that they take very seriously," said David Keene of the American Conservative Union. But a majority of the American people want the case over and Republicans feel that pressure, too. The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that 57 percent of Americans disapprove of how Senate Republicans are handling the trial.
The Democrats pass up no opportunity to assign blame for every day the trial drags on. Thursday was its 14th day. "Democrats first and foremost want this matter ended," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Republicans know they do not have the votes to convict Clinton and want a quick end, too -- just not one that will be judged a sellout by conservatives. "Is there some other way that it could be dealt with other than just impeachment, to make it quite clear that he (Clinton) should not get off the hook for this behavior?" asked Linda DiVall, a Republican pollster. Republicans promise the days ahead will prove their new trial rules strike a fair political balance and suggest the protests from Democrats and the White House are little more than an attempt to divert attention from the president's conduct. But the White House continued to criticize Senate Republicans Friday for crafting trial rules on the fly. "The way the resolution is written we really don't know where we are going in this process after Wednesday," said White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart. "We don't know exactly what's going to happen after Wednesday and there are enough holes in this resolution that it can be opened up with a simple majority and we could be here for a very long time." The resolution proposes February 12 as the deadline to vote on the articles of impeachment, but it's not a firm date because other provisions allow the case to be reopened. Lockhart said that Republicans seem intent to "play out this process in a way that can inflict maximum political damage on the president." What's next?With the impeachment trial in recess until next Thursday, the next step in the case will be Monday's closed-door deposition of Lewinsky. She will be questioned by Rep. Ed Bryant (R-Tennessee), one of the House prosecutors, at the Mayflower hotel.
The Jordan and Blumenthal depositions will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday, though the schedule is not set. Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Arkansas) will question Jordan and Rep. James Rogan (R-California) will question Blumenthal. The Jordan and Blumenthal depositions will be on Capitol Hill. Senators will also sit in on the depositions, with Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) attending the Lewinsky deposition; Fred Thompson (R-Tennessee) attending the Jordan deposition; and Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) attending the Blumenthal deposition. For the Democrats, Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and John Edwards of North Carolina will participate, although which senator will attend which deposition is not yet known. CNN's John King and Mike Roselli contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Friday, January 29, 1999
• Senate subpoenas three impeachment witnesses • CNN to Senate: Stop secret deliberations • Gov. Ventura wants to scrap state aid for public radio, TV • George, Barbara and George W. on the Internet • Dole suggests Hollywood stingy on veterans causes • Clinton seeks trade authority • Maryland senator undergoes surgery • Some Starr files to be kept secret • Cohen: More base closings needed • CBO projects $2.6T federal surplus • Clinton sees rise in HUD spending • Student asks congressman's help in protesting ban on goatees • Gore, Davis cementing relationship • Reno undecided on campaign probe • Election officer certifies Hoffa's victory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
