Despite efforts from Democrats, as well as some members of the public,
Republicans say they will not walk away from their duty to carry out the
constitutionally mandated impeachment process.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois placed that process
squarely in the lap of President Clinton yesterday. Hyde sent a letter to
Clinton asking him to confirm or deny an undisclosed list of “facts” associated
with the impeachment hearings.
“Today I’m sending a letter to the president asking him to admit or deny
certain facts that appear to be established by the record now before us,” said
Hyde at a news conference to announce his plans.
“No one should take these requests as establishing our final conclusions.
Rather, they will simply help us to establish what facts are in dispute and
what facts are not. The president is free to dispute, of course, whatever he
wants, but by agreeing to those facts that he does not dispute he will allow us
to narrow the issues and bring this matter to a close more quickly,” explained
Hyde.
The goal, Hyde explained, is to reduce the amount of time the committee will
need to spend in hearings with the hope of completion by Christmas — if
Clinton cooperates.
“The chairman said that he hoped to get it over with very quickly, but with a
big if,” said committee member Rep. Chris Cannon, R-UT. The big “if”, he said,
is “if the president will work with us to get the facts on the table so we can
move forward with clarity of facts.”
Cannon said that should be an easy process. There has been no indication from
the White House as to whether President Clinton also thinks things are that cut
and dry.
“We all know the facts,” said Cannon. “At least the president hasn’t given us a
reason to believe there is a different set of facts that would favor him.”
The president sees himself as a winner, now that the election is over, and the
Democrats are the perceived winners. House Republicans lost five seats to
Democrats and now outnumber their rivals by only 12 members.
“He (Clinton) might just say, ‘Let’s get it over with quickly. Let’s get it to
a vote. What do you guys want me to stipulate to? Let’s get the stipulations on
the table and go and vote,'” Cannon said hopefully in an exclusive phone
interview with WorldNetDaily.
Cannon says that Clinton has taken a “very brassy position” by turning down
Paula Jones most recent settlement offer yesterday. There is no longer a sense
of urgency or need to settle the dispute because Clinton senses greater public
support after the election. Cannon said further delay of the Jones case is a
mistake on the part of Clinton.
“I think it would be, from the president’s point of view, the ultimate of
hubris, which almost always results in the fall — to not solve these problems
quickly,” he said.
It was reported yesterday that attorneys for Jones and Clinton have been unable
to come to an agreement on an out-of-court settlement in the contentious sexual
harassment case. Jones has appealed the case, which was already decided in
Clinton’s favor. Jones is reported to have asked for $950,000 while Clinton
would agree only to $700,000.
Cannon declared, “$950,000 bucks is nothing to this president after he gets out
of office. To not settle with Paula Jones is saying ‘the American people
love me. I’m not going to settle.’ That’s hubris. That’s stupid. It leaves open
all of these difficulties for all of America.”
Hyde says he did not set a time limit for response to the questions in his
letter to Clinton. He said he is optimistic a response will be received in a
reasonable amount of time. He said he is hopeful the president will not resort
to efforts to slow the process.
If Clinton continues his traditional delaying tactics, Cannon said it would
lead to very lengthy impeachment hearings that will extend well into next year.
Hyde was emphatic when he stated that the only way to shorten the process would
be for Clinton to cooperate. The ball has been placed firmly in Clinton’s
court, enabling Republicans to blame the president if the hearings continue
into the 106th Congress.
“This ought to be a matter of everyone’s individual conscience,” said Hyde. “It
is part of our task, and it’s a formidable one, to try and lift it out of the
partisan swamps and make it a matter of conscience.”
Cannon’s concerns go far beyond the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He says his bigger
concerns are with accusations of illegal campaign donations, special favors for
China which hurt Americans, Whitewater, “Filegate,” and “Travelgate.” Cannon is
concerned that the efforts to move through the hearings quickly will curtail an
investigation into such issues.
“We have the DNC, at the urging of the president, taking money from China,”
explained Cannon. “We have policy decisions that are deeply hurtful to American
interests and are very, very helpful to Chinese interests. I think that we have
a right to know about those kinds of things, and I think that ought to be a
part of this process and proceedings. If we do it quickly, we miss that.”
There are no plans to parade witnesses before the hearings. The only announced
witness currently scheduled to testify is independent counsel Kenneth Starr.
“We believe the most relevant witnesses have already testified at length about
the matters at issue, and in the interest of finishing our expeditious inquiry
we will not require most of them to come before us to repeat their testimony,”
said Hyde. “The committee will invite Judge Starr to appear in public session
on Nov. 19. Judge Starr led the investigation, and we believe his testimony will
be helpful to the committee.”
Hyde explained that the committee has the transcripts of testimony given under
oath to the grand juries previously. He said there is no need to waste time by
making the same people testify all over again.
“Judge Starr, on the other hand, has not had an opportunity to testify. He is
anxious to testify. He is the center of this inquiry in terms of directing the
office of independent counsel. I think he is someone everybody wants to hear
from. And we’re going to give him that opportunity,” explained Hyde.
Asked if Starr will provide the committee with additional evidence on other
aspects of his investigation extending beyond the Lewinsky sex scandal, Hyde
said, “I wouldn’t rule that out.”
Hyde confided that his staff has been working directly with the Starr staff. He
said he expects members of his committee to ask Starr questions about
Whitewater, the FBI files in the White House, the travel office firings, and
other portions of the four-year investigation.
Hyde says that contrary to the claims of some, he is not on a witch-hunt by
sending a list of “facts” to Clinton. He explained that his alternative would
have been to subpoena the president and subject him to grueling questioning and
cross-examination by the committee.
“We are doing it the most gentle way by sending him a series of factual
statements and asking him to admit or deny,” explained Hyde.
The impeachment process is a lengthy one. The plans announced yesterday will
shorten that to a certain degree, if Clinton provides answers to the questions
in the letter. The list of facts remains unknown. Hyde said that if the list
were to be made available it would be up to Clinton to do so.
Hyde’s committee is ultimately expected to develop a bill of impeachment. The
committee will most likely vote to send that bill to the full House of
Representatives for a vote. When that happens, Speaker Newt Gingrich will call
all members of the House into a floor session where there will be a debate and
a vote.
Once it is passed in the House, the Senate will then take over. A full trial
would then take place in the Senate, after which the final vote to determine
Clinton’s fate would take place.
Hyde was asked if negotiations would take place between the White House and his
committee to work out a compromise other than impeachment. He said that will
not happen in the House.
“Once in the Senate anything can happen, and that is where negotiations would
take place between the Senate and the White House for some action other than
impeachment,” he explained.
