Prosecution arguments in President Clinton's impeachment trial are set to begin 1 p.m. Thursday, after a Wednesday session was dropped when neither side made procedural motions.
House managers have 24 hours through Saturday to present their case, according to a tentative schedule released Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. The trial would resume Tuesday under Lott's schedule, with Clinton's lawyers given up to 24 hours over three days to mount their defense.
Jan. 22-23 are set aside for 16 hours of senators' questions. Votes on whether to dismiss the case or to hear witnesses are scheduled for Jan. 25. Lott hopes to wrap up the case by Jan. 31, but the windup depends on whether witnesses are called to testify and how many would be questioned.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats awaited a noon Wednesday deadline for the House managers to file the record they plan to use in the trial. House GOP sources indicated the managers were not planning any surprises, but Democratic sources said their leaders wanted to see exactly which materials the managers plan to use for opening arguments. The format approved by a unanimous Senate vote restricted initial arguments by the prosecution to materials made public during the House Judiciary Committee hearings.
A trial brief for the defense is expected to be filed by White House lawyers before a mid-morning Wednesday deadline. After the Clinton lawyers make their written argument, House managers have until 10 a.m. Thursday to answer any arguments made by the defense.
As Senate Republicans discussed the coming trial schedule and other matters during their regular Tuesday policy luncheon, the House managers met in small groups to prepare their case. Plans are for Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., to introduce the case, followed by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., with an opening argument to last about an hour, a GOP source said.
"They will be looking at the facts of the case, the legal issues, the constitutional issues, and whether the charges rise to the level of impeachable offenses," the source said.
At the White House Tuesday, Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said the charges released Monday by the House managers are further proof they do not have the goods on President Clinton. "The hallmark of a weak case is one where the charges are constantly shifting," Lockhart said, referring to the decision of the prosecutors to include in the obstruction of justice count charges that Clinton lied under oath in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. The article charging perjury in the Jones case was rejected by the House, Lockhart noted.
Another signal the case lacks a strong foundation, according to Lockhart, is the "hyperbole and overblown rhetoric" contained in the brief itself. "It reads like a cheap mystery," he quipped.
Lockhart again indicated that, despite advice from several senators that he delay his State of the Union speech, Clinton still intends to deliver the address Tuesday, as scheduled.
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