Prosecutors to Lewinsky: Help Us or Face Charges

With their investigation of allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice now 3 weeks old, prosecutors on Wednesday sought to impose a deadline for former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky to cooperate fully or face criminal charges.

Lewinsky has sought full immunity from prosecution and has signaled a willingness to describe the nature of her relationship with President Clinton, according to people familiar with the matter.

They said Lewinsky has so far declined to detail the extent to which the president or others talked to her about testimony she was to give in a civil lawsuit against Clinton.

Lawyers working for independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr are examining whether Clinton or others, including presidential advisor Vernon E. Jordan Jr., encouraged Lewinsky to testify less than truthfully in that sexual-harassment lawsuit brought by former Arkansas state employee Paula Corbin Jones.

As the volatile negotiations between Starr’s staff and Lewinsky’s lawyers lurched forward by telephone, a frenzy erupted over Wednesday’s grand jury testimony by a 50-year-old White House valet.

An attorney for the valet, who is a 15-year employee at the White House, vehemently denied a report by one news organization that his client had testified that he observed Clinton and Lewinsky alone, in a study adjacent to the Oval Office.

The report posted Wednesday evening on the Internet by the Wall Street Journal, said the valet, Bayani B. Nelvis, testified he “was personally offended” by what he observed and that he had reported the matter to the Secret Service.

The valet’s attorney, Joseph T. Small Jr., termed the Journal report false in its entirety.

“The report of the Wall Street Journal is absolutely false and irresponsible, in every respect that makes it newsworthy,” Small said.

A spokesman for Clinton said the White House had nothing to add to the denials of the Journal report, issued by the valet’s attorney.

A personal assistant to the president, Chris Engskov, also testified before the grand jury. He did not return calls seeking his comment.

Meanwhile, negotiations over whether Lewinsky will receive immunity from prosecution continued as lawyers wrangled over the specifics of what she is willing to say under oath.

For the first time, Lewinsky’s lawyers have submitted in writing the outlines of what she would say under oath, those familiar with the case said.

Lewinsky’s lead attorney, William Ginsburg, said he expects the talks to continue while both he and his co-counsel, Nathaniel H. Speights III, meet in Los Angeles with their client. Lewinsky, who grew up in Beverly Hills, is visiting her father in Brentwood.

Ginsburg said he does not feel bound or pressured by the deadline of about a week, which Starr’s assistants are seeking to impose.

“I don’t take it seriously,” Ginsburg said. “There’s no deadline on anything. It’s a question of what they need and what they want. And it’s a question of what we’re willing to do.”

Ginsburg added: “We gave them a complete proffer [the summary of what Lewinsky would be willing to say under oath]. I fall back on my Harry Truman quote, ‘They think we give them hell: We give them the truth and they think it’s hell.’ ”

Sometime next week, Ginsburg said, he and Lewinsky will return to Washington.

In the interim, separate talks are expected to continue between Starr’s staff and White House lawyers over the production of records and witnesses sought by prosecutors. Clinton has pledged full cooperation with the investigation.

However, Starr has been blocked from questioning Secret Service agents who might be able to shed light on their observations of Lewinsky in the executive mansion, where she visited more than 30 times between April 1996 and Dec. 28, 1997.

And White House lawyers are raising the possibility of asserting executive or other privileges to circumscribe questions that two top presidential aides, Deputy Counsel Bruce R. Lindsey and Deputy Chief of Staff John D. Podesta, would otherwise be faced with answering.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said the discussions concerning executive privilege are aimed at protecting “the right of the president to get confidential advice from his advisors.”

Starr has subpoenaed a wide range of White House records and is seeking the testimony of dozens of witnesses to determine whether Clinton or anyone on his behalf encouraged prospective witnesses in the sexual-harassment case to lie under oath.

Vice President Al Gore, appearing Wednesday on NBC-TV’s “Today” show, said he believes Clinton’s denials of wrongdoing. Gore passed up the opportunity to endorse First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s contention that Starr’s investigation is undergirded by a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”

“I’m not going to comment on Judge Starr,” Gore said, referring to Starr’s former tenure on a federal appeals court. “But there’s no question that there have been unprecedented attacks on this president and on the agenda that we’ve been pursuing.”

Times staff writer Richard A. Serrano contributed to this story.