Starr Sends Report to House for Possible Clinton Impeachment

After four years of investigation, independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr delivered to the House on Wednesday what his office described as “substantial and credible information that may constitute grounds for impeachment of the president of the United States.”

The late afternoon arrival of Starr’s long-awaited report--in 36 cardboard boxes packed into two vans--sets in motion a constitutional process that will weigh whether the nation’s top elected official should be disciplined or allowed to serve out his presidency. Only twice before in American history has Congress seriously considered impeachment of a president.

In language heavy with the historical moment of the day, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), who will oversee the initial congressional inquiry of the Monica S. Lewinsky affair, said:

“We begin a process of immense consequence--a process which our Constitution thrusts on the House of Representatives. The solemn duty that confronts us requires that we attain a heroic level of bipartisanship and that we conduct our deliberations in a fair, full and independent manner.”

On other fronts Wednesday:

* At a Florida fund-raiser, a grim Clinton sounded yet another apology, saying: “I . . . let you down and I let my family down and I let this country down. But I’m trying to make it right. And I’m determined never to let anything like that happen again.”

* On the lawn of the White House, David E. Kendall, his private attorney, complained that he and the president were not allowed to preview the report before it went to Capitol Hill. “But we do know this,” he said in firm voice, “there is no basis for impeachment.”

* Throughout the Capitol building, the report’s arrival, a surprise delivered on the very day the House returned from its summer vacation, set the place abuzz. Less than an hour after Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) predicted bipartisan agreement on how to proceed, he took the House chair and immediately began sparring with Democrats on when it might be released.

* Today the House Rules Committee is expected to recommend that the full House vote Friday to make 445 pages of the report, including 140 pages described as “grounds” for impeachment, available to the public. This speedy timetable likely would mean a public unveiling of the material before the weekend.

But in a town famous for instant news developments and lousy secret-keeping, some details of the report were already seeping out.

One legal source said he was advised that the report accuses Clinton of perjury in his legal deposition in the Paula Corbin Jones civil suit, specifically for denying sexual encounters with Lewinsky “when the meaning of the question was clear” and later for defending that answer in his grand jury testimony at the White House on Aug. 17.

The source said that the report also cites Clinton for perjury for telling Jones’ lawyers that he could not remember having been alone with Lewinsky, except when she delivered papers to him.

In addition, the report is said to include evidence supporting abuse of power and obstruction of justice allegations against Clinton, based on his use of his office and authority to conceal the truth and his alleged efforts to influence Lewinsky’s testimony in the Jones case by giving her personal gifts and helping her in a job search after she left the White House.

Many lawmakers already have signaled their desire to release the report’s 25-page introduction and to authorize the Judiciary Committee to examine and possibly release other parts--including about 2,000 pages of supporting material--as the congressional investigation proceeds.

The House Rules Committee also is expected to recommend today that the remaining 17 of 18 boxes of materials remain under seal, available only to Judiciary Committee members until they have had a chance to decide what is appropriate for public consumption.

House Rules Committee Chairman Gerald B.H. Solomon (R-N.Y.) said Wednesday night that the House could vote before the end of the session--preceding November’s elections--to authorize an impeachment inquiry, although it is doubtful that there is time to launch such a review this year.

A newly elected House would have to vote again on such an inquiry, Solomon said.

Positive Talk Grows Abrasive

Regardless of how the process develops, the rhetoric that began on a positive pitch grew decidedly abrasive.

In the morning, Republican and Democratic leaders met and afterward spoke ambitiously of working together.

“Next to declaring war, this may be the most important thing that we do,” said House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). “We have to do it right. We have to do it objectively, fairly and in a nonpartisan way.”

Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), who has called Clinton’s actions “shameless” and said that he would resign if he were the president, softened his tone Wednesday.

“I will expect this to be handled in a professional manner, an objective manner,” Armey said. “I would have to say to any member who believes this is the time for partisan antics, pity for you.”

The day’s high drama was set in motion with an unexpected telephone call.

Starr’s office called Wilson “Bill” Livingood, the House sergeant-at-arms, at 3:45 p.m. EDT and told him that a two-van convoy with 36 white cardboard boxes was on its way to the Capitol. Fifteen minutes later, the vans pulled up to the north steps of the House wing.

“We did a quick inventory to make sure that there was a proper accounting of all of the boxes,” said Sgt. Dan Nichols of the Capitol police. “And at that point they came under the possession of the House of Representatives.”

A second convoy, with a police car at the front and rear, then traveled several blocks to the Gerald R. Ford House Office Building. There, the documents were put under police guard.

Even the White House was surprised by Starr’s delivery of the report.

“We became aware of the transition of this report to Congress by watching media accounts,” said spokesman Joe Lockhart.

‘Letter of Transmittal’ Signed by Starr

Gingrich, who promised that no one would have access to the papers until the full House votes on how to proceed, met briefly with members of Starr’s staff at the Capitol. He and Gephardt were handed a one-page, legal “letter of transmittal” signed by Starr.

The letter outlined the federal statutes under which Starr was delivering the conclusions of his eight-month investigation into the president’s relationship with the former White House intern and whether he attempted to obstruct justice by committing or suborning perjury.

Starr too urged secrecy of the report for the time being.

“The contents of the referral may not be publicly disclosed unless and until authorized by the House of Representatives,” Starr said in his letter. “Many of the supporting materials contain information of a personal nature that I respectfully urge the House to treat as confidential.”

Charles G. Bakaly III, an attorney who acts as Starr’s spokesman, said the investigation now falls to the House.

“The Office of the Independent Counsel submitted a referral to the House of Representatives containing substantial and credible information that may constitute grounds for impeachment of the president of the United States,” Bakaly announced on the north grounds of the House wing.

He refused to divulge details of the report, including whether it also addresses other long-running Starr investigations, such as irregularities with the White House travel office and the leaking of confidential FBI files, as well as matters related to the Whitewater real estate deals, which Starr began investigating four years ago.

In addition to the 140 pages laying out possible grounds for impeachment, other parts of the report likely to be made public as soon as Friday are a 25-page introduction and a 280-page narrative, Solomon said.

Bakaly seemed to bristle at suggestions that Starr’s office made a media show of presenting the report by first alerting numerous Washington press organizations and then delivering the boxes in a public display before live television cameras.

He also deflected questions about why Starr himself did not personally deliver the report. “Mr. Starr has things he’s doing,” Bakaly said. “We did the transmittal; he sent the letter. There is no significance one way or the other to draw from that.”

The vans arrived as Gingrich and other House GOP leaders were winding down a press conference across the street on the portico of the Library of Congress.

There, he announced that a “joint effort” was underway between members of the House Rules and Judiciary committees on “how we will handle the report.”

“We had a very effective bipartisan meeting this morning,” Gingrich added of his session with Gephardt and other Democratic leaders. “There is a unanimous commitment to working together.”

But an hour later, Gingrich and some Democratic members were already sparring on the House floor.

Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) asked why all House members could not review the report immediately.

Gingrich promised him that the material was better kept safely under wraps for now. “No member of the House, neither the speaker nor the minority leader nor any staff member, has access to these documents,” the speaker said.

Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) wondered how his party would be protected from a situation where only GOP officials, who have a majority of members in the House, would see the report.

Gingrich responded by urging him to meet with his own party leaders and the GOP leadership, if he desired. He also said that Taylor--and every member--has a vote on the resolution on how the report should be handled.

The speaker even took flak from within his own party. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), who long has sought an inquiry into Clinton’s impeachment, stood outside as the boxes were unloaded and urged immediate public release of all of the material.

“Just as quickly as possible the public needs to have access to this,” said Barr, a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “This is a report that concerns the highest office of the land, the greatest constitutional issues and the public needs to be a part of this.”

On the Democratic side, Gephardt still pushed for the Clinton White House to have a preview look at the documents before they are made public. He said that White House lawyers should have an opportunity to respond to Starr’s findings.

This morning, the president will meet with Senate Democrats and his Cabinet, a session at which Clinton’s legal and political peril are sure to figure prominently.

One official described Clinton’s strategy as multidimensional. “It’s one part contrition,” he said. “One part staying on the issues. One part reaching out to Congress. One part maintaining your dignity.

“And one part is going to be responding to the report.”

Times staff members Robert L. Jackson, Elizabeth Shogren and David Willman contributed to this story.

Times on the Web

* The full text of Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s Wednesday Senate-floor speech regarding the Monica S. Lewinsky matter is on The Times’ Web site.

https://www.latimes.com/scandal

* BOXER WANTS CLINTON: Calif. Sen. Barbara Boxer, facing “the race of my life,” wants Clinton to campaign for her. A3

* SPECIAL DELIVERY: A pair of vans brings 36 boxes to a stunned Capitol, the fruit of Starr’s investigation. A19

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What’s Next

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday received Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s massive report, setting into motion a possible impeachment procedure:

1. The Rules Committee, with approval from the full House, sets procedures for the Judiciary Committee to review the report.

2. The Judiciary Committee recommends launching an inquiry.

3. The House votes for the Judiciary Committee to begin hearings.

4. The Judiciary Committee reports articles of impeachment to the House, which approves by majority vote.

5. At any time, the House or the Senate may vote to censure the president.

6. The Senate conducts a trial, presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, on whether the President is fit to hold office.

7. A two-thirds majority of senators vote for impeachment and the president is removed from office.

Source: House Rules Committee