Prosecutors Push to Prolong Trial

The controversy over whether White House aide Sidney Blumenthal spread adverse comments about former intern Monica S. Lewinsky escalated Monday after House managers asked the Senate to prolong its impeachment trial so they could call new witnesses in the case.

Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), the chief House manager, sent a letter to Senate leaders asking for a delay so depositions could be taken from three journalists who have submitted affidavits contradicting Blumenthal’s testimony that he did not malign Lewinsky’s character.

Hyde said that, if Blumenthal’s testimony were shown to be false, “it would reveal that the White House as an institution may have been used by the president to obstruct justice for his legal and political benefit.”

Nevertheless, while Republicans discussed the matter at a party caucus early Monday, strategists in both parties said it seemed unlikely that the Senate would delay its trial over the controversy.

Under a bipartisan procedure worked out for the rest of the trial, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has authority to veto requests to call further witnesses, and aides said that they expect him to exercise it if Republicans press the issue.

In an initial skirmish Monday, Daschle blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to obtain the unanimous consent of senators to place the affidavit into the trial record. Lott is expected to try again today.

The information has been turned over to the Senate legal counsel, who is expected to decide whether to refer it to the Justice Department or independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr for investigation. If authorities believe that Blumenthal lied, they could charge him with perjury.

Republicans said that the Senate also could ask its own Judiciary Committee to look into the allegations, without necessarily prolonging the impeachment trial. Several senators of both parties have urged their leaders not to delay the trial.

Under the schedule agreed upon by Senate leaders last week, the chamber is expected to end the trial when it takes its votes on the two articles of impeachment Thursday or Friday. It may take up a resolution later to censure the president.

Two of the affidavits came from freelance journalists Christopher Hitchens and Carol Blue, his wife, who say that Blumenthal told them at a private lunch in March that President Clinton had called Lewinsky a “stalker” and said she was “crazy.”

The third is from R. Scott Armstrong, a onetime investigative reporter for the Washington Post who has since served as a Senate investigator and now works as an author and freelance writer.

Armstrong’s affidavit, made public by Hyde on Monday along with those of Hitchens and Blue, says only that he talked to the couple after their lunch and that they told him about Blumenthal’s remarks.

Blumenthal has denied that he spread adverse material about Lewinsky to the press.

Times staff writer Elizabeth Shogren contributed to this story.