Impeachment Turns Legal Eagle Rogan Into a Night Owl

Given his well-documented background as a lawyer and municipal judge, Rep. James Rogan of Glendale is surely no stranger to late-night legal cramming.

But no one, not even the most battle-hardy prosecutor, can say they have experienced the type of court proceeding scheduled to go down in the Senate this week: a trial that might lead to the conviction of President Clinton and his expulsion from office.

“Judge Rogan,” as he is still regarded by some, is one of the 13 House Republicans chosen to present the case for Clinton’s impeachment to the Senate. And Republicans are leaning heavily on Rogan to help prepare witnesses, conduct any possible cross-checking--even give the trial’s closing argument with Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde.

According to an aide, Rogan is not taking his role--which he was surprised to land, being a junior member of the House--lightly. He’s been burning the midnight oil, researching legal precedent and typing up eloquent drafts on an outdated computer. At least they sound eloquent at 2 a.m.

“He’s the kind of guy who will go home for a while, spend some time with his family, and then come back and work until the wee hours of the morning,” said the aide, Jeff Solsby. “He’s spent a lot of time reading and researching in the Library of Congress. It’s pretty busy in there these days.”

Back home in Rogan’s largely Democratic district, not everyone has been thrilled with his pro-impeachment positions. That’s not unusual in Congress these days--the House e-mail server crashed for a day due to the deluge of electronic missives.

But Rogan takes this stuff seriously, and is sending copies of his opening remarks to the Judiciary Committee, where he explained why he would vote for the articles, to roughly 4,000 constituents who contacted him.

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BE IT RESOLVED: Who breaks New Year’s resolutions quickest?

Smokers?

Weight watchers?

Try politicians.

It took the Los Angeles City Council just six days.

Long frustrated that meetings are routinely delayed by half an hour or more, City Council President John Ferraro announced this week that the council’s New Year’s resolution for 1999 was to start meetings on time.

On Wednesday, Ferraro admitted defeat.

“It’s 20 minutes after 10 and I guess the New Year’s resolution didn’t come true,” Ferraro said, noting only six of the 15 council members were in the council chambers at the time.

The council did not reach a quorum of 10 members until 10:30 a.m.

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SPECIAL TREATMENT: Once meetings do get started, they last far too long, according to some council members, who blame colleagues for calling a large number of noncontroversial items for full debate.

In particular, City Councilman Nate Holden drew complaints this week for calling too many agenda items “special,” forcing extended hearings on issues that might have been resolved quickly. Holden has called 10 or more items special, and demanded full briefings on each.

On Wednesday, eight council members, led by Mark Ridley-Thomas, sought a change in the rules to limit to three the number of items a council member can designate as special.

“It is appropriate that our rules allow any member to call an item special,” the motion said. “However, the fact that the act of calling an item special takes up the time of the entire council is an argument that each member exercise some discretion in exercising that right.”

The motion does not mention Holden by name, but he took offense.

“You cannot put a muzzle on the democratic process,” Holden said. “The people elect us to public office so we can have discussions in public, not in private.

“It [the motion] is really symptomatic of what people do here at City Hall in terms of sweeping things under the rug,” Holden added.

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BOYS CLUB? State Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) heard through the grapevine that she was no longer vice chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee--and she’s not happy about the lack of respect.

Days later, Wright, who represents parts of the northwest Valley, had still not heard it from her own caucus.

“If you’re going to stab me, stab me [in] the front,” said Wright, who is being replaced on the committee by Sen. Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga).

In protest, Wright has vowed to create the Senate Republican Women’s Caucus. It would consist of Sen. Cathie Wright, the only Republican woman in the upper house.

“I don’t have any arguments with myself,” she joked. “I agree on everything.”

Wright angered her Republican peers last year when she crossed party lines and became the sole GOP member to support the Democrats’ welfare reform plan. Now she feels out of the loop.

“It isn’t a good way to start the year,” she said of the snub. “They make decisions, they make changes, and I’m never included. . . . The fellows just decide what they’re going to do and I’m not even an afterthought.”

Times staff writer Amy Pyle contributed to this story.