Senate votes for witnesses at trial

Monica Lewinsky and two others may be called at the president's trial. The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The Republican-controlled Senate blocked dismissal of the impeachment case against President Clinton yesterday and then voted for new testimony from Monica Lewinsky and two other witnesses -- but by margins well short of the two-thirds that would be needed to oust the president. In a pair of roll calls in the hushed Senate chamber, all 55 Republicans voted against dismissal and for the witnesses opposed by the White House. They were joined by a single Democrat, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, leaving them far below the 67 needed for conviction. "The president will not be removed from office," Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle declared moments later in comments swiftly seconded by the White House. "For the good of the country and in keeping with the Constitution, it is now time to end this trial." Even before the votes, Daschle and Majority Leader Trent Lott were at work trying to fashion a bipartisan agreement for the balance of the trial, including videotaped depositions of Lewinsky, presidential friend Vernon Jordan and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal. By late afternoon, Lott told reporters the two parties had exchanged offers and he said he was hopeful for agreement today on a timetable for a final vote on the articles of impeachment by mid-February. He suggested the witness depositions -- possibly videotaped -- could take place over the weekend or Monday, and left open the question of whether the White House might then decide it wanted witnesses of its own. Daschle, too, said he was hopeful of an agreement within 24 hours. There was no debate on the Senate floor before yesterday's two votes, but numerous senators issued written statements afterward. "I believe it is premature to dismiss this case at the present time," said Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican who had previously expressed misgivings about witnesses. He said he believed the prosecution "should be allowed the opportunity to demonstrate whether there is new and significant information that would justify live testimony." Apart from Feingold, Democrats were unanimous that whatever Clinton's wrongs, they weren't impeachable offenses. "However reprehensible that conduct was, I do not believe it is constitutional grounds for removing from office a president elected by the people," North Dakota's Byron Dorgan said. White House lawyers have warned repeatedly that calling any witnesses would mean protracted delays to allow for time for a review of documents thus far withheld from the president's team. But in a prepared statement he read to reporters in a Senate corridor, Special Counsel Gregory Craig omitted any mention of a drawn out process consuming many months. "Today's events made clear that the votes are not there to convict and remove the president from office," he said. Sixty-seven votes would be needed. Any further proceedings, "run counter to the best interests of the Congress, the presidency and the American people," Craig said.