Lawyers Begin Clinton's Defense

(1/19/99)

WASHINGTON (AP) _ White House Counsel Charles Ruff opened President Clinton's impeachment defense Tuesday with ringing statements of Clinton's innocence, an attack on the House's "rush to judgment" and a fervent plea to the senators who will decide the president's fate: "He must not be removed from office."

Speaking so quietly at times that some senators strained in their seats to listen, Ruff declared that "William Jefferson Clinton is not guilty of the charges" leveled by the House.

Ruff spoke from his wheelchair, his breastpocket copy of the Constitution on a nearby table, a few hours before Clinton's delivery of the State of the Union address across the Capitol in the House chamber.

The awkward juxtaposition _ a somber trial in the shadow of a moment of grand political pageantry _ prompted some congressional Republicans to announce they would skip the president's speech. Many more said they would attend out of respect for the office if not for the current occupant.

In an opening statement, Ruff offered a point-by-point rebuttal of each allegation, criticized Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr for his handling of witness Linda Tripp and accused the House of "prosecutorial ... fudge" on one key piece of evidence.

"We will defend the president on the facts and on the law and on the constitutional principles that must guide your deliberations," he pledged.

On emotion, too, as he answered Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde's invocation of America's war dead in remarks last week. His father fought at Omaha Beach on D-Day, Ruff said in a chamber suddenly grown deathly still.

"He didn't fight _ no one fought _ for one side of this case or the other," Ruff said, his voice quavering. "He fought as all those did for our country, our Constitution."

Ruff ridiculed the House's demand for witnesses in the case, although Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle conceded on Monday that at least some witnesses are likely to be subpoenaed. No formal decisions have been made, and the possibility of a sharp partisan battle exists in the Senate as the two sides address the issue in the next week or so.

Separately, Republican sources said GOP leaders were continuing to withhold judgment on whether to invite Clinton to testify. They noted that Ruff had referred to Clinton's own unspoken thoughts at key points in the case on which Republicans accuse him of perjury.

One Democrat, California Sen. Barbara Boxer, referred to the political undertones of a trial the public appears to want wrapped up quickly. A party-line vote on calling witnesses means "Republicans will go into the year 2000 as the party of impeachment," she said.

But House Republicans said there was no reason for the Senate to back off, and several aides suggested that by alluding to disagreements about the facts of the case Ruff may have actually increased the likelihood that witnesses will be called.

Unlike last week, this time it was the lawmaker-prosecutors who sat at their table writing notes as the president's counsel spoke. And moments after the day's trial session was over, they rushed out a written rebuttal citing several instances of alleged perjury by Clinton.

Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., said of Ruff's presentation: "He's done the best job with what is an inherently weak case."

Clinton is accused of perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with attempting to conceal his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He has not appeared in the Senate for any of the trial sessions to date, and is not expected to.

As has been the case since the trial began, lines of tourists formed in the plaza outside the Capitol hoping for a 15-minute turn in the public galleries. Among those in the VIP gallery were Whoopi Goldberg, the television personality, who watched bent forward, her face cupped in her hands.

Ruff's appearance in the well of the Senate _ he contracted a paralyzing disease while in Africa in the 1960s and now works from a wheelchair _ came after a three-day presentation of the case against the president by the House prosecutors. The White House added to its legal team, giving former Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., a seat at the table. But officials quickly retreated from a plan to enlist help from three House Democrats after objections were raised.

"William Jefferson Clinton is not guilty of the charges that have been preferred against him," were the first words Ruff directed to the senators, and again his last words. "He did not commit perjury. He did not obstruct justice. He must not be removed from office."

Ruff was biting in his description of the House impeachment process.

"There is not a court anywhere, highest to lowest, that would hesitate, if they were confronted with an indictment written like these articles, to throw it out," Ruff said, glancing toward the table where the House prosecutors sat.

He questioned Starr's decision to permit Mrs. Tripp to provide assistance to Paula Jones' lawyers after beginning to cooperate with prosecutors. The Jones sexual harassment lawsuit was the genesis of the impeachment case, since it was the decision of her attorneys to seek depositions from Ms. Lewinsky and the president that led to Starr's investigation.

Ruff returned to his theory of prosecutorial "fudge-making" later, when he said the House was wrong about its claim that Clinton had ordered his secretary to retrieve gifts the president had given Ms. Lewinsky. Similarly, he said the House was mistaken about a key fact in connection with Clinton's efforts to help Ms. Lewinsky find a job, adding "the prosecutors have got it wrong."

Under the schedule in effect, the White House is expected to continue presenting its defense on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday have been set aside for senators to ask questions of the two teams of attorneys, although the queries will be given to Chief Justice William Rehnquist for him to pose as the presiding judge.