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15 impeachabel offenses? Remember, the lead counsel for the Republicans is a LIFELONG DEMOCRAT!!!
House Panel Discusses Impeachment
By LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Going even further than Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr,
the chief Republican investigator for the House Judiciary Committee today laid out 15
offenses that could be grounds for impeachment of President Clinton.
In a much anticipated report before the committee's expected vote for a broad
impeachment inquiry, David Schippers said there was ''substantial and credible'' evidence
that Clinton may have been ''part of a conspiracy with Monica Lewinsky and others'' to
obstruct justice.
Starr, whose report sparked much criticism from Democrats, reported to the House that
Clinton may have committed 11 impeachable offenses.
Democratic investigator Abbe Lowell was to follow with his analysis of the evidence.
Schippers said there was evidence that Clinton gave false testimony under oath both in his
testimony for the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit and before a federal grand jury.
He also may have conspired to withhold evidence and tamper with witnesses in the Jones
case and before the grand jury, Schippers said.
The Republican investigator said that the lurid sexual details of the president's sexual
relationship with Ms. Lewinsky in Starr's report were ''at best, merely peripheral to the
central issues'' in the case.
''The president and Ms. Lewinsky had developed a 'cover story' to conceal their
activities,'' Schippers said.
The report also said Clinton may have ''aided, abetted, counseled and procured'' Ms.
Lewinsky to file a false affidavit in the Jones case denying a sexual relationship.
Schippers listed several instances in which he said Clinton testified falsely, including his
denial of a sexual relationship in the Jones deposition; his admissions in grand jury
testimony of only ''inappropriate intimate contact''; and his statement in the Jones case that
he could not recall being alone with Ms. Lewinsky.
Schippers said it was wrong for a party to a lawsuit to lie under oath. And he said the
president is ''by virtue of his office, held to a higher standard than any other American.''
The Judiciary Committee hearing, convened to consider whether to open an impeachment
inquiry against Clinton, began with a call from Chairman Henry Hyde for ''an honest effort
to do what is best for the country.''
AP-NY-10-05-98 1422EDT
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