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Politics : Did Slick Boink Monica? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MulhollandDrive who wrote (16787)	7/6/1998 10:50:00 AM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20981

It's a race. Who can create the biggest database - Microsoft with its TerraServer or the House GOP and it's compilation of Clinton crimes. Hyde Warns Panel To Be Nearby Judiciary On Standby For Starr's Report --------------------------------------------------------------------- By Norah M. O'Donnell and Jim VandeHei House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill), who anticipates that independent counsel Kenneth Starr will send an impeachment report to Congress this month, has warned committee Republicans and key staff to be prepared to return to Washington on "48 hours notice" in August. Hyde told a closed-door meeting of Judiciary Republicans on June 25 to expect a report as early as next week and not to schedule any vacations in August, according to a GOP Member who attended the meeting and other Republican staffers who were briefed on the meeting. A Hyde spokesman said the chairman's directives were based solely on his reading of media reports -- not on inside knowledge from Starr's office. "There was clearly a sense that the report would come in July," the Judiciary Member said. "Hyde basically said, 'Don't book a two-week Caribbean cruise in August.'" Asked why the meeting was held, the House Republican responded, "I got an inkling that a report was imminent." The Member added: "There has never been any other meeting like this. I don't think they would do this whimsically. Members were told to expect a report at the end of July." Judiciary staffers noted that a July report would signal that Starr plans to turn over an incomplete report that does not include testimony from two key witnesses, White House deputy counsel Bruce Lindsey and Monica Lewinsky, who is alleged to have had a relationship with President Clinton and lied about it under oath. Top Republicans, including Hyde and Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), have said they do not want an "incomplete" or "half-baked" report from Starr. Nevertheless, Hyde has said he will act on any report submitted by Starr. Hyde's instructions, coupled with other efforts to educate Judiciary Republicans on the process and procedures of impeachment hearings, is a clear signal that House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga) plans to defer to Hyde if Starr files any report, several GOP sources said. "It was clear that they wanted to keep this as far away from [House Minority Leader] Dick Gephardt [D-Mo] and Gingrich," the Judiciary Member said of the discussion in the meeting. Gingrich, however, refuses to confirm that Judiciary will run the show. Rep. James Rogan (R-Calif), who was tapped by Gingrich to research the rules and procedures that have governed past high-profile Congressional investigations, has briefed several Judiciary Republicans on how the impeachment process will work. In addition, Hyde's staff -- led by lead investigator David Schippers -- has thoroughly examined publicly available information on the Starr investigation and plans to bring Members up to speed when they return from their two-week recess. While Schippers and his team of investigators are heading up an oversight investigation of the Justice Department, they have spent hours studying the impeachment process and preparing for Starr's report. In another sign that Hyde's committee will be operation central for impeachment activity, a knowledgeable GOP source said Hyde's staff requested and received the technology to replicate a database of information dealing with past and present investigations of Clinton. The database is currently controlled by House Government Reform and Oversight Chairman Dan Burton (R-Ind). The database, which was created by former Burton investigator David Bossie, contains more than 100,000 files of evidence against Clinton that can be cross-referenced with any material Hyde's staff would uncover. Hyde's staff has only received a "shell" that allows them to input their own information, mostly public documents, but that information could easily be merged with Burton's evidence if needed, according to a Republican source familiar with the database. Judiciary ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich) and committee Democrats, meanwhile, have met a few times to discuss their strategy if Starr files a report this year. Most of the discussions, however, have been confined to Conyers and Gephardt along with Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Howard Berman (D-Calif). Conyers has hired his first two investigators who likely would handle any impeachment hearings for Democrats: Kevin Simpson and Steven Reich. A Conyers spokesman refused to discuss their roles. Democrats were not invited to the Hyde meeting that was held just before the Independence Day recess. The meeting was described as a "serious and pointed meeting" by one top Republican aide to a Judiciary Member, who was briefed following the almost hour-long session. The source said Hyde's comments signaled more than a "cautious approach." In the event that such a report were delivered, Members would spend August reading the report and drafting strategy. According to the Member, Hyde basically said "just to be prepared" if the report should come and "remember that our summer is not our own." Such a decision would required Judiciary staff members to also work during the break. "Staff would have it in August and would be working full-speed ahead and that is why we have to be ready to return," the GOP Member said. But the Member added, "The time is not etched in stone by any means. I didn't get the feeling that it was concrete."