Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (1549)	9/4/1998 6:30:00 PM
From: Who, me?	Respond to of 67261

Congressmen To Meet on Starr Report By DAVID ESPO Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Speaker Newt Gingrich, Democratic leader Dick Gephardt and other senior House leaders will meet next week in anticipation of an independent counsel's report detailing evidence of allegedly impeachable offenses by President Clinton. Gephardt, concerned that Republicans were shutting Democrats out of the planning, requested the session in a telephone conversation with Gingrich, and the speaker agreed, officials said Friday. It marked the first time the two men -- longtime political adversaries with a frosty personal relationship -- are known to have discussed the issue. Despite speculation that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr is nearing completion of a report to Congress, there has been no formal announcement from his office, and congressional officials said Friday they have no knowledge of whether they might receive such a report. ''Mr. Gephardt had a productive phone call with the speaker,'' said a spokesman, Erik Smith. ''In his conversation, the speaker pledged that Democrats would be partners in the decision-making process and agreed to a meeting on Wednesday to outline procedures for dealing with a report to Congress.'' He quoted Gephardt as adding: ''If this process must begin, it is among the most serious responsibilities Congress will undertake and it must be conducted in a truly bipartisan manner.'' A Republican leadership aide, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said Gingrich ''made clear that he hoped the process would remain bipartisan, he hoped the members would not prejudge until they have reviewed all the evidence and that he had tremendous confidence in the ability of Henry Hyde to lead this process.'' Hyde, R-Ill., chairs the House Judiciary Committee, which would have jurisdiction over any report Starr submits. Gephardt was in his home state of Missouri and Gingrich was vacationing in Montana when they spoke and arranged the meeting. Starr's investigation began four years ago and has ranged over numerous topics, including Clinton's confessed sexual trysts with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern. In political terms, Wednesday's meeting will take place amidst a backdrop of rising concern among Democrats that Clinton's personal troubles will exact a heavy price on their fortunes in this fall's elections. Clinton himself uttered the words ''I'm sorry'' on Friday, the first time he has done so in public since admitting he had had sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky and then hid the truth from the public for months. In what GOP aides said was a coincidence, a key House Republican, Rep. Gerald Solomon of New York who chairs the Rules Committee, issued a statement Friday saying he had been working closely with Hyde in drafting procedures to handle any report that Starr submits. He said his intention was to give the Judiciary Committee sole jurisdiction over the full report, and any executive summary would be made available to all members of Congress. If the Judiciary Committee later determines that a full impeachment inquiry is warranted, he said, the entire contents of the report should be released to all lawmakers. As Rules Committee chairman, Solomon is closely allied with GOP leaders, but he said in an interview there had been no consultation with Gingrich or other top Republican lawmakers on his proposal. Democrats swiftly cited the statement's reference to Solomon and Hyde as evidence that Republicans were ignoring Democrats' wishes in preparing for the report and any action toward impeachment that will follow. In addition, they complained that committee Republicans had not yet approved the employment contract for Abbe Lowell, a Washington lawyer hired to be the principal Democratic staff aide on the case. In reply, a GOP committee official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the contract's final details had been resolved and committee members were being polled to gain their approval. Still, the dustup reflected the distrust between the two parties in a House closely divided along partisan lines and heading toward the November elections. Officials said Gingrich, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, Gephardt, Hyde and Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the Judiciary Committee's senior Democrat, will meet Wednesday to review preparations for the report. Democrats cited numerous issues to be addressed, ranging from the number of staff aides allotted to each party to extent to which Democrat would get a say in the process by which the committee would issue and enforce subpoenas.

To: Bill who wrote (1549)	9/4/1998 6:42:00 PM
From: Who, me?	Respond to of 67261

9/4/98 -- 6:22 PM Judge won't delay Susan McDougal's embezzlement trial SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - A judge Friday refused to further delay Whitewater figure Susan McDougal's embezzlement trial, saying the defense had been given enough time to prepare for the case. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday. Mrs. McDougal is charged with embezzling $150,000 from conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife. She is also charged with tax fraud involving her employment as bookkeeper and personal assistant to the Mehtas from 1989 to 1992. The case was filed five years ago and has been delayed repeatedly. It is unrelated to the investigation by Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr, which has involved Mrs. McDougal, 43, a former business partner of President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. At a hearing Friday, Superior Court Judge Leslie Light said the prosecution may pursue a theory that Mrs. McDougal had a motive to forge credit cards and checks on Nancy Mehta's account. He said the theory would be that Mrs. McDougal had become accustomed to a ''high lifestyle,'' did not have the money to maintain it and could not get credit on her own. Light said the prosecution would claim Mrs. McDougal made fraudulent credit applications listing her sister and Mrs. Mehta to try to get a credit card. ''We're not going to have great controversy over what checks she wrote and what credit cards she used,'' the judge said. ''The question is was it authorized by the Mehtas, as the defense will claim, or was it not authorized?'' ''The issue boils down to the credibility of Mrs. McDougal and Mrs. Mehta,'' he told the lawyers. Mrs. McDougal said nothing during the hearing. A gag order prevents involved the parties from commenting on the case, but defense attorney Mark Geragos was asked outside court why Mrs. McDougal has not spoken out on the controversy surrounding Clinton. ''Susan is focused on this case and once this case is over you won't be able to keep a lid on her,'' Geragos said. ''She has a lot to say.'' Mrs. McDougal spent nearly two years behind bars rather than testify before the federal grand jury investigating Clinton. She also served 3 1/2 months of a two-year sentence for fraudulently obtaining a government-backed loan in 1986. She still faces federal trial in Arkansas, where she was charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before Starr's grand jury.