GOP Pushes to Release Clinton Video Testimony

House Republicans infuriated their Democratic counterparts Tuesday by pressing for the immediate release of a videotape of President Clinton’s grand jury testimony in which he reacted angrily to questions about his truthfulness and his sexual relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky.

Republicans said they want the public to see for itself how the president looked and acted when he was asked--under oath--about his affair with the former White House intern and whether he ever attempted to cover up his actions.

But Democrats and the White House charged that the GOP is merely out to score political points by embarrassing Clinton.

Either way, both his supporters and critics clearly consider the video a potentially incendiary piece of evidence if it reaches the public domain. More than any written report, the visual images of an irate and cornered Clinton being played repeatedly on television screens would doubtlessly leave an indelible impression on the public.

The reaction could worsen his political position, as Congress continues to weigh possible impeachment or censure for his misconduct. But it could also spark a sympathetic backlash, furthering the efforts of Clinton allies to depict him as a victim of overzealous foes.

Sources said that Clinton appears visibly upset on the video of his Aug. 17 grand jury testimony, awkwardly answering highly embarrassing questions and clearly making an effort to avoid direct answers.

In other developments Tuesday:

* White House staff members met over lunch with Senate Democrats, only to be told by at least one lawmaker that Clinton should consider resigning, according to luncheon participants. In addition, two other Senate Democrats privately told The Times that Clinton should step down.

* In a sign of some weakening of Clinton’s position among his own Cabinet members, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine, offered what was interpreted as a tepid endorsement of the president. In a session with reporters, the secretary said: “As long as he continues to [effectively carry out his duties], I think we will have to support him.”

* Three new White House officials were named to help boost the president’s defense on Capitol Hill. Gregory Craig, a senior State Department official, will become an assistant to the president; he will be assisted by Steven J. Ricchetti and Susan A. Brophy, both with previous experience in legislative relations.

* Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a resolution for the president to repay the estimated $4.4 million that independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr has spent since launching the Lewinsky part of his investigation in January. White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry responded that Clinton “does not owe taxpayers” but added that, “if there’s a serious effort made in Congress to do that, we’ll consider it when the time comes.”

The bitter fight over the videotape is a clear sign that every step of any impeachment process will be fought in the legislative trenches.

On Friday, the House released a 445-page summary of Starr’s investigation--replete with lurid sexual details--while keeping under wraps voluminous supporting evidence that includes Clinton’s videotaped testimony.

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to decide by Sept. 28 how much more material will be released and a closed-door session to resolve the matter could come on Thursday. While federal law requires that grand jury evidence be kept secret, the House now has custody of the material and can release it as it sees fit.

“Without getting into what the committee may or may not do, it clearly has a responsibility to release” more of the sealed documents, said Sam Stratman, spokesman for the Judiciary panel.

Rep. George W. Gekas (R-Pa.) dismissed the idea that Republicans are trying to humiliate Clinton.

“How more humiliating could we make it for him?” Gekas asked. “He’s been shown on TV shaking his finger and saying he didn’t have sexual relations. We’ve seen him on TV hugging Monica Lewinsky over and over. The man has no shame.”

Added Gekas: “I think all the stuff should be released.”

But Jim Jordan, a spokesman for Judiciary Committee Democrats, declared: “Democratic members feel very strongly that this tape was produced, preserved and sent to us solely for the purpose of embarrassing the president in the most graphic way possible. It seems as though committee Democrats and Republicans have vastly different notions of fairness, due process and nonpartisanship.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who sits on the Judiciary panel, said that nothing should be released until all of the committee members have reviewed everything and not before formally hearing from Clinton’s legal team about how they plan to defend the president.

“I believe that we should follow the process of the criminal justice system that allows for material to be kept confidential,” she said. “Or at least not to be disadvantageous to those people who need to be able to make a defense.”

Waters, added: “I worry about rushing things. This is a very complex and difficult process. I’m concerned more about fairness.”

At the White House, McCurry said he does not believe that release of the video “could be any worse than it already is” for Clinton.

But if the television shows air only a few seconds of the president becoming angry, “it won’t be an accurate portrayal” of the president’s overall demeanor during his lengthy grand jury testimony, McCurry said.

White House staff members attending Tuesday’s prolonged, closed-door lunch meeting with Senate Democrats included Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and his deputy, John Podesta.

“We summarized where we are and where we’re headed,” a White House aide said.

The meeting came after several congressional Democrats joined Republicans in recent days in questioning the Clinton team’s continuing strategy of insisting that the president has been “legally accurate” in denying that he engaged in sexual relations with Lewinsky.

The White House aide said: “We told them [at the Capitol Hill luncheon that] the president was not going to hide behind legalisms.”

But not all of the Senate Democrats were impressed. “It was nothing more than a repeat of what the president has said in the past,” said Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), who on Sunday said Clinton’s defense strategy may be undercutting his public shows of contrition.

Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) was more receptive. “It was an effort to stay in touch . . . to make sure everybody’s on the same page,” he said.

Still, for the first time, at least one senator suggested that Clinton consider resignation as a way of ending the national ordeal, according to several other senators. That senator’s name was not revealed.

After the meeting, two other Democratic senators, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times that they think Clinton should resign.

Another Senate Democrat said that, while the word “resignation” was brought up at the lunch, it was not seriously discussed.

“He’s not going to resign. Absolutely not,” the senator said. “At least not now. But who’s to say six months from now?”

A White House official who sat through most of the luncheon said that he was not present when any senator said that Clinton should consider resignation. But this official, who said White House staff members also met privately with House Democratic leaders, said he returned from the sessions with a very sober estimation of the challenge ahead.

“There’s not a unanimity of opinion among Democrats on the Hill--other than they’re all angry at the president and offended by his behavior,” said the official. “The sentiment in the House and Senate is that they’re concerned about where it could go and they don’t think it’s over.”

Times staff writers Edwin Chen, James Gerstenzang and Elizabeth Shogren contributed to this story.

Participate in a continuing discussion of the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal on The Times’ Web site. Go to: https://www.latimes.com/scandal

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Editorial Opinions

A selection of newspapers that have called for President Clinton’s resignation: (Some of those listed did so before the release of Kenneth W. Starr’s report.)

USA Today

*

California

San Jose Mercury News

The Orange County Register

*

Colorado

The Denver Post

*

Florida

The Orlando Sentinel

The Tampa Tribune

*

Georgia

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

*

Illinois

Chicago Tribune

*

Iowa

The Des Moines Register

*

Louisiana

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

*

Ohio

The Cincinnati Enquirer

*

Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

*

Utah

The Salt Lake Tribune

*

Washington

The Seattle Times

Source: Associated Press