Looking for an Exit Sign

The Senate’s impeachment trial of President Clinton has narrowed down to nothing more noble or momentous than a search for the exit from a political morass.

Conviction of Clinton on either of the charges against him--perjury and obstruction of justice--is acknowledged to be all but unobtainable. A majority view that the process should be brought to an early end is apparent. The Senate should just do the sensible thing and move promptly to a vote, bringing this sordid and wearying business to a close.

Yet it goes on, mainly because a significant number of Republican senators continue to fret that they might be accused of being in too big a hurry to scuttle the impeachment work done by their House counterparts. Meanwhile, a substantial number of Democrats still want the chance to vote to censure Clinton for the irresponsible behavior that brought him to this pass. Many Republicans still oppose a censure resolution, some arguing that it is not provided for in the Constitution (though neither is it prohibited), while others fear that offering a softer alternative to removing Clinton from office could dilute potential votes for conviction.

The House managers’ desperate weekend ploy of bringing Monica S. Lewinsky to a $5,000-a-day Washington hotel suite (ultimately paid for, of course, by taxpayers) so that she could answer the same questions she has answered many times before seems not to have advanced their case an iota. Senators are expected to vote today on whether to hear formally from Lewinsky or other witnesses. On that motion some defections from the Republican majority are possible.

On Monday, speaking in opposition to a Democratic motion to dismiss the articles against Clinton, Rep. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) made the startling assertion that to refuse to permit witnesses to be called now would be to deprive the House managers of their chance to present their case. To make that claim this late in the day is to all but admit that the cumulative weight of thousands of pages of sworn grand jury testimony, scores of hours of House Judiciary Committee hearings and weeks of the Senate trial have failed to establish that Clinton deserves to be convicted of the charges against him.

A rule dating from 1868 requires the Senate to go into closed session in an impeachment trial whenever the senators debate among themselves. Late Monday afternoon the Senate voted not to suspend that rule and immediately afterward shut its doors to the public to debate whether to dismiss the charges against Clinton.

One of the reasons senators give for taking refuge in secret sessions is that it allows them to speak more candidly and without fear of political repercussions. That same craven argument could of course be made for virtually any debate Congress holds. By fleeing the sunshine of open discussion, the Senate only added to the distrust of Congress that the impeachment process has so notably dramatized.