GOP Sees ‘Equal Justice’ Issue; Democrats Warn of Consequences

WASHINGTON —  In their official report that arrives today in the offices of all 435 members of the House, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee will argue that any vote not to impeach President Clinton will be seen as a violation of the fundamental American credo that promises “equal justice” for all Americans.

But committee Democrats, taking their own last stab at derailing what seems an almost sure vote for impeachment, will warn their colleagues that history will never forgive Congress for using personal misconduct by a president in “decapitating the executive branch.”

Both reports were being printed overnight Tuesday and are to hit the desks of all members of the full House today. Partial copies were made available to The Times.

Because this is only the second time in the nation’s history that the full House will consider articles of impeachment against a president, the official committee reports carry significant weight with the full House, particularly among those members still undeclared or undecided on how they might vote.

The documents also are crucial road maps for lawmakers who are trying to make their ways through the minefield of evidence accumulated in the Monica S. Lewinsky matter as they try to determine whether Clinton committed perjury, obstructed justice and abused his presidential power in trying to conceal his affair with the former White House intern.

Constitutional Mandate Cited

The Republicans on Tuesday evening released the introduction to their report, which says that a vote for impeachment is as simple as standing up for the guiding force of “equal justice under law” mandated by the Constitution.

“The president of the United States must work with the Judicial and Legislative branches to sustain that force,” the Republican report says. “The temporary trustee of that office, William Jefferson Clinton, worked to defeat it.”

It is his “resistance” to admitting that he has violated his oath as president that “brings us to this most unfortunate juncture,” the GOP introduction says.

The two-page introduction also alleges that Clinton encouraged Lewinsky to file a false affidavit in the Paula Corbin Jones sexual harassment lawsuit.

“He intensified his efforts to provide [Lewinsky] with help in getting a job to ensure that she carried out his designs,” the Republicans say.

The GOP report adds that Clinton provided “numerous false answers” in his own deposition in the Jones case and, later, in his appearance before the federal grand jury hearing evidence for the investigation of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr.

Further, the report says, Clinton tampered with other potential witnesses, such as his personal secretary, Betty Currie, to influence their testimony and help him conceal his extramarital involvement with Lewinsky.

“His high crimes and misdemeanors undermine our Constitution,” the Republicans say. “They warrant his impeachment, his removal from office and his disqualification from holding further office.”

Committee Democrats released 93 pages of their report Tuesday afternoon. They maintain that, even if Clinton is guilty of the charges, his actions do not pass the constitutional test of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The document also sets out a strong defense for the president, claiming that he never intentionally meant to mislead anyone in his testimony in the Jones case or his federal grand jury testimony.

Further, it cites testimony from both Clinton and Lewinsky in which both of them state that he was not trying to win her silence about their affair by helping find her a new job.

“Fundamentally, Judiciary Democrats believe that the president’s conduct was wrongful in attempting to conceal an extramarital affair,” they say.

Perversion of Constitution Seen

But they argue that his conduct does not merit overturning the 1996 presidential election by “decapitating the executive branch and disenfranchising the electorate in its most important and only collective decision.”

They accuse the Republican Party of pushing for impeachment merely “to express its displeasure for what the president has done.”

The Democrats add: “We regard this use of the impeachment sword as a perversion of the constitutional form of government and as an arrogation of power by the House Republicans.”

The Democrats sharply criticize Starr for being too aggressive and perhaps overstepping his bounds in his pursuit of the Clinton White House.

They chastise certain other players in the Clinton-Lewinsky drama, most notably Lewinsky’s onetime friend, Linda Tripp, who secretly taped their telephone conversations.

They accuse Tripp of baiting Lewinsky by planting in her mind the idea that the White House was indeed trying to muzzle her by offering her a job in return for filing a false affidavit in the Jones case.

“The evidence makes clear that Ms. Tripp was the only person to suggest a jobs-for-affidavit trade,” the Democrats say. “Ms. Lewinsky repeatedly made that point in her interviews with [Starr’s] staff and in her grand jury appearances.”

The Democrats vouch for Clinton friend Vernon E. Jordan Jr. and say he did not go out of his way to help find Lewinsky a new job.

“As Mr. Jordan testified, Lewinsky was never the main topic of any conversation with the president,” the Democrats said.

The Democrats also point out some inconsistencies between Lewinsky’s testimony and her statements to her friends.

Regardless, Democrats say that “the bottom line is” that Clinton was ashamed of his conduct and was only trying to evade personal embarrassment.

Foundation Called Too Week for Case

“The secrecy surrounding an extramarital relationship, standing alone, is far too weak a foundation on which to construct a criminal case, let alone an impeachment of the president,” the Democrats said. And on the allegation that Clinton lied about Lewinsky in his legal deposition in the Jones case, the Democrats say that the question was irrelevant because evidence about Lewinsky was eventually disqualified from the lawsuit and the suit itself later dismissed.

“In any courtroom in America, so certainly in the halls of Congress, the president’s misstatements about a consensual relationship made during a case alleging non-consensual harassment was not material then and are not grounds for impeachment now.”

The Democrats add: “Simply put, Mrs. Jones would have lost her lawsuit regardless of the president’s deposition testimony.”