Senators to Vote Today as Margins for Acquittal Grow

WASHINGTON —  Historic impeachment ballots will be cast today, with President Clinton’s acquittal a foregone conclusion and prospects growing that both of the charges against him may not even win majorities.

On Thursday, as senators were winding up their third day of closed-door deliberations, Republican Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine announced that she would join Democrats in voting against the allegations that Clinton committed perjury and obstructed justice in seeking to conceal his affair with Monica S. Lewinsky.

She became the fifth Republican to go on record against the perjury charge, making it highly likely that the allegation will fall short of the majority vote some GOP leaders have hoped could be achieved in the case. Four Republicans, including Snowe, also have announced plans to vote against the obstruction charge.

Thursday night, sources close to Susan Collins, Maine’s other Republican senator, said that they expect her to vote to acquit Clinton on both charges. Collins made no public comment during the day and her office had no comment.

With 55 Republicans in the 100-member Senate, a crossover by five would prevent either charge from receiving a majority, presuming that the 45 Democratic senators vote as a bloc to acquit.

From the beginning of the monthlong trial, it has been assumed that the impeachment charges would fail to get the two-thirds vote required to make Clinton the first president forced from the White House.

Snowe, in explaining her intentions Thursday, said: “The president’s behavior has damaged the office of the presidency, the nation and everyone involved in this matter.”

Still, she concluded, his actions did not justify ousting him from office. “There are only two potential victims left--the Senate and the Constitution--and I am firmly resolved to allow neither to join the ranks of the aggrieved.”

But two other Republicans who had been counted as possible not-guilty votes, Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon and Sen. Robert F. Bennett of Utah, announced that they will vote to convict Clinton on both articles.

Smith said that Clinton, in his behavior in the Lewinsky scandal, has set an example “corrosive beyond comprehension” for the nation.

Bennett said: “I don’t think there’s any question that Bill Clinton will go down in history as the most accomplished and polished liar that we have ever had serving in the White House.” He went on to predict that the name Clinton would become “a synonym for an elegant, well-crafted lie.”

On Wednesday, Republican Sens. James M. Jeffords of Vermont and John H. Chafee of Rhode Island announced that they would vote to acquit the president on both charges, while Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said that he would seek to vote “not proven.” Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) has said that he will vote not guilty on the perjury count but guilty on obstruction of justice.

Voting Could Begin This Morning

Most Republicans are expected to join Smith and Bennett in voting to convict Clinton on both charges. But a handful of those viewed as possible acquittal votes have yet to publicly tip their hand.

According to a schedule spelled out by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the roll call on the articles of impeachment could began as early as 8:30 a.m. PST today.

The vote will be preceded by final deliberations behind closed doors, beginning at 6:30 a.m. PST.

Lott initially had hoped that the vote would occur Thursday evening, but that plan was dashed by the slow pace of deliberations, as most senators used the full 15 minutes of time allotted to them for speeches, and sometimes more.

According to various senators, there has been a minimum of give-and-take during the private sessions, and few thought the statements read by lawmakers had changed many minds.

With the long-awaited impeachment verdict looming, it appeared increasingly unlikely Thursday that senators also would be asked to vote on a formal censure of Clinton.

Led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a bipartisan group of senators has pushed for including in the trial record a resolution condemning Clinton for his affair with Lewinsky, a former White House intern, and for misleading the public about it. But GOP opponents have pledged to block such a resolution from being considered.

“Procedurally, getting it onto the floor is almost impossible,” said Bennett, a censure proponent.

Under a new plan, the clerk of the Senate would be asked to read into the record a statement of censure, but it would not be acted on.

It is believed that most Democrats and about a dozen Republicans will sign the statement.

Report That Clinton Wants Revenge at Polls

Outside the chamber Thursday, nerves were raw over a newspaper story that quoted unnamed Clinton advisors as saying that the president wants to seek revenge for his impeachment by targeting for defeat in 2000 some of the House Republicans who led the effort.

The idea prompted immediate cries from Republican leaders, even as it triggered a quick White House denial.

It is no secret that Clinton will play a major role in the Democratic drive to capture the House, where the Republicans have a slim 11-seat margin. But White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart denied the New York Times story that there is a payback plan at the White House aimed at leading impeachment advocates.

“I can’t think of a worse, more dumb strategy than going after people based on whether they were a House [impeachment] manager . . . ,” Lockhart said. “I think we’re a little bit smarter than that.”

Still, Republicans reacted sharply. Lott issued a terse written statement: “It is deeply troubling that the president views closure of this constitutional process as an opportunity for revenge.”

Jim Nicholson, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said that, in responding to any such plan by Clinton, he would borrow the response by a U.S. general when the German army suggested American troops surrender during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge: “Nuts!”

A reporter asked Nicholson if, in this case, Republicans felt as if they were surrounded by Democrats. “Not at all,” he responded. “In fact, the Republican Party is in good shape. . . . We have the issues on our side.”

Brief Comment by President

Also Thursday, White House officials continued to work on a plan for the president to make a brief comment after today’s vote. But it is not yet known what he will say.

Lockhart last week announced that the White House would be a “gloat-free zone” after the presumed acquittal, so it is not expected that he will attend anything comparable to the rally with House Democrats that followed House passage of the impeachment articles in December. But Clinton aides added that the president should not be expected to project a dejected image.

“There is no appetite for celebration,” one senior official said. “It would be like celebrating an earthquake. You may survive an earthquake, but you don’t have a party. But you also don’t sit in a corner in a fetal position.”

The only plans White House officials were willing to discuss for the president’s day were that he would tape his weekly radio address and meet, as scheduled, with Chief of Staff John Podesta and National Security Advisor Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger.

For the most part Thursday, senators who released the statements that they delivered during the closed deliberations lined up under the banners of their political parties.

Feinstein and California’s other Democratic senator, Barbara Boxer, addressed their colleagues Thursday and detailed the reasons they plan to vote to acquit Clinton.

Feinstein said the House prosecutors had failed to establish “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Clinton is guilty of perjury or obstruction of justice. She also repeated her condemnations of the president’s behavior.

“I don’t want anyone to believe that I am not concerned by the character flaws and the values and the conduct that this chapter of history has revealed,” she said. “In no way, shape or form can I condone the president’s conduct.”

During her floor speech, Feinstein also made another pitch for a formal censure resolution, calling it a way of “expressing our conclusions regarding the president’s conduct in a legislative sense.”

Boxer, in her statement, said that “the ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ constitutional requirement for removal has not been met--not even close.”

“The Constitution does not say remove the president if he fails to be a role model for our children. It does not say remove the president if he violates the military code of conduct or the Senate ethics code. It does not say remove the president if he brings pain to his family.”

She added: “It says very clearly that the president shall be impeached and removed from office only for committing treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Hatch Criticizes Justice Department

In another development Thursday, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, scolded the Justice Department for allegedly leaking reports to the media in recent days about possible wrongdoing by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s office.

Hatch said that he wants a full explanation at a meeting today with Atty. Gen. Janet Reno’s chief deputy.

Reno refused to say Thursday whether Justice officials are looking into allegations about Starr’s office.

Times staff writers Elizabeth Shogren, Sheila Hotchkin, Eric Lichtblau and Faye Fiore contributed to this story.

Watch live video coverage and get updates on today’s Senate impeachment votes on The Times’ Web site: http://ukobiw.net/impeach