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Impeachment Watch
Hyde Calls on Clinton to Resign
Clinton says it has never crossed his mind
WASHINGTON - - Representative Henry Hyde, the Republican chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee, called Sunday on President Bill Clinton to
resign, saying that it would be a ''heroic'' gesture allowing him to
leave office ''with honor.''
''I think the president should step down,'' Mr. Hyde said on television.
''It would be heroic if he did that: He would be the savior of his
party.''
Mr. Clinton, speaking earlier in Jerusalem, said Sunday, ''I have no
intention of resigning. It's never crossed my mind.''
Under Mr. Hyde's chairmanship, the Judiciary Committee voted after
bitter partisan debate to approve four articles of impeachment against
Mr. Clinton - two of them alleging perjury, one obstruction of justice
and one abuse of power. All stem from Mr. Clinton's efforts to conceal
his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern.
After Democrats were overridden on each of those votes - and on an
attempt to propose a censure of the president as an alternative to
impeachment - their ranking member on the committee, Representative John
Conyers of Michigan, likened the process to a ''coup.''
Mr. Hyde has long enjoyed wide respect from members of both parties. But
he has made clear his support for impeachment and his dislike for Mr.
Clinton's conduct. His words in the House debate are likely to carry
some weight among the 20 or so undecided Republicans who hold Mr.
Clinton's fate in their hands.
Mr. Hyde said he would make the Republicans' opening presentation before
the full House and probably the closing remarks as well.
He recommended resignation as ''a quick and radical solution to the
dilemma we face.''
Thomas Mann, director of governmental studies at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, called Mr. Hyde's call ''irresponsible,''
coming as it did amid what is widely viewed as a partisan impeachment
process and with the president abroad on a visit of state.
He suggested that Mr. Hyde's comments may reflect ''a strategic
motivation'' in a sudden concern dawning on some Republicans that the
process is spinning out of control and that if it reaches a Senate
trial, angry voters - who condemn Mr. Clinton's personal behavior but
support his presidency - might punish Republicans at the polls in 2000,
throwing them back into the minority.
Only two other presidents, Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Richard Nixon in
1974, have come as far as Mr. Clinton now has down the perilous path
toward removal from office.
The 435 members of the House of Representatives have been summoned to
return to Washington for a historic debate. They are expected to vote
Thursday, probably considering each article separately.
If a majority of members approves at least one article, the Senate will
hold a trial, which a Republican leader indicated Sunday could last
three or four months.
Sixty-seven of the 100 senators would have to vote to remove the
president. That is considered unlikely. It would be a first in U.S.
history since Mr. Johnson escaped conviction by one vote and Mr. Nixon
resigned before the full House voted.
Republican leaders said again Sunday that the outlook in the House was
too close to call. John Podesta, the president's chief of staff, said
that ''things are a little bit up for grabs.'' But House Democrats
expressed scant confidence that the president would prevail there.
''Unless there is a fairly large outcry from the American people, the
likelihood is that the House will vote for at least one article of
impeachment,'' Representative Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York,
said Sunday. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee and, as a
senator-elect, could end up voting in a Senate trial.
Amid signs of rising public awareness of the dramatic stakes, phone
calls, faxes and e-mails from citizens have been pouring into offices of
House members. Phone circuits in part of Washington crashed Friday as
thousands of viewers of the C-Span cable channel, which televised the
Judiciary Committee's debate and vote, tried to register their opinions.
Opinion polls continue to show roughly two-thirds of Americans opposed
to impeachment, while similar numbers favor censure.
Mr. Mann, a former executive director of the American Political Science
Association, said of the impeachment process, ''I think it's going to
scare people in the country - it's just going to scare them something
tremendous.''
Asked whether Republicans might pay a price in 2000 for pushing
impeachment, Representative Tom DeLay, the Republican whip and a leader
of the impeachment push, shrugged off such talk.
''I really don't know,'' he said. ''I don't really care. This is too
important to worry about politics or a poll.''
He reiterated his opposition to a censure vote, calling it
unconstitutional and ''a horrible precedent.'' The incoming speaker of
the House, Representative Bob Livingston of Louisiana, explicitly joined
him during the weekend by saying that he would not allow such a vote.
But the House minority leader, Representative Richard Gephardt of
Missouri, said that Democrats would use a parliamentary maneuver in an
attempt to propose censure and could succeed with the backing of a few
Republicans.
Mr. Hyde suggested that Mr. Clinton could spare himself, his party and
the country the agony of a Senate trial by resigning.
''It would save the country a lot of turmoil and tumult,'' he said.
''It would be a way of going out with honor,'' he continued. ''If he
doesn't, it's hard to predict what the consequences will be.''
Mr. DeLay, a fierce critic of Mr. Clinton's, also urged him to resign.
Mr. Clinton sought Friday to defuse the impeachment drive by expressing,
in a hastily called Rose Garden appearance, his willingness to submit to
''rebuke and censure.''
But he declined to say that he had perjured himself, as many Republicans
have insisted he must do, and he made his stance even clearer Sunday.
''I cannot admit to doing something that I am quite sure I did not do,''
Mr. Clinton said.
International Herald Tribune, Dec. 14, 1998
Where are those terrorists when you need them?
U.S. Embassy in Saudi Warns of Possible Attack
More bin Laden aspirin factories on the move
DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia told Americans in the
kingdom Sunday there was a strong possibility of a ``terrorist'' attack
on U.S. targets in the Gulf in the next month and advised them to
exercise caution.
``The embassy has information indicating a strong possibility that
terrorist elements are planning an attack against U.S. targets in the
Gulf, possibly in the next thirty days,'' said the message to Americans.
A copy of the message was obtained by Reuters.
``All American citizens should remain alert to any suspicious activity
and take precautionary steps to reduce the profile and vulnerability of
any U.S. facilities,'' it said.
The embassy advised the 35,000 Americans living in the kingdom,
including about 5,000 military personnel based there, to be vigilant,
take steps to ``increase their security awareness,'' maintain a low
profile, vary travel routes and treat mail from unfamiliar sources with
suspicion.
``Any suspicious activity, individuals or vehicles should be reported.''
The message did not say who the ``terrorist elements'' were.
The message updates a warning on November 13 of continuing threats of
attacks by leading Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden against Americans in
Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi dissident has been indicted for attacks on Americans,
including the August bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania.
Five Americans were killed by a car bomb at a U.S.-run military training
center in Riyadh in 1995 and in 1996 a truck bomb at a U.S. military
housing complex in the eastern city of Dhahran killed 19 U.S.
servicemen.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef was quoted early in November as
saying bin Laden did not mastermind the two attacks. He did not rule out
that people adopting bin Laden's Muslim extremist ideology may have
carried out the bombings.
Security has since been stepped up at official U.S. complexes in the
kingdom.
Reuters, Dec. 13, 1998
Impeachment Watch
Criminal Charges Expected When Clinton Leaves Office
This president sure has a lot of baggage
President Clinton still faces criminal charges of perjury, obstruction
of justice and witness tampering when he leaves office, whatever the
outcome of the impeachment effort in Congress.
Lawyers and others close to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's
investigation said prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility of new
criminal indictments in the 4-year-old inquiry, which already has
accounted for 15 convictions or guilty pleas.
"It should be of note that Mr. Starr's [investigation] has not shut down
since the delivery of his impeachment report to Congress," said one
lawyer familiar with the probe. "He's still in business and that could
be bad news for somebody."
The independent counsel's office, according to the sources, tentatively
has targeted Mr. Clinton on as many as 15 felony counts of perjury,
obstruction of justice and witness tampering in an attempt to cover up a
sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Even White House Special Counsel Gregory Craig, who delivered an
impassioned defense of the president last week before the House
Judiciary Committee, has said Mr. Clinton's legal team believes it is a
"very likely possibility" that the president will be indicted on charges
of perjury once he leaves office.
Some White House aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, have
suggested over the past few weeks that a sealed grand jury indictment
naming Mr. Clinton already has been handed up, although that has not
been confirmed.
The president's latest public remarks, delivered yesterday during a
press conference in Jerusalem, again carefully avoided any direct
admission of guilt.
There is no prohibition against an independent counsel seeking an
indictment in the case on his own. Mr. Starr's Sept. 11 report to
Congress outlined 11 grounds for impeachment and was given to the House
Judiciary Committee not as a final report, but as part of the
requirements of the independent counsel law.
The Starr grand jury remains in session. The independent counsel, or a
successor, has until January 2003, when the statute of limitations
expires, to make a decision in the case.
Mr. Starr has declined comment on his investigation, but last month the
independent counsel's office publicly left open the possibility of
future charges.
Spokesman Charles G. Bakaly III, saying it could take up to "a minimum
of one-and-a-half to two years" to wrap up the probe, has confirmed that
Mr. Starr could still bring criminal perjury indictments against Mr.
Clinton in the Paula Jones sexual misconduct suit, although he did not
elaborate.
The president faces similar charges concerning his grand jury testimony
in the Lewinsky investigation, particularly if the House fails to get a
majority vote on articles of impeachment or the Senate falls short of
the required two-thirds majority needed to remove him from office.
The Starr probe, according to the sources, also could involve charges
against first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and others. Prosecutors
continue to focus on Mrs. Clinton's role in the legal representation of
Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan Association and the 1993 firing of
seven White House Travel Office workers who were replaced by Clinton
friends.
Mr. Starr's office has written one draft indictment of Mrs. Clinton
accusing her of making false statements on her work for a Madison real
estate project known as Castle Grande. It was written after Mrs.
Clinton's January 1996 grand jury appearance, when prosecutors concluded
she made false statements under oath in denying she had done legal work
for the 1,050-acre Castle Grande venture.
In a statement, Mr. Starr has said that questions remain over Mrs.
Clinton's involvement with Castle Grande -- much of which was outlined
in the Rose Law Firm billing records that disappeared in 1994, shortly
after they had been subpoenaed, and mysteriously surfaced two years
later in the White House living quarters.
The records contained Mrs. Clinton's fingerprints.
Mr. Starr said former Associate Attorney General Webster L. Hubbell, a
convicted Whitewater felon now under a new indictment in the Starr
probe, "may have additional information pertaining to Castle Grande ...
that we have been unable to obtain." He said Mr. Hubbell and Vincent W.
Foster Jr. took Rose firm records on Madison in the 1992 presidential
election. Mr. Foster, White House deputy counsel, died in July 1993 in
what police have said was a suicide.
Prosecutors said a second set of billing records was found in 1997 in
Mr. Foster's attic.
After the records' discovery by a White House aide, the Resolution Trust
Corp. said Mrs. Clinton was involved with the two entities despite her
sworn denials -- including drafting an option agreement that facilitated
a questionable $300,000 payment to Madison official, Seth Ward, Mr.
Hubbell's father-in-law. The option guaranteed Mr. Ward a payoff and
negated his liability in the project.
The Washington Times, Dec. 14, 1998
Japanese Financial Crisis
Japan Nationalizes Insolvent Bank
The bad debts keep piling up
TOKYO - Japan forcibly nationalized debt-ridden Nippon Credit Bank Ltd.
on Sunday, with the authorities declaring that the action was needed to
prevent the collapse of the major bank from undermining the stability of
the Japanese financial system.
''We were concerned that if we took no action it would cause financial
turmoil,'' said Hakuo Yanagisawa, the financial reconstruction minister
who heads a newly formed bank restructuring commission.
Bank executives vigorously protested the government's action. ''The
government's decision was made in an abrupt manner, and it is extremely
regrettable that our bank has been temporarily nationalized,'' said the
president of Nippon Credit, Shigeoki Togo, according to the Kyodo news
agency.
Nippon Credit rejected the government's request that the bank
voluntarily apply for nationalization. As a result, the government
forcibly put Nippon Credit under state control. The bank's management
will resign.
The action follows the Oct. 23 nationalization of Long Term Credit Bank
Ltd. of Japan. Mr. Yanagisawa said the moves demonstrated that the
regulatory environment in Japan had changed dramatically and that the
government would begin imposing rigorous standards on banks to try to
win the confidence of financial markets.
Japanese banks have more than $600 billion in bad loans that are not
being repaid, threatening the stability of the financial system and
undermining the country's attempts to emerge from recession. Because the
Japanese economy is the second largest in the world, and its banks are
major players in international financial markets, a series of bank
failures could threaten the stability of global financial markets.
Japan has been under heavy international criticism for moving slowly to
address its banking crisis.
Analysts estimate that a number of Japanese banks are insolvent and that
other banks need to be nationalized to stabilize the system. But Mr.
Yanagisawa said he had ''not heard that any other banks suffer'' from a
capital deficit.
Bank inspectors concluded in November that Nippon Credit had been
insolvent as of March 31, the end of the financial year, with a capital
deficit of about $806.8 million. That does not include $1.6 billion in
unrealized losses on holdings, mostly securities.
The government investigators also concluded that Nippon Credit's problem
loans totaled $32 billion as of March 31, significantly higher than the
$27 billion reported by the bank
Nippon Credit was ordered in November to propose measures to improve its
finances, but ''what they presented was not persuasive,'' Mr. Yanagisawa
said.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said, ''The government will continue to take
all possible measures to protect depositors, maintain order in the
financial system and stabilize financial markets, both in Japan and
abroad.''
He said that the government would provide the funds necessary for Nippon
Credit's operations and that all deposits, bank debentures, interbank
transactions and derivatives transactions would ''be settled.''
The government said it would write off the bad loans at Nippon Credit
and then healthy operations would be sold to another bank. Chuo Trust &
Banking Co. is one candidate widely mentioned. Chuo Trust, which is also
considered in weak condition, had been in merger talks with Nippon
Credit.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the leading Japanese business newspaper, said
that the nationalization showed the government's resolve to clean up the
banking crisis. An American fund manager said the move could be a
turning point in Japan's efforts to get rid of its weak banks.
But the Mainichi newspaper, a national daily, said it was too early to
say that the banking crisis was ending. ''The public has been deceived
over and over. The government has said that worst is over'' in the past,
only to see things get worse, it said.
Indeed analysts are critical of the government's plans for restructuring
Long Term Credit, saying the plan appears aimed more at propping up the
bank rather than eliminating bad loans and shaky borrowers from the
system.
International Herald Tribune, Dec. 14, 1998
-----
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
Omnia Bona Bonis,
All My Relations.
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
Kris
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