Compiled by washingtonpost.com staff
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 1998

The Clinton defense team told the House Judiciary Committee the president's actions were "sinful" but not impeachable, during testimony from former prosecutors, constitutional experts and Watergate veterans.

Latest Testimony

Statements from Charles Ruff
  White House counsel
"Today I want to ... highlight those areas in which myth appears to have replaced fact in the committee's debates and in public discourse."
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Earlier Testimony

Opening statements from Gregory Craig
  Special Counsel to the President
"Nothing in this case justifies this Congress overturning an election ... there are no grounds for impeachment."

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Expert testimony from Nicholas Katzenbach
  Former U.S. Attorney General and retired IBM Chief Legal Officer
"Impeachment is a remedy to preserve confidence in the political process, not to punish a perpetrator."

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Expert testimony from Sean Wilentz
  Princeton University history professor
"If you decide to do this, you will have done far more to subvert respect for the rule of law ... than any crime that has been alleged against Clinton."

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Expert testimony from Samuel Beer
  Harvard University professor-emeritus of government
"Removal from office ... distinguishes this process radically from the judgment of a court. It resembles rather a vote of no confidence. ..."

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Expert testimony from Bruce Ackerman
  Yale University law professor
"The vote on impeachment loses its constitutional force with the death of the House that passed it."

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Expert testimony from Elizabeth Holtzman
  Former Democratic New York congresswoman
"This does not rise to Watergate ... when the spectrum of abuse, misconduct and illegality left no question of impeachable offense."

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