Hyde and Solomon raise question of impeachment hearings

After reports on January 21 that Independent Counsel Ken Starr was investigating whether the President perjured himself and attempted to suborn perjury in the Paula Jones case, House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde (R.-Ill.) for the first time publicly entertained the possibility of an impeachment inquiry.

"Telling people to lie and obstructing-justice are serious charges," said Hyde, whose committee has responsibility for impeachment inquiries. "I would not say he is immune from consideration of impeachment should these allegations prove to be correct."

House Rules Committee Chairman Jerry Solomon (R.N.Y.), whose committee would draw up the ground rules under which Hyde's committee would proceed with the actual inquiry, sounded much the same note.

"If the independent counsel's criminal investigation finds that President Clinton has participated in these illegal acts and the cover-up of this information, Congress is constitutionally obliged to act," said Solomon.

"Specifically, the House Rules Committee has the responsibility to report out House Resolution 304, an Inquiry of Impeachment, directing the Committee on the Judiciary to undertake an inquiry into the grounds for impeaching President William Jefferson Clinton."

Rep. Bob Barr (R.-Ga.), the principal sponsor of the impeachment inquiry resolution (see HUMAN EVENTS cover story, April 25, 1997), went a step farther, explicitly calling for the inquiry to move forward, now.

"These latest allegations of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, perjury and improper moral behavior should not be dismissed out of hand as the President would have us do," said Barr. "They should be investigated by the Judiciary Committee as part of a broader impeachment investigation looking into allegations of presidential misconduct.... If proven to be true, today's allegations... are certainly grounds for impeachment.... H. Res. 304 is the proper vehicle to investigate the myriad allegations leveled against the President."

Rep. Chris Cannon (R.-Utah) lined up in Barr's camp. "Since Chairman Henry Hyde spoke yesterday, we've had a virtual tidal wave of corroborating information," said Cannon. "It appears true-and it still depends on what the special prosecutor does-I think there is clearly the foundation for impeachment proceedings. The American public deserves a resolution to the questions that are now swirling, and that ought to happen early, and if that means the cleansing of our political system, the impeachment process is the one the Founding Fathers set up."

In a telephone survey of the other 31 Judiciary Committee members, asking them to react to the possibility of convening an impeachment inquiry, HUMAN EvENTs received generally cautious "wait and see" responses from Republican members. Democrats on the committee, however, would not respond to our inquiry at all. Notably, none of them took the opportunity to volunteer support for Clinton or criticize Hyde for bringing up the subject of impeachment.

"The congressman feels that the proper action right now is to let Kenneth Starr's investigation proceed and wait for his conclusions," said a spokesman for Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R.-Wis.).

"The allegations that President Clinton suborned perjury are very serious and must be investigated thoroughly and with caution," said Rep. James Canady (R.-Fla.). "I'm sure Kenneth Starr will properly address these questions in his investigation. It is important not to jump to conclusions on the basis of mere allegations, but to carefully consider all the facts as they are brought to light."

"We are going to wait and see what the facts are surrounding these allegations," said a spokesman for Rep. Elton Gallegly (R.-Calif.). "If they are true, we will let Chairman Hyde decide what happens next."

"These allegations involve a very grave matter," said Rep. Bob Inglis (R.-S.C.). "The allegations involve the commission of felonies by the President of the United States. These are impeachable offenses, and I will examine them very seriously."

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jan 30, 1998
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