GINGRICH HEARING DELAYED: ETHICS PANEL IN TURMOIL.

Byline: Associated Press

House ethics committee Republicans on Thursday postponed hearings on Newt Gingrich's admitted misconduct, a stunning turnaround that left the panel wracked by partisan anger before the speaker's punishment is decided.

``We are reversing the order of the schedule,'' committee Chairwoman Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., said at a news conference Thursday night. She said the move was in response to Democrats' complaints about the timing of a written report on House Speaker Gingrich's misconduct.

A week of televised public hearings was scheduled to begin Monday. They were to end with a committee recommendation to the House for Gingrich's punishment - followed by a House vote on penalties Jan. 21 and an outside counsel's report by Feb. 4.

While the House vote will still occur Jan. 21 under a rule adopted Tuesday, Johnson said a hearing will not be conducted until after the written report is finished, with a new deadline of next Thursday.

``I have instructed special counsel Jim Cole to complete the report by Jan. 16 for circulation to the public and to every member of Congress. Following that, we anticipate a public hearing,'' she said.

The main casualty of the Republican maneuver appears to be the five days of public hearings that were causing the Republican leadership heartburn.

A House Republican source, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said there may be only a single day of hearings, just as the Capitol was focusing on President Clinton's inaugural activities in front of the building. Johnson said the new hearing schedule is still uncertain.

The ranking committee Democrat, Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington state, complained in an interview that Republicans ``had this orchestrated.'' He cited as evidence a Republican move Wednesday to cut off Cole's funds after Jan. 21.

A news conference by ethics committee Democrats may have provided the Republicans an excuse to void the hearing schedule - which was agreed to by all committee members at 1:45 a.m. Thursday after a 14-hour meeting.

At their 4 p.m. news conference, the five Democrats on the 10-member committee complained bitterly about the timetable for Cole's report, which would explain the committee's findings that Gingrich violated House rules.

The Democrats said lawmakers could not make an informed judgment on punishment unless the vote was postponed until after the report was done in early February.

Republicans then held their news conference Thursday evening, saying that if Cole's report was so important to Democrats, the counsel should concentrate on the report rather than the hearing.

One of the Republicans, David Hobson of Ohio, said he was ``really shocked'' at the Democrats' statements, which he attributed to ``partisan politics.''

``It's clear our agreement is broken,'' he said.

Not so, McDermott said in the interview.

While Johnson has the authority as chairwoman to postpone the hearings, she does not have the power to change Cole's orders, McDermott said.

``They only have five votes,'' he said. ``They can't order him to do anything. They have to have six votes to get anything done.

``They had to find a pretext to blow it up. I think Mr. Cole is smart enough to know one side can't make a unilateral decision. I would tell him to go home and have a cigar and keep working on your presentation for Monday.''

Cole declined to comment.