MONICA`S BACK; LEWINSKY ORDERED TO TALK AS BIPARTISAN APPROACH CRUMBLES.

Byline: Bob Hohler The Boston Globe

A political firestorm erupted in President Clinton's impeachment trial Saturday, as his accusers stunned the White House by obtaining a court order to question Monica S. Lewinsky, and the Senate's bipartisan approach to the trial rapidly deteriorated.

With the Senate lurching toward a showdown this week over whether to end the historic proceedings, Democrats attacked the House impeachment managers over their secret attempt to compel Lewinsky to submit to questioning without the Senate's approval.

The House effort, in tandem with Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, succeeded when a federal judge ruled Saturday that Starr could force Lewinsky to answer questions from his staff in the presence of the House managers. Starr had granted Lewinsky immunity from prosecution in exchange for her cooperation.

Lewinsky made no comment Saturday when she was swarmed by reporters as she arrived in Washington after a flight from Los Angeles. She is expected to be questioned Sunday by Starr's aides in a meeting with House managers on Capitol Hill. The questions will probably involve the areas where her earlier testimony conflicts with the White House account, such as how gifts from Clinton were returned and the exact nature of her relations with the president.

Lewinsky's return unfolded as momentum grew against prolonging the trial with a lengthy witness phase, to the dismay of the House managers and some conservative senators. The trend prompted a flurry of private negotiations and public posturing, as members of both parties stepped up searches for a plan to end the process ``with honor.''

Amid the fray, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the Senate would send written questions about the impeachment charges to Clinton as early as Monday. The move was seen as an alternative to inviting Clinton to testify, which House managers and some Senate Republicans have advocated as a way to resolve contradictions in the case.

``We'd like to hear what the president has to say about some of these inconsistencies,'' Lott said.

But the White House quickly responded that Clinton will invoke his rights not to answer the questions.

Under a bipartisan blueprint for the trial, the Senate had deferred until this week votes on whether to call witnesses or dismiss the two articles of impeachment against Clinton. The articles allege that Clinton lied under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructed justice to cover up his sexual affair in the White House with Lewinsky.

``This is a fundamental breach of the letter of the law and the spirit of the agreement,'' Sen. John Kerry, D-Neb., said of the House's pursuit of Lewinsky. ``It's (an) inappropriate interference into the proceedings of the Senate.''

Kerry said the Senate's Republican majority, which effectively controls the trial procedures, ``put themselves squarely on the hot seat.''

But Kerry was more restrained than many other Senate Democrats, who variously denounced the House move as ``arrogant,'' ``desperate'' and ``outrageous.''

Some Republicans also criticized the move by the House managers. ``To sit down with her this weekend is a circumvention of the agreement among 100 senators,'' said Sen. John W. Warner, a Virginia Republican. ``We laid down a procedure, and I think we should follow the procedure.''

The 13 House managers, all Republicans, issued a statement defending their effort to seek the interview with Lewinsky. They said ``any good lawyer would talk to a witness before deciding to put her on the witness stand.''

The managers added, ``Ms. Lewinsky's testimony has never been more important than it is now.''

White House criticism

Clinton's lawyers disagreed and criticized the format for the interview, with prosecutors from Starr's office posing the questions. ``Can you imagine what that little conversation is going to look like, held in the Independent Counsel's Office, with the people there who have the capacity to put Ms. Lewinsky in jail?'' said Charles F.C. Ruff, the White House counsel.

Starr also came under intense fire, with some Democrats calling on him to recuse himself because of his lack of independence in the case. ``He is a cheerleader for impeachment,'' said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont.

Starr, in a brief statement, said, ``As I see it, we are duty bound to assist the House managers in the constitutional process.''

Amid the dispute, Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, appealed to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the trial's presiding officer, to prohibit the House managers from interviewing Lewinsky.

Harkin, citing the Senate's ``sole power to try impeachment'' under the Constitution, said, ``It is up to the Senate, not the independent counsel'' or federal judge, to determine which witnesses the House managers and Clinton's lawyers may interview.

Rehnquist, who spent six hours Saturday presiding over proceedings dominated by the latest Lewinsky controversy, did not issue an immediate decision.

Lewinsky's lawyers also planned to appeal the federal judge's ruling in a lower court.

Seeking witnesses

The House managers, with their hope of a full-scale trial imperiled, used the final hours of a two-day, question-and-answer period with senators to appeal for permission to call witnesses.

The lead manager, Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde of Illinois, delivered an emotional plea for senators not to ``sell out'' and cut short the trial.

``Equal justice under the law is what moves me and animates and consumes me, and I am willing to lose my seat any day of the week rather than sell out on those issues,'' Hyde said. ``Despite all the polls and hostile editorials, America is hungry for people who believe in something.

``You may disagree with us,'' Hyde told the senators. ``But we believe in something.''

Under the previous unanimous agreement, Clinton's lawyers and the House managers each are scheduled to have one hour each to debate a motion to dismiss the impeachment charges. Both sides would then equally divide six hours of debate on motions to take depositions from witnesses.

Each senator was to have 10 minutes to debate each motion before voting, but Lott Saturday canceled the debate period, calling it an unnecessary use of time.

Several senators, decrying Lott's move as ``a gag rule,'' portrayed the initiative as a blast by Lott at Sen. Robert C. Byrd's surprise decision the day before to rally support for the motion to dismiss the charges. The move by Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat who is influential in both parties, fueled the momentum against a lengthy trial.

Byrd Saturday lashed out at the House managers Saturday for trying to compel Lewinsky's testimony, depicting the move as ``a desperate attempt to preempt'' the votes on calling witnesses and dismissing the charges.

``For the good of the country, this political jockeying has got to stop,'' Byrd said.

An aide to Lott said Republicans were ``remarkably united'' against dismissing the charges this week. ``There is a strong sense in the Republican conference that the Byrd dismissal would be tantamount to an abortion of justice,'' said Lott's spokesman, John T. Czwartacki.

Lott was less harsh in his appraisal, although he also predicted the motion to dismiss would be defeated. ``I think it would be a big mistake if the Senate voted to dismiss,'' he told reporters.

If the dismissal motion fails along party lines in the GOP-controlled Senate, Democrats are poised to portray Republicans as dragging out an impeachment process that, polls show, the public wants to end quickly.

``We're going to have an opportunity to conclude this process,'' Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said, ``and the American people are going to see who wants to continue to beat this dead horse.''

THE DAY AT A GLANCE

Here are highlights from President Clinton's impeachment trial Saturday:

LEWINSKY RULING

U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson ruled that Monica Lewinsky must submit to an interview requested by House prosecutors or risk losing the immunity from prosecution she had gained from Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.

SENATE DEBATE

House prosecutors' secretive effort to force Lewinsky's cooperation - and the involvement of Starr - dominated the debate at the impeachment trial as senators spent a second day submitting written questions to both legal teams.

QUESTIONS FOR CLINTON

Majority Leader Trent Lott, seizing on a comment made by a White House lawyer during the day, announced that Senate Republicans would submit written questions to Clinton as early as Monday. ``We'd like to see what the president has to say about some of these inconsistencies,'' he said.

REPUBLICAN UNITY

A Republican Senate official claimed ``remarkable unity'' among the GOP rank and file against a Democratic bid to dismiss charges, expected as early as Monday.

HYDE`S EXPLANATION

Henry Hyde, the lead prosecutor, gave an impassioned defense of prosecutors. ``There are issues of transcendent importance that you have to be willing to lose your office over,'' Hyde said.

WHITE HOUSE CRITICISM

White House Counsel Charless Ruff assailed House prosecutors for seeking to inteview Lewinsky without Senate permission and accused Starr of exceeding his authority by intervening in the impeachment trial.

LEWINSKY ARRIVES

Lewinsky flew back to Washington from California in anticipation of the interview.

PROSECUTORS DEFEND DECISION

House prosecutors defended their efforts to interview the former intern, saying it was necessary before they decided whether to submit her name to the Senate as a potential witness. ``What are they afraid of?'' Rep. Bill McColum, R-Fla., asked of the president's lawyers.

HARKIN`S LETTER

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, sent a letter to Chief Justice William Rehnquist requesting him to dismiss the order from Judge Johnson compelling Lewinsky to be debriefed by House managers, citing the Senate's ``sole power'' to try impeachments.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--Color) A federal judge ruled Saturday that Kenneth Starr could force Monica Lewinsky to answer questions.

(2) Monica Lewinsky walks through a Washington hotel on Saturday after arriving from Los Angeles.

Lindsey Graves/Associated Press

BOX: THE DAY AT A GLANCE (see text)