STARR DELIVERS REPORT ON PROBE TO CONGRESS.

Byline: David Hess and Raja Mishra Knight Ridder Newspapers

A 445-page report outlining Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's case for the impeachment of President Clinton is expected to be made public Friday, two days after Starr delivered two vans full of evidence to Congress's doorstep Wednesday afternoon.

Filled with information and allegations about Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, the long-anticipated report will be placed on the congressional Internet site, Thomas (thomas.loc.gov), and is certain to provoke a new and even stronger round of reaction among politicians and the public alike.

More important, Starr's evidence could set in motion the extraordinary machinery of impeachment - a process initiated against a president only twice before in American history. It comes just two months before the November congressional elections as polls show voters already are becoming weary of the scandal and its prurient details.

A committee of Congress could begin the first step of that process - considering whether the material justifies an impeachment hearing - as early as next week and decide whether to hold such hearings by early November.

But even if the full House calls for a hearing, Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Rules Committee, said those hearings and the subsequent steps toward a possible trial before the Senate would not occur until next year when a new Congress is in place.

The report that Congress laid plans late Wednesday to release Friday is accompanied by a 2,000-page appendix and more than 15 boxes of supporting material. Congressional leaders are debating the possible release of the appendix and some other supporting material. Starr cautioned in his letter to congressional leaders that privacy concerns should be considered in deciding just what to release.

Printed in duplicate, the report and supporting materials were enough to fill 36 cardboard boxes delivered under FBI guard Wednesday.

Continuing investigation

And those boxes of evidence account for only a part of Starr's four-year, $40 million investigation, which is continuing even after the Wednesday release. They deal only with the Clinton-Lewinsky relationship, not the multitude of other subjects Starr has looked into.

The material was transferred to the custody of House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood before a horde of television cameras and tourists. About a dozen Capitol Hill police officers stowed the boxes in two black sport-utility vehicles and escorted them to the vault.

They were placed under lock and key because lawmakers, caught off guard by Starr's timing, had not yet decided the rules for dealing with his massive investigative report.

White House crisis

Though the impact of Wednesday's delivery was diminished by the secrecy surrounding the contents, the report ultimately is bound to leave an indelible imprint in American history. The case, built on allegations of sexual misconduct between the president and a 21-year-old White House intern, has placed the White House in a state of crisis unmatched since Watergate.

The gravity of the moment was made clear when Starr spokesman Charles Bakaly III, speaking to reporters outside the Capitol, officially announced the report's arrival.

``The Office of Independent Counsel submitted a referral to the House of Representatives containing substantial and credible information that may constitute grounds for the impeachment of the president of the United States,'' Bakaly said.

Shortly after, Clinton lawyer David Kendall tersely and emphatically said: ``There is no basis for impeachment.''

House speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told reporters that Starr's package would be kept under armed guard in a special vault in a House office building eight blocks from the Capitol, to safeguard it until the rules are drafted and adopted by the House.

``None of us will have access to that (safe) room until we write the rules for handling the material,'' Gingrich said.

Indeed, the locks at the Ford Office Building where the vault is located were changed just Tuesday in anticipation of the report's arrival. Late Wednesday, a hallway in the building was tightly guarded by Capitol police, who kept visitors at bay.

Making the rules

Starr's move to send his report to the House capped a frenetic day of jockeying by the White House and congressional leaders to work out procedures for handling what all expect will be explosive accusations that Clinton demeaned the presidency and perhaps committed perjury and obstruction of justice in attempting to cover up an admitted liaison with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Democrat Gephardt urged both his fellow members of Congress and the news media ``not to jump to conclusions'' about the contents of Starr's report. The House's duty to examine the documents for the purpose of deciding whether impeachment hearings are warranted, Gephardt said, ``is a constitutionally prescribed process that requires us to approach it in a fair and objective manner.''

Indeed, Republican leaders, who are privately rejoicing that both the timing and content of the report should provide the impetus for a big gain in GOP congressional seats in November, are publicly calling for a calm appraisal of the findings and bipartisan cooperation in any impeachment proceedings.

``Any impeachment cannot succeed unless it's done in a bipartisan or nonpartisan way,'' said Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who will play the starring role in any upcoming hearings.

House, then Senate

Under the Constitution, the House investigates allegations of ``high crimes or misdemeanors'' against the president and lodges specific charges that are ``tried'' in the Senate, with the chief justice of the Supreme Court presiding. In the House, it takes only a simple majority to bring the charges; in the Senate, a two-thirds majority is required to convict the president and remove him from office.

Gingrich said, ``There are very few things in life comparable to what our duty is under the Constitution (in such cases).'' He said he would ``insist on decorum of the House by all members of both parties'' as the process goes forward. ``We should do this with the deepest sense of patriotism.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) A Capitol Hill police officer transports boxes containing Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's report on President Clinton on Wednesday.

Khue Bui/Associated Press

(2 -- color) Two copies of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's lengthy report on President Clinton are delivered to the Capitol on Wednesday.

Susan Walsh/Associated Press