ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 17, 1997 TAG: 9703170129
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
The call for a study of impeachment proceedings doesn't mean there is anything incriminating against President Clinton.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Sunday that he has ordered a study of impeachment procedures in case a ``smoking gun'' emerges in the White House fund-raising controversy, but a leading House Democrat called talk of such proceedings ``preposterous.''
``We are studying the laws of impeachment, the procedures of impeachment,'' committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said on the ``Fox News Sunday'' TV program, although he stressed that he has no reason to think the furor over fund-raising practices employed by the White House will escalate to that point.
Another Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, did his part to intensify the heat on the White House, charging that the Clinton administration knew well in advance of the 1996 election of alleged Chinese efforts to illegally funnel money to U.S. politicians.
The White House has said neither the president nor his senior aides learned of the allegations until earlier this year. Hatch, appearing on CBS-TV's ``Face the Nation,'' disputed that, though he offered no evidence to support his claim.
Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee Chairman Roy Romer called on his GOP counterpart, James Nicholson, to agree to a ban on all ``soft money'' contributions to their respective parties, starting today. Such donations - largely unregulated contributions that are not supposed to directly benefit a candidate and frequently involve large sums, have been at the center of much of the current controversy.
Nicholson dismissed the offer, making it clear that he and other GOP leaders want to focus on whether Democrats broke any laws in their 1996 fund-raising, not on reforming the existing donation system.
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB