WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 -- The Republican Party is knocking Al Gore's intention to influence the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, saying there is 'no controlling legal authority' for the vice president to intercede. Gore told the Los Angeles Times, in an interview published today, he hopes to cast tie-breaking votes and consult with senators during the trial next month that will decide whether President Clinton is to be removed from office. Gore, whose only constitutional duty is to preside over the Senate, figures he may be called on to break a tie vote, for instance, or to vote on procedural matters such as the admissibility of evidence. The vice president, wary of admonitions to the White House by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., not to 'tamper with this jury,' told the Times that he does not intend to 'button-hole' his former colleagues, because 'that would not be appropriate.' In a release late Saturday, Republican Party Chairman Jim Nicholson says: 'There's only one way for the vice president to 'consult in a situation like this,' and that's to take no part in the proceedings at all. He's fiercely partisan. He's the vice president. And he has a clear conflict of interest.' Nicholson continued: 'To use Al Gore's own words, there's 'no controlling legal authority' for him to play the 'thirteenth juror' in Bill Clinton's trial in the Senate, and he's got no business button- holing the senators.' The Senate is to sit as a jury, with Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding, at Clinton's trial.
The procedure was called for after the House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment, citing Clinton with perjury and obstruction of justice. If 67 senators vote to convict on either count, Clinton would immediately be removed from office and Gore sworn in as president. ---
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