David Kendall argues House ignored evidence in Clinton's favor Updated January 21, 1999 3:29 p.m. ET            Full Coverage Search Clinton in Crisis The Trial Trial Guide Evidence Guide Transcripts Video Discuss the Trial The Starr Report and Rebuttals Video Index Documents Starr Investigation Jones v. Clinton Whitewater Jones v. Clinton Whitewater NEW YORK (Court TV) — On the final day of the White House defense team's arguments, private attorney David Kendall hammered away methodically at specific allegations of obstruction of justice. "The direct evidence disproves the charges," said Kendall Thursday. He accused the prosecutors of deliberately ignoring testimony that didn't fit into the "sinister pattern" of events they developed, which Kendall said was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. Sifting through the evidence relating to Monica Lewinsky's job search, Kendall said the relevant testimony indicates that Lewinsky began her New York search and Vernon Jordan began helping her with that search, months before either one learned that she could be called as a potential witness in the Paula Jones case. Gesturing to detailed chronological charts, Kendall said that the chain of events, which House prosecutors presented as damning, actually showed that the president and Jordan made no attempt to buy Lewinsky's silence and cooperation. "This isn't even smoke and mirrors. It's worse," he said. Kendall, a member of the Washington law firm Williams & Connolly, will be followed on Thursday afternoon by former senator Dale Bumpers, a former governor of Arkansas with a reputation as a gifted public speaker. Read more about Kendall and Bumpers Though he has expressed dismay at Clinton's conduct, Bumpers has compared the investigation to the Salem witchcraft trials of the colonial era. On Friday and Saturday, senators who have been forced under trial rules to sit in uncharacteristic silence will finally be able to ask questions — but those questions must be submitted in writing to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who will read them and ask counsel on both sides to respond. The questioning period may be conducted in a bipartisan spirit, but the upcoming motions to dismiss the case and call witnesses are expected to divide the Senate along party lines. The White House has said it will submit a motion to dismiss the case on Monday. Republicans have said they oppose dismissal. They want to call a handful of the most critical witnesses, including Lewinsky, Jordan and presidential secretary Betty Currie. Since they have a 55-45 majority, they are expected to get their way on the witness questions, but they will still have to win over a dozen Democrats to obtain the 67 votes necessary to remove the president from office. Democrats thus far have shown no signs that they will support removing the president from office. Republicans are uncomfortably wary that the trial, like much of the impeachment process, remains unpopular with Americans. Clinton's job approval ratings rose after his State of the Union address Tuesday night, ranging from 66 percent in an ABC poll to 72 percent in a CBS survey to 76 percent for NBC. In a survey of 1,200 adults by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, 67 percent said the trial hadn't changed their opinions on Clinton's impeachment and two-thirds don't want him taken out of office. Albright speaks out Secretary of State Madeleine Albright cautioned Thursday against a lengthy Senate trial of President Clinton, saying time would be lost in tending to "the people's business." "What bothers me is we have a huge agenda," Albright said as she outlined foreign policy programs confronting her as she nears the end of two years on the job. She said Congress has the authority to try Clinton, but it also is a partner of the administration in dealing with such problems as Kosovo, Iraq and the spread of nuclear technology. "So any time we are not spending on the people's business ultimately is time lost," Albright said following a speech to the Center for National Policy, a private group she once headed. The House impeachment of the president and his current trial in the Senate is puzzling to foreign leaders, Albright said. "Friends around the world are kind of amazed this is going on." Read about Wednesday's White House presentation and the House response Court TV's Catherine Heins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.