The lead House prosecutor, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said he was "not particularly interested" in showing all the videotapes if live witnesses were rejected, but would instead show excerpts.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Reluctant to have President Clinton's impeachment trial end with a simple acquittal, Republicans are struggling with proposals that would conclude he committed wrongdoing without removing him from office.

With the White House and Democrats insisting the concept is unconstitutional in an impeachment trial, Senate Republicans are meeting Thursday in search of a consensus that has eluded them so far.

The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote to convict a president and remove him from office — a margin both parties agree is not within reach — but a so-called finding of fact would only need a majority. Critics argue there is no constitutional alternative to conviction and removal. Republican senators have said they hope to complete the trial by Feb. 12.

But with the trial resuming Thursday, the issue was not on the agenda. Senators have had a week-long break during which House trial managers took depositions from Monica Lewinsky, presidential friend Vernon Jordan and White House aide Sidney Blumenthal.

The Senate Thursday was considering whether to make public the videotaped depositions and whether any or all of the witnesses should appear in person on the Senate floor.

House prosecutors want to show portions of the videotapes as part of further evidence presentation, but only as a fallback position if they can't get live witnesses. Democrats have been united in opposition to live testimony, and even Republicans who viewed the videotapes of Lewinsky and Jordan appeared unenthusiastic about calling them.

GOP Senate officials conceded it would be difficult to secure enough votes to prevail on a call for live testimony, particularly with public opinion in favor of a swift end to the proceedings.

The lead House prosecutor, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said he was "not particularly interested" in showing all the videotapes if live witnesses were rejected, but would instead show excerpts. The White House then could use portions of the video for its defense, he said.

Hyde said there were "no bombshells or anything like that" in the depositions, but added the managers who questioned the three witnesses believed their responses would be useful to the prosecution's case.

Some Republicans, however, were not convinced of the need for live witnesses.

"I am not going to support appearances of witnesses before the U.S. Senate," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

Sen. John Chafee of Rhode Island added, "I'm against it" and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., commented, "I am not persuaded."

On Wednesday, Republicans considered draft language of a statement that would find that Clinton "willfully provided false and misleading" grand jury testimony, and impeded efforts to uncover evidence in the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit.

The two articles of impeachment under consideration charge the president with grand jury perjury and obstruction of justice.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle called the proposal an "extralegal" device that could turn the entire proceeding into a "Republican trial."

Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart added, "I think it's understandable as people work toward trying to figure out a way to bring this process to an end ... but in the rush to do that ... they shouldn't try to trample on the Constitution in the process."

Republican senators also sent Clinton a letter, asking him to submit voluntarily to a sworn deposition to answer questions in the case. The president already has said he would not do either.

"Your knowledge, intent, actions and omissions are central to the charges. ... Personal answers from you should prove beneficial in our efforts to reconcile conflicting testimony," the Republicans wrote.

The maneuvering came as Blumenthal was questioned in a heavily secured room on the fourth floor of the Capitol, which is off-limits to the public and the news media.

A source familiar with the deposition, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Blumenthal repeated testimony he had given a grand jury last year concerning a conversation he had with Clinton about the president's relationship with Lewinsky, the former White House intern. The president lied to him, Blumenthal said.

Several sources said the question-and-answer period lasted only about an hour but extensive time was spent over objections to certain questions asked by Rep. James Rogan, R-Calif.

A few of the questions involved Kathleen Willey, the former White House volunteer who contends Clinton groped her near the Oval Office.

After a bit of back and forth, Blumenthal ended up answering two minor questions about the matter, the sources said.

—Larry Margasak

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