Nevada senators ready to acquit

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today he will vote to acquit President Clinton on both articles of impeachment.

"It doesn't take a math wizard to see (the House managers) don't have the numbers," Reid said. "There's no way in the world he'll be convicted."

There are 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats in the Senate. So far, all of the votes have gone mostly along party lines, which means Republicans don't have the necessary two-thirds majority needed to convict Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Reid, the Senate's Democratic whip, said the House managers have failed to demonstrate that the president should be removed from office. "The House has been given total leeway to make any case they want, and they can't make a case," he said.

Nevada's other Democratic senator, Richard Bryan, agreed, saying, there's "no chance" of a conviction.

"Based upon the state of the record today, I would vote to acquit," Bryan said from Washington.

Bryan said he was reserving final judgment until hearing the testimony of the three witnesses, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, presidential friend Vernon Jordan and White House aide Sydney Blumenthal.

But Bryan added: "I can't imagine anything new coming out of these depositions that would change my mind."

For example, both senators said, Lewinsky has been interviewed by the FBI 19 times, given two sworn depositions and testified twice before a federal grand jury within the past year.

"I've heard everything there is to hear," said Reid, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate.

Reid said he feared the trial has veered off course and is turning into a partisan proceeding.

"We have a trial with no purpose," he said. "The impeachment provision is in the Constitution to make sure the liberties of the people in this country are not being threatened by the president. It was never meant to look at a president's private conduct."

Both Reid and Bryan urged a speedy resolution to the trial, but they said they expected it to drag on for another couple of weeks.

"I think it's time in the best interest of the country to reach a closure on this and do the nation's business," Bryan said.

Reid added: "There's so much work that's waiting to be done in Social Security, Medicare and health care. The problems that working men and women and business people have need to be addressed."

The senators said they favor censuring Clinton following a vote on the articles of impeachment.

"I think it's important that the Senate strongly express its disapproval of the president's conduct," Bryan said.

"No one's trying to cover up the president's behavior," Reid said. "It's bad. Everyone acknowledges it's bad."

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