The White House Report
President Clinton hasn't taken a public question on any subject in ten days. Finally on Thursday in a photo session he was asked if he could clarify his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
"I have already denied the charges, strongly, and I do so again," the president said. "But there is an ongoing investigation, under those circumstances the right thing to do is to go back and do the job the American people hired me to do."
While Mr. Clinton is not adding anything, Lewinsky is in a running series of talks with prosecutors. CBS News has reported previously that she would say there was a sexual relationship, but prosecutors still want more before they strike a deal for immunity. One question: who wrote the paper Lewinsky gave to her friend Linda Tripp that instructed Tripp to lie about what she knew about sexual encounters in the White House?
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Explaining his position, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr said Thursday, "we are going by the book. We want the truth. We want all the truth. We want it completely, accurately, and we will satisfy ourselves that we are getting the truthÂ…and that is the absolutely bedrock point: we want the truth.
The grand jury is calling witnesses who may have seen evidence of an affair. And, CBS News has learned Lewinsky once worried her co-workers were becoming suspicious, especially about phone calls she says she received from Mr. Clinton in her office.
White House phones feature a screen that identifies callers. When Mr. Clinton calls the acronym "potus" appears, short for President of the United States. Lewinsky told friends that people in the office were noticing. She told one friend Mr. clinton was checking into whether the idenitification system could be disabled.
The White House is increasing pressure on prosecutor Ken Starr. Sources tell CBS News it is part of the White House strategy to organize a chorus of democrats calling for Starr to be fired by the Attorney General. And now, Congressman John Conyers is the first to demand Starr's head.
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