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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release January 15, 1999

As Prepared for Delivery

                      Statement of Gregory Craig
                   Special Counsel to the President

                           January 16, 1998

     The thirteen House Republican prosecutors have the Constitutional

burden to prove their case that the President of the United States should be removed from office. After three uninterrupted days of presenting their case, they have failed to meet that burden.

Nothing: nothing in any of the presentations, nothing in the five volume, 60,000 page record, nothing, in the testimony of at least one hundred witnesses has proved their case. The House Republicans' case ends as it began: an unsubstantiated, circumstantial case that does not meet the Constitutional standard to remove the President from office. That standard is clear: unlike federal judges, who are appointed for life and who serve during "good behavior," our President is elected by all the people, and should only be removed for the most grave offenses against the Constitution.

The simple truth is that the House Republican prosecutors failed to demonstrate that the will and interest of the American people would be served by nullifying the results of a national election.

Next week, on behalf of the President, we will present a strong, vigorous defense, based on the facts, the law and the Constitution... and we look forward to the day when all of us can return to the important business of the American people.

Thank you.

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