English/Nat Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr spent two hours outlining his case against Bill Clinton as a government panel began impeachment hearings against the U-S President. Starr, as the lead-off witness, faced some tough questions from the lawyer for Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. But he fought back, accusing Clinton of misusing his "authority and power" -- and engaging in a "pattern of obstruction." It was a blend of constitutional drama and partisan struggle as Kenneth Starr laid out the evidence against President Clinton - the third presidential impeachment inquiry in U-S history. Starr's testimony was the first the committee had taken since receiving boxes of his sex-drenched evidence this fall. He spoke calmly as he offered his first public accounting of his investigation into the president's relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In his opening statement, he sought to blunt the criticisms levelled against the sexually explicit nature of some of his evidence. It was the House, he noted, that voted overwhelmingly to make much of it public, saying that the charges against Clinton are of national interest. And he insisted the public had a right to know what their president was up to. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The evidence suggests that the president repeatedly tried to thwart the legal process in the (Paula) Jones matter and in the grand jury investigation. That is not a private matter. The evidence further suggests that the president, in the course of these efforts, misused his authority and his power as president and contravened his duty to faithfully execute the laws. That, too, is not a private matter." SUPER CAPTION: Kenneth Starr, US Independent Counsel Starr said Clinton's actions over the last year were inconsistent with the president's duty to faithfully execute the law. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The evidence suggests that the eight months included false statements under oath, false statements to the American people, false statements to the president's cabinet, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and misuse of presidential authority and power in an effort to conceal the truth of the relationship, and to delay the investigation." SUPER CAPTION: Kenneth Starr, US Independent Counsel He concluded by saying that no one in his office enjoyed the task of investigating the president. Instead, he said, it caused them "considerable dismay." But, he said, they all want to be able to say -- 30 years from now -- that they "did the right thing." Still, Starr was on the receiving end of a blistering attack delivered from a few feet away by Representative John Conyers of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the committee. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Today's witness, Kenneth W Starr, wrote the tawdry, salacious and unnecessarily graphic referral that he delivered to us in September with so much drama and fanfare. And now the majority members of this committee have called that same prosecutor forward to testify in an unprecedented desperation effort to breathe new life into a dying inquiry." SUPER CAPTION: John Conyers, Top Democrat on the US House Judiciary Committee Conyers insisted that Starr had taken the probe too far. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I and many others believe that Mr Starr has crossed that line into obsession." SUPER CAPTION: John Conyers, Top Democrat on the U-S House Judiciary Committee The hearings on Thursday preceded a committee vote planned for the next few weeks on whether to recommend that the full House vote to impeach Clinton. The case would then be sent to the Senate, which would decide whether to remove him from office. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/181bcdecce6ce7bdbf37cdcb056d0cd4 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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