WASHINGTON -- In an extraordinary admission, President Clinton acknowledged to the nation last night that, contrary to his denials for the past seven months, he engaged in a relationship with Monica Lewinsky that was "not appropriate" and constituted a "personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible."

Clinton, speaking in a four-minute televised address from the White House, did not disclose any details of that relationship. He said his deposition in the Paula Corbin Jones case, in which he denied having "sexual relations" with the former White House intern, was "legally accurate."

But he admitted that in the course of answering questions about the Lewinsky matter, he "misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that."

Clinton's statement to the public was the dramatic culmination of seven months in which the president has been under intense pressure to fully explain his relationship with Lewinsky. It followed shortly after his historic testimony yesterday to a federal grand jury and marked perhaps the most perilous day in the president's turbulent political career.

At stake for Clinton is nothing less than his grasp on the White House as independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, who questioned him yesterday for more than four hours along with three of his deputies, now decides whether to send an impeachment report to Congress.

The most serious issue Starr is investigating is whether Clinton encouraged Lewinsky to lie in the Jones lawsuit or took part in an effort to obstruct justice in the case.

"I told the grand jury today and I say to you now," Clinton said last night, "that at no time did I ask anyone to lie, to hide or destroy evidence, or to take any other unlawful action."

In his remarks, Clinton projected resolve and self-assurance, even as he admitted a "critical lapse in judgment." Much of his statement, in fact, was combative and implicitly critical of Starr, who has doggedly pursued various allegations against Clinton and his associates for four years.

By way of explaining why he resisted telling the full truth for so long, Clinton said that, in part, "I had real and serious concerns about an independent counsel investigation that began with private business dealings 20 years ago," and "moved on to my staff and friends, then into my private life."

A note of bitterness

"This has gone on too long, cost too much and hurt too many innocent people," he said.

The president injected a note of bitterness in his references to Starr's investigation. "Even presidents have private lives," he said. "It is time to stop the pursuit of personal destruction and the prying into private lives and get on with our national life."

Clinton's admission stood in stark contrast not only to his sworn denial of a sexual relationship with Lewinsky in the Jones sexual misconduct case but to a TV sound bite that is likely to haunt the Clinton presidency. In a defiant denial last January, Clinton stared into TV cameras and wagged his finger when he said: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

Last night, Clinton said that in misleading the public since January, he was motivated by his desire to "protect myself from the embarrassment of my own conduct" and to protect his family.

He said the matter is now "between me, the two people I love most -- my wife and our daughter -- and our God. Now it is time -- in fact, it is past time, to move on."

Clinton's 10 p.m. address to the nation came at the end of a long and difficult day for the president -- with the mood inside the White House as gray and oppressive as the weather outside -- in which he became the first U.S. president to testify in a grand jury investigation in which he, himself, is the target.

Some questions unanswered

Clinton told the grand jury yesterday, much as he told the public last night, that he had an inappropriate physical relationship with Lewinsky. But his lawyer, David E. Kendall, said Clinton refused to answer "a few very highly intrusive questions in order to preserve personal privacy and institutional dignity."

Starr said he reserved the right to come back and ask the questions again or issue a subpoena that would force Clinton to answer his queries.

After Clinton's testimony, which took place in the Map Room in the White House residence, Kendall made a brief statement in which he said the president testified "truthfully" about his relationship with Lewinsky and the questions he was asked about that relationship in the Jones deposition in January.

Kendall also took a swipe at Starr. "We're hopeful that the president's testimony will finally bring closure to the independent counsel's more than four year and over $40 million investigation, which has culminated in an investigation of the president's private life," Kendall said.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter, Chelsea, expected to leave with the president this afternoon for a 12-day vacation in Martha's Vineyard, were in the White House residence yesterday as Clinton took an oath swearing to tell the truth at 12:59 p.m.

Clinton plans to spend this morning calling political friends and allies to whom he feels he owes a personal apology. Last night before Clinton's address, White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles called leading Democrats around the country asking them to stand by the president.

Few of Clinton's supporters were publicly rallying around him yesterday.

The immediate reaction to Clinton's remarks suggested he may not have put the Lewinsky matter completely behind him.

'Wasn't that pathetic?'

Republican critics were quick to pounce on Clinton's criticism of Starr as a sign that the president lacks any real contrition for his own mistakes.

"Wasn't that pathetic? said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I tell you, what a jerk. That's the biggest mistake he's ever made."

Still, Hatch said the president's expression of regret may be enough to persuade lawmakers to resist an inquiry if prosecutors did not find other evidence of obstruction of justice.

"This is classic Bill Clinton, still, still after the 11th hour refusing to take responsibility for his own actions," said Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Baltimore County Republican. "I think he owes taxpayers a lot of money."

The president's most loyal supporters, however, applauded Clinton for admitting he made mistakes.

"This was about as abject a statement as you get from a president," said Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who serves on the Judiciary Committee. "He used poor judgment, he lied about it, but that would not seem to rise to the level of impeachment."

Rep. Albert R. Wynn, a Democrat from Prince George's County, said the president could not have been any more forthcoming about his relationship with Lewinsky.

"He answered all of the questions that can be answered," he said. "Now what he needs to do is talk about the issues the country is concerned about."

Former White House chief of staff Leon E. Panetta chalked up Clinton's attacks on Starr as a product of the president's anger at having his personal life intruded upon.

'It's time to heal'

"The president feels this more than anybody, perhaps more as individual than as president of the United States," Panetta said. "We've been through seven months of hell with this issue, it's affected every branch of government, weakened the presidency and produced gridlock in the Congress. It's time to heal the country."

Clinton, who began working on his remarks to the nation Sunday night, spent much private time with his wife and daughter Sunday in reportedly painful discussions. Mrs. Clinton also participated in strategy sessions over the weekend with Clinton and his lawyers.

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and other clerics met with Clinton at the White House late Sunday night. Jackson said he was summoned there by Chelsea Clinton, whom he counseled when the Lewinsky story broke in January. He said he met with Mrs. Clinton and Chelsea for nearly two hours, beginning at 10:30 p.m., and that the three of them then talked briefly with the president.

"I think that Bill has a sense of embarrassment," Jackson said. "Hillary, as the wife, there's a sense of humiliation. Hillary is dedicated to her marriage."

Unprecedented testimony

Clinton's testimony, which concluded at 6: 25 p.m. and included several breaks, was fed by one-way closed-circuit television to the 23 members of the Lewinsky grand jury who were viewing the president on two 19-inch TV sets in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson at the U.S. Courthouse.

In a departure from standard grand jury appearances where a witness testifies without a lawyer present, Clinton was questioned with private lawyers Kendall and Nicole Seligman and White House counsel Charles Ruff by his side.

Clinton's appearance -- also unusual in that targets of grand jury investigations rarely testify -- was the last key element that Starr needed to complete his investigation -- a four-year inquiry that began with a probe into the Whitewater land deal and expanded to include other controversies, including the Lewinsky matter.

Since January, Starr has focused on whether Clinton lied when ** he denied under oath, in the now dismissed Jones case, that he had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky. Starr is also examining whether Clinton encouraged Lewinsky to lie about such a relationship or otherwise tried to cover it up. Starr was tipped off about the relationship by Linda R. Tripp, a Pentagon employee who secretly recorded her phone conversations with Lewinsky, a former friend and colleague.

Clinton's testimony was secured by Starr only after the independent counsel subpoenaed Clinton last month. Starr and Kendall then negotiated a deal under which Clinton would testify voluntarily and the subpoena would be withdrawn.

The deal was crafted about the same time that Starr won Lewinsky's cooperation by granting her complete immunity from prosecution. Aside from agreeing to testify, Lewinsky turned over to Starr a dress that she said contained evidence of a sexual encounter with Clinton. FBI lab results of tests on the dress have not been revealed.

In her testimony less than two weeks ago, Lewinsky told the grand jury that she had a sexual relationship with Clinton that lasted 18 months and began when she was 22. But she said Clinton did not directly tell her to lie about it, sources familiar with her testimony have said.

Although Starr is likely to continuing calling witnesses -- perhaps even Lewinsky again -- Clinton's testimony provided the capstone of what has been a controversial 30-week investigation with about 80 witnesses appearing before several grand juries. In trying to build an obstruction of justice case, Starr is exploring, among other things, whether Clinton advised Lewinsky to return presents he had given her to his secretary, Betty Currie, in case of their being subpoenaed in the Jones case. Prosecutors also want to know whether Clinton enlisted his friend Vernon Jordan to help Lewinsky find a job in New York in exchange for her silence.

If he finds "substantial and credible" evidence of presidential misconduct, Starr is required under the special prosecutor law to send an impeachment report to the House of Representatives. Starr also could ask the grand jury to indict Clinton on criminal charges, but that step is considered unlikely.

Trying to end probe

Starr has been aiming to send a report to Congress this fall. Outside the federal courthouse, Starr spokesman Charles Bakaly said yesterday: "We are trying to complete the investigation as quickly as possible."

House Speaker Newt Gingrich has said Starr's report would be sent directly to the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry J. Hyde, an Illinois Republican respected by Republicans and Democrats alike.

Although House Republicans and Democrats have started planning for a report by hiring lawyers, neither side relishes the idea of dealing with this politically sensitive issue before the November congressional elections. No more than the most preliminary work on reviewing a report from Starr is expected to be completed this year.

Pub Date: 8/18/98