As President Clinton returned to Washington from his Asian trip there was further uncertainty over the outcome of the Congressional impeachment investigation. While the White House is having informal discussions with influential members of Congress on a motion of censure instead of impeachment, hardline Republicans are campaigning against such a compromise, arguing that it lets the President off too lightly.
A Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr William Delahunt, has said he is planning to table a motion censuring the President for his denials of an affair with Ms Monica Lewinsky.
But the Republican members of the committee are said to be preparing to vote for articles of impeachment which would then be submitted to the 435-member House of Representatives for their decision.
The committee is planning to wrap up its work about December 7th, which would allow the House vote to take place before Christmas. Republicans have a 22-vote majority, but a number have publicly said that they will not vote for impeachment. They include Mr Peter King, who is at present visiting Northern Ireland for discussions on the peace process.
The chairman of the committee, Mr Henry Hyde, has irritated the White House by calling a hearing next week on "the consequences of perjury and related crimes". Witnesses would include judges, convicted perjurers and military officers whom Republicans want to testify on the effect on morale in the services of having a commander-in-chief who deceived the country over eight months. President Clinton and his lawyers have been finalising his responses to the 81 questions submitted by Mr Hyde several weeks ago to assist the committee in its investigation.
He was also briefed on the latest situation concerning Iraq and its refusal to hand over documents requested by the UN weapons inspectors from Unscom saying that they no longer existed or were irrelevant. While the Secretary of Defence, Mr William Cohen, has said the US can still resort to military strikes against Iraq, he indicated that such an action was not imminent.
Meanwhile President Clinton, in front of an audience of children, issued the traditional "pardon" to a turkey at the White House before departing for Camp David to spend the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Turkey is the main dish for Thanksgiving feasts.
The tradition of a presidential "pardon" for a lucky turkey, which is then sent to a special zoo to live out its days, began under President Truman.
The US Attorney General, Ms Janet Reno, decided yesterday not to name an independent counsel to investigate whether Vice President Al Gore had lied to FBI agents about his fundraising activities in the 1996 campaign.