The White House yesterday continued to vilify the independent counsel, Mr Kenneth Starr, in a bid to polish President Clinton's image in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.
Speaking on NBC television, a White House adviser, Mr Paul Begala, sharply criticised Mr Starr's investigation while declining to shed light on the nature of Mr Clinton's relationship with the former White House intern.
Mr Starr is the Republican lawyer who has been a thorn in the Clinton administration's side since he was appointed to look into the Arkansas real estate development known as Whitewater in which Mr Clinton invested.
Mr Begala said Mr Clinton was following his lawyers' advice not to comment on the Lewinski case during a partisan investigation that Mr Begala described as "out of control."
"When you have this sort of a situation, it is best to listen to your lawyers, and to do what is best for the American people, which is focus on your job," he said.
Mr Clinton's personal lawyer, Mr David Kendall, has blamed Mr Starr for news reports that were damaging to the president, saying Mr Starr was responsible for a "deluge of illegal leaks."
Mr Kendall has released 15 pages of news reports he said were based on information from Mr Starr's investigators. He said they were released in violation of federal rules designed to keep grand jury proceedings secret.
But Mr Starr said that "individuals outside my office," including "the president's defence attorneys," were privy to information in recent leaks to the media.
Despite embarrassing allegations he had an affair with a former White House intern, Mr Clinton's approval rating for his job has soared to 79 per cent, according to a new poll released yesterday.
The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll taken on Saturday gave Mr Clinton a 79 per cent approval rating for the job he is doing as president; 15 per cent said they disapproved of Clinton's handling of his job and 6 per cent said they were not sure.
The president's approval rating in a poll by the same group in December 1997 was 59 per cent.
Sixty-five per cent of the 407 adults questioned in the latest poll by the Hart-Teeter polling organisation said Mr Clinton should not be impeached and removed from office even if allegations that he lied under oath about an affair with a 21-year-old White House intern were true.
Twenty-nine per cent, however, said if the allegations were true he should be impeached and removed from the White House.
Mr Clinton has strongly denied allegations he had a sexual relationship with Ms Lewinsky or asked her to lie about it.
Asked whether they were more or less likely to believe in Mr Clinton after having heard the latest allegations, 61 per cent said it did not affect their opinion, 23 per cent said they were less likely to believe in the president and 14 per cent said they were more likely to believe in him.
When questioned about Mr Starr's investigation of allegations against Mr Clinton, 22 per cent said they thought Mr Starr's probe was fair and impartial, but 64 per cent said Mr Starr was using the investigation for partisan, political purposes.
On questions concerning Iraq and whether the US should rely on diplomatic negotiations or use military force to resolve President Saddam's refusal to allow UN inspectors to examine potential weapons sites, 38 per cent said the US should rely on diplomacy and 47 per cent said military force should be used.
But 52 per cent said attempting to capture or kill Mr Saddam was not worth risking US troops, while 38 per cent said it would be worth it.