The White House has decided to continue a legal battle to block testimony to the grand jury by Mr Bruce Lindsey, a close aide to President Clinton.
The decision to appeal to the Supreme Court announced yesterday means that Mr Lindsey cannot testify before the President who has agreed to give his testimony on August 17th.
Mr Clinton has begun preparations for this vital appearance before the grand jury via closed circuit television.
The White House also appeared to dismiss the "mea culpa" scenario much discussed in recent days whereby President Clinton would retract or "correct" his denial of having had sexual relations with Ms Monica Lewinsky and apologise to the American people.
A spokesman for the President, Mr Barry Toiv, told reporters yesterday that "the President has told the truth about this and will continue to do so". Last Friday, Mr Clinton did not repeat his denial of last January but said that he would testify "completely and truthfully" to the grand jury on August 17th and that he was looking forward to doing so.
Ms Lewinsky was continuing consultations with her lawyers in Washington in preparations for her testimony to the grand jury. No date has been given for her appearance but it could be later this week.
Meanwhile, the results of tests by the FBI laboratory on a dress belonging to Ms Lewinsky which may contain evidence of a physical relationship with Mr Clinton, do not yet seem to have been given to the independent counsel, Mr Kenneth Starr.
He is investigating if the President lied under oath about his relationship with Ms Lewinsky or tried to get others to lie as part of a cover-up. The former White House intern first denied under oath that she had sex with the President but is now expected to retract this denial in exchange for immunity from prosecution for perjury.
The White House chief counsel, Mr Charles Ruff, announced yesterday that an appeal would be made to the Supreme Court against the decision of a lower federal appeals court ruling that Mr Lindsey was not entitled to lawyer-client privilege. Mr Lindsey is one of Mr Clinton's closest political aides but he is also a qualified lawyer.
He has already appeared three times before the grand jury but has refused to answer certain questions about his conversations with President Clinton by pleading lawyer-client privilege.
The lower appeals court rejected this claim saying that as a paid government employee, Mr Lindsey was obliged to answer all questions in a criminal inquiry.
It is not clear how important Mr Lindsey's testimony will be following President Clinton's decision to testify himself.
Meanwhile Mr Starr has indicated that he will give the President full respect and deference as a witness before the grand jury.
After addressing a meeting of the American Bar Association in Toronto, Mr Starr told reporters: "One of the things that I want to make clear is that it is very important we respect our institutions of government and seek to discharge the duties we have, that we're charged with carrying on in a way that is very respectful of the institutions of our government."
Mr Walter Delinger, a former top official in the Justice Department during the Clinton administration, said at the American Bar Association meeting: "My own prediction would be that however this turns out, the institution of the president will be weakened by all this."