Ms Monica Lewinsky was questioned yesterday in a downtown hotel here by Republican prosecutors who will today urge the Senate to agree to call her and other witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Clinton.
But Mr Plato Cacheris, lawyer for Ms Lewinsky, urged that she should not be called as a witness "because all her testimony has been fully and completely disclosed." She was "candid, forthright and extremely truthful and added nothing to the record," he told reporters outside the hotel.
A motion by Democrats to end the trial immediately is expected to be defeated today by the Republican majority. Democrats, who are furious at the questioning of Ms Lewinsky, will then strongly oppose the calling of witnesses which could prolong the trial for weeks, if not months.
President Clinton spent yesterday touring areas of Arkansas devastated by tornadoes last week. He refused to comment on the trial or the reappearance of Ms Lewinsky.
Ms Lewinsky, who flew back to Washington from Los Angeles following a court order, was questioned for several hours at the luxury Mayflower Hotel where she is staying.
Photographers, TV camera crews and reporters jostled to catch a view of the three members of the prosecuting team arriving at the hotel.
One of the prosecutors, Congressman Bill McCollum, said earlier on ABC's This Week that he and his colleagues were "not there to be the bad guys." He said: "I can assure you, as I will her . . . that we're not about to put her through the wringer, so to speak. We're wanting to be very sympathetic to her. We're simply trying to get acquainted."
But another prosecutor, Congressman Asa Hutchinson, said yesterday they would be asking Ms Lewinsky about conflicts in her evidence to the grand jury with that of President Clinton and his secretary, Ms Betty Currie.
Following the meeting with Ms Lewinsky, the prosecutors said she was "very personable and impressive" and would be a "very helpful" witness if called.
All 45 Democratic senators have protested against Ms Lewinsky being "debriefed" by the prosecutors in advance of today's vote on the calling of witnesses. Democrats say this breaches an agreement by the full Senate two weeks ago to take no action on witnesses until today's vote. They also point out that she has already testified 22 times.
The Republicans say debriefing of Ms Lewinsky was part of the immunity deal she made with the Independent Counsel, Mr Ken Starr. One of his staff was present at the questioning of Ms Lewinsky as was her lawyer, Mr Cacheris.
The leader of the prosecuting team, Congressman Henry Hyde, dismissed Democratic charges that Ms Lewinsky was being intimidated. "That would be kind of stupid to try and intimidate her. We just want to find out the sort of witness she would be before we submit her name as one that we would like to have," Mr Hyde told NBC's Meet the Press.
Former President George Bush broke his silence on President Clinton's affair with Ms Lewinsky. "I have tried to stay out of all the Washington mess," Mr Bush told a Safari Club International hunters' convention. "But I must confess I have been deeply concerned by what appears to be a lack of respect for the office I was so proud to hold."