The defence of President Clinton in his impeachment trial begins today with a strong attack on what the White House sees as weak points in the prosecution case.
Later tonight, the President will go to Capitol Hill, not to testify in his Senate trial, but to deliver his annual State of the Union address, which is expected to boost his already favourable poll ratings even higher. A number of Republicans are expected to stay away from the address to the joint Houses of Congress, pleading that they have other business in their constituencies.
The controversy over the calling of witnesses in the trial is becoming more intense as Democrats are now threatening to summon Independent Counsel Mr Ken Starr to testify if the Republicans vote next week to call Ms Monica Lewinsky and some White House aides.
Democratic Senator Robert Torricelli said Mr Starr would be a prime target for the defence. "We will go through prosecutorial abuse, how he came by information, who he talked to, and we're going to put the system of justice on trial."
Republicans are also suggesting that Mr Clinton should testify at his trial on a voluntary basis. The White House dismisses the idea.
The prosecution case calling for Mr Clinton's removal from office on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice concluded last Saturday. The Republican prosecutors from the House of Representatives appealed for witnesses to be called to resolve conflicts of evidence between Mr Clinton and Ms Lewinsky.
The White House legal team now has three days to present its rebuttal of the charges against the President but may not use all its time. His lawyers will first challenge the accuracy of the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Then they will argue that as crimes they do not meet the Constitutional standard for dismissal from office.
A danger for the White House lawyers is that by contesting facts in the prosecution case they risk giving support to the argument for the calling of witnesses. So far the White House has strongly opposed having witnesses, saying that they are not necessary and would prolong the trial for months.
Mr Clinton's lawyers will also try and show that the prosecution suppressed evidence in the Starr report that can help the President. This is especially concerning the obstruction of justice charge, where the President is accused of arranging the concealment of gifts he gave Ms Lewinsky and of securing her a job to ensure her silence about their affair.
Yesterday, Mr Clinton celebrated the Martin Luther King national holiday by putting in a stint of community service with Vice-President Al Gore. He also announced the biggest settlement of a racial bias case, which will result in $6 billion being made available for mortgages for minorities. A Maryland-based mortgage firm agreed the settlement after a federal investigation produced evidence of bias against minority clients.
Mr Clinton also continued rehearsing his State of the Union address in the White House family theatre. He is expected to announce a new child-care tax credit, a $110 billion increase in defence spending and increased expenditure on education and the Medicare health insurance scheme.
Mr Clinton began marking King Day on Sunday by joining hands with his wife, Hillary, to sing We Shall Overcome at Foundry United Methodist Church. In his sermon, the Rev J. Philip Wogaman noted that Dr King may have been a flawed man in his personal life, but his firm belief in equality and social justice eclipsed those flaws. Because of that, he said, history has been kind to Dr King, despite the persecution from enemies and FBI investigations he endured during his life.