US senators began two days of questions in the impeachment trial of President Clinton as Republicans sought to have him called to testify. But an influential Democratic senator, Mr Robert Byrd, has announced he will be putting down a dismissal motion early next week.
If six Republicans joined the Democrats on this motion, the trial would end immediately without a vote whether to convict the President. Senator Byrd is regarded as the greatest authority on the arcane Senate rules and his motion could attract moderate Republicans anxious to end the trial without delay, as it is clear there will not be the two-thirds majority needed for conviction.
Earlier yesterday, the leader of the Republican prosecution team or "managers", Mr Henry Hyde, wrote to Senate leaders about getting Mr Clinton to appear.
In his letter, Mr Hyde said: "Because the President is the only individual with knowledge of almost every material fact relevant to the trial, the House believes that this testimony could greatly help to expeditiously and fairly bring this matter to a close."
It is regarded as highly unlikely that the President would accept an invitation to testify in his trial, which he has ignored in public appearances and speeches since it began. Any attempt to force the President to testify under subpoena could lead to an appeal by him to the Supreme Court and a constitutional crisis.
On Monday, Democrats are expected to vote for Mr Byrd's motion to end the trial but if this motion is defeated by the Republican majority, a second vote will be taken on the calling of witnesses. If this succeeds, the trial will be adjourned for a period to allow the witnesses to be questioned in private. The Senate Democratic leader, Senator Tom Daschle, said that he was increasingly optimistic that the motion to dismiss could succeed.
The question and answer session in the trial gave the Republican prosecutors and White House defence team the opportunity to attack perceived weaknesses in each other's case.
Each side was given five minutes to respond to the questions. Democratic senators used some of their questions to allow the White House lawyers to comment on the responses just given by the Republican prosecutors.
Some of the questions were broad in scope, such as the one from Republican senators asking the prosecution team if the defence "had mischaracterised any factual or legal issue in this case."