Republican prosecutors and White House lawyers today will question Ms Monica Lewinsky as a crucial witness in the impeachment trial of President Clinton.
The questioning under oath will be videotaped as it takes place in the Mayflower Hotel about half a mile from the White House. Lawyers from each side will be given four hours each to interrogate Ms Lewinsky, who returned to Washington on Saturday after a subpoena was issued.
Extracts from her testimony and that of two other witnesses, Mr Vernon Jordan and Mr Sidney Blumenthal, may be played at the Senate trial when it resumes on Thursday. It is also possible that Ms Lewinsky could be called as a witness to give further evidence, following a vote to do so.
Meanwhile, the White House has announced that Mr Clinton has changed his plans to visit Central America later this month in order to be in Washington when the final votes in his trial are taken. The Senate has set Friday, February 12th, as a likely date for the votes on the articles of impeachment accusing Mr Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Unless new revelations emerge from the three witnesses, Mr Clinton is certain to be acquitted because there will not be the two-thirds majority of the 100 senators required to find him guilty.
The new travel plans will see the President and Mrs Hillary Clinton making a one-day visit to President Zedillo of Mexico on February 15th. From March 8th to 11th, the Clintons will tour Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala to assess the damage from Hurricane Mitch and attend a summit of Central American leaders.
The White House has reacted angrily to a report in the New York Times that the independent counsel, Mr Ken Starr, has concluded that he has the constitutional authority to seek a grand jury indictment of Mr Clinton before he leaves the White House in January 2001.
Citing "associates of Mr Starr", the report says that he has not yet decided whether or when to seek an indictment of the President on the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice he now faces in the Senate trial. Mr Charles Bakaly, spokesman for Mr Starr, has said: "We will not discuss the plans of this office or the plans of the grand jury in any way, shape or form."
The White House special counsel, Mr Jim Kennedy, reacted by saying: "Besides reinforcing his own stereotype as an out-of-control prosecutor, Ken Starr is tampering with the Senate trial. Somebody ought to tell him he is not the 101st senator.'
The timing of the New York Times article has irritated and puzzled some senators as the impeachment trial moves into its closing phase. Constitutional experts disagree on whether a sitting president can be indicted for criminal offences. Some argue that Mr Starr could file a secret indictment now, which would be activated after the President's term ends.
Mr Clinton's lawyers in the present trial have expressed concern that Mr Starr may seek his indictment after he leaves office. They have indicated that they may need access to about 50,000 pages of unreleased documents compiled by Mr Starr.
Fear of a future criminal indictment is also the reason that the President's lawyers have refused to admit that Mr Clinton committed perjury when denying he had sexual relations with Ms Lewinsky.
Polls show that about two-thirds of the American people believe that he did commit perjury but they do not want him dismissed from office.