Trent Lott: “Subpart (7) of article II alleges that the President obstructed justice when he relayed or told certain White House…”

“Subpart (7) of article II alleges that the President obstructed justice when he relayed or told certain White House officials things about his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that were false and misleading. This is another example of double billing in the two articles. This charge is leveled in article I, and it appears here in article II. Yesterday, Mr. Craig explained why these statements didn't constitute perjury, and I would like to take just a few minutes this afternoon to explain why they don't constitute an obstruction of justice, either. First of all, and most obviously, there is no way--I said this in the beginning--there is no way that the statements of the aides could be in any way part of a scheme to deny Ms. Jones of evidence. I think on this ground alone subpart (7) fails, because if you look at what is alleged in article II, it is that the President obstructed justice in order to delay, impede, et cetera, existence of testimony related to Ms. Jones' lawsuit. There is no way here that whatever the President said to an aide could have done that.”