Grand jury probing Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, sources reveal

Timing of news condemned by White House, Gore campaign

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Independent Counsel Robert Ray has seated a grand jury as part of an investigation into the scandal involving President Clinton and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, sources told CNN.

The release of the news comes on the day Vice President Al Gore accepts his party's nomination.

"The timing of this absolutely reeks," said one White House official. "But given the past record of that office, it's not surprising," he added, referring to the activities primarily of Ray's predecessor, Ken Starr.

Legal sources said the grand jury was actually empaneled in July.

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"The timing seems very odd that it comes out today, given the fact that it (the formation of the grand jury) occurred more than a month ago," said Gore campaign spokesman Chris Lehane.

"Republicans want to focus on the past," he said. "Gore and (Joseph) Lieberman want to focus on the future."

A top official of the Republican presidential campaign of George W. Bush even complained.

"We think the timing is wrong; it is simply not appropriate for this type of news to come out on Al Gore's big day," said Karen Hughes, the Bush campaign's communications director. "This election is not about President Clinton, it's about the future."

But a spokesman for Ray denies that his office is the source of the grand jury leak.

Keith Ausbrook, senior counsel to Ray, told CNN: "We have no comment on the substance of the story. We are not the source."

The Office of Independent Counsel issued a written statement Thursday emphasizing it was not the source of the news leak.

"This office has no comment with respect to these reports, and will neither confirm nor deny them," the statement said. "These reports indicate, and we confirm, the source of these reports is not within the Office of Independent Counsel."

At issue in Ray's investigation is whether Clinton committed perjury or obstructed justice when he denied an affair with Lewinsky in sworn testimony in the Paula Jones case.

The judge in the Jones case has already ruled the president gave false testimony and fined him for civil contempt of court. The disciplinary committee of the Arkansas Supreme Court has also moved to revoke Clinton's law license.

Clinton was impeached by the House in December 1998 on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from his affair with Lewinsky when she was a White House intern.

The Senate acquitted him in February 1999, allowing him to serve out his term.

Ray has said his investigation is ongoing and that he is building toward a final report on the Lewinsky scandal. One way to accomplish those goals is to use a grand jury to bring in additional witnesses and hear more testimony.

An expert cautioned that empaneling a new grand jury is no guarantee that Ray will seek an indictment.

"It's merely a step in an investigation, not an indication an indictment would ever be approved by a grand jury or even presented to the grand jury," said John Douglass, a former prosecutor in the Iran-Contra scandal.

"At this stage in this particular investigation it would be highly unlikely for a new grand jury to receive any new information that had not already been considered at length by Ken Starr, the United States Congress and the prior grand jury," said Douglass, an expert in criminal law and criminal procedure at the University of Richmond.

CNN Correspondents John King, Bob Franken and Patty Davis and The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.