Lawyer Responds to Clinton Request

Friday, July 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) â€” The prosecutor seeking to disbar President Clinton said she would agree to a 30-day delay in proceedings on the condition that a trial would be complete before the end of the year.

Attorneys for Clinton face an Aug. 1 deadline to respond to a lawsuit seeking to disbar him over misleading testimony he gave in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

The president's lawyers asked Tuesday for an additional month to respond, arguing that Clinton's presidential duties have not left him enough time to prepare.

In court papers filed Thursday, prosecutor Marie-Bernarde Miller said she normally would accommodate such a request without conditions. But she noted that appointed Circuit Judge Leon Johnson is to leave office at the end of the year and said it would be in the best interest of all parties to complete the trial before then.

The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct wants a judge to rule the president is unfit to be a lawyer because of his testimony in the Jones case about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.