Outside the marbled Hart Senate Office committee hearing room where a summer of hearings began, scrums of reporters clustered around as senators, White House aides, Democratic consultants, and spokesmen for both sides vied to peddle their versions of the day's events. One prominent spinner was White House lawyer Lanny Davis, point man for President Clinton in the campaign finance controversy. Such is governing in the era of the permanent campaign.
Every fact is open to interpretation.
And though almost always predictable, the spin often is treated as gospel by a clinging press. Mellman's statement was aimed at the Republican's case against possible fund-raising abuses in the White House. But it could have been uttered almost any time about any topic at any place in this city - and fetch nods of understanding. Unlike the atmosphere almost 25 years ago when much of the activity in the Watergate hearings was confined to the procedure-bound setting inside Sam Ervin's chamber, today's media age investigations go far beyond the dignified air of the Senate sanctum. They were asked questions that never arose inside the hearing room, adding yet more layers of context and complexity to points that hours before had seemed clearer inside the hearing room.