Amid high drama on Thursday, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr transmitted to Congress his report containing ``substantial and credible evidence'' that the President committed perjury and obstructed justice in covering up his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The forwarding of the report to Congress ends the legal process in the case that has transfixed the world. The action now moves to the political arena.

The 425-member US House of Representatives, in which the Republicans have a majority, must now consider whether the President's alleged excesses constitute ``high crimes and misdemeanours,'' the constitutional benchmark which invites impeachment.

Clinton's lawyers are arguing that it does not.

There is a suggestion among some lawmakers that the President be let off with a censure because the Starr probehas explored the most intimate details of the President's life and virtually forced him to lie -- adultery itself is not considered an impeachable offense -- but even that would be an unprecedented step.

Congressional leaders were debating through the night to decide the next step after Starr stunned everyone by rushing the report to the Hill on Thursday evening. It was expected on Friday earliest or early next week, but Starr apparently decided to hurry through his part to prevent any legal jiggery-pokery the President's brains trust was considering.

As the 445-page report and 36 boxes of Grand Jury material arrived at the Capitol at 4 p.m in several black government vans, a hushed crowd of onlookers witnessed the drama which could evolve now into historic process.

If the House decides to begin impeachment proceedings, it will only be the third time in modern America's 222-year history that a President will be faced with expulsion from office, after episodes involving Andrew Jackson and RichardNixon.

A Starr deputy who oversaw the transmission of the report said the office of the Independent Counsel had fulfilled its duty under the law. ``Responsibility for the information we have transmitted today and for any further action now lies with Congress as provided by the Constitution,'' Starr's spokesman Charles Bakaly said.

Late in the night, lawmakers are said to have decided to release the report to the public on Thursday or Friday. That is expected to reveal more lurid details of the sex scandal which has already plumbed some pretty low depths.

Although the broad contours of the report has been endlessly speculated on --that it contains evidence of perjury etc -- a phrase heard here often is ``the devil is in the details.''

Speculation about whether the President would resign swirled through Washington. But all indications were that he would dig in and fight it out.

Clinton's lawyers began laying out a defence for the President saying the report did not constitute a basis for impeachment.``People should keep in mind that the documents delivered to Congress today represent only the prosecutor's allegations -- allegations that we have been denied a chance to review,'' the President's private attorney David Kendall said. Clinton and his lawyers did not get an advance copy of the report they sought.

Meanwhile, the President was out on the road in Florida sounding, as one commentator put it, ``more contrite than ever as the noose gets tighter.'' In a self-deprecatory moment during a fund-raising speech in Florida, Clinton mused that he had let people down and let the country down with his actions. But he said he was determined to regain the trust of the people.

While both Democrat and Republican lawmakers said they would not be guided by partisan politics and would act responsibly in this moment of grave political and constitutional crisis, the more imminent danger was Clinton would be laughed out of office by an avalanche of public ridicule and opprobrium.

Jokes, pin buttons, flyers, latenight gags, stickers about the President's escapades and current predicament litter public spaces. One bumper sticker with Clinton's face put it eloquently: Dead Man Walking.