``Nothing in this case justifies this Congress overturning a national election,'' Craig told the House Judiciary Committee. ``There are no grounds for impeachment.''

Craig opened a two-day defence for the president before the committee votes on articles of impeachment. Democrats said common sense and the will of the American people both argue against impeachment.

``The legal case against the president is, in my judgment, a house of cards,'' said the committee's ranking Democrat, John Conyers of Michigan.

Craig opened by allowing that Clinton's testimony in the Monica Lewinsky case was ``evasive, incomplete, misleading, even maddening, but it was not perjury.'' He also conveyed the president's ``profound and powerful regret for what he has done.''

``The president wants everyone to know -- the committee, the Congress andthe country -- that he is genuinely sorry for the pain and damage that he has caused,'' Craig said.

Committee chairman Henry Hyde said on Monday that his panel had made a ``compelling case'' for removing Clinton from office. But Conyers rejected that notion, saying the evidence ``wouldn't satisfy any court of law and cannot possibly serve as the evidentiary foundation'' for impeachment.

Away from the historic proceedings, the president today kicked off a conference on social security reform and planned to attend a Tennessee memorial for former senator Albert Gore Sr, the vice president's father, who died on Saturday. He previewed the White House submission to the committee and Craig's testimony and ordered changes ``to make it more clear he accepts responsibility for this and is deeply sorry,'' an administration official said. The official said Clinton instructed that the defence be presented in a way that is not confrontational.

With the possibility of a cliffhanger on the House floor next week, WhiteHouse advisers can only hope that undecided Republican lawmakers are paying attention to administration witnesses and lawyers in House Judiciary Committee hearings today and on Wednesday. The 21 Republicans on the 37-member committee have made clear that, barring any new evidence favourable to Clinton, they would vote for at least one article of impeachment this week. The bigger question is how the full House would vote.