Amid feverish preparations for the unprecedented Senate trial, Republican lawmakers and the Democratic White House fenced verbally about a process not seen by any living person. Clinton's defence team warned that convicting him would overturn the popular will of the people and subvert the American system, making the President serve at the pleasure of lawmakers, as in many parliamentary systems.

``Removal of the President... would defy the constitutional presumption that the removal power rests with the people in elections, and it would do incalculable damage to the institution of the Presidency,'' Clinton's lawyers argued in a memorandum filed before the Senate ahead of the trial.

Clinton himself made his first public comments on the trial, saying the ``important thing for me is to spend as little time thinking about that as possible and as much time working on the issues... as possible''. But he made known his views indirectly, pointing out that over 900 Constitutional experts had said the case against him did not constitute sufficient grounds for impeachment.

The Senate was a beehive of activity, as it was being physically retrofitted to accommodate a courtroom-like trial. The 13-member all-Republican House prosecution team, referred to as Floor Managers, will conduct their case from two specially fitted desks. New cameras and microphones were being installed in the chambers. The opening arguments from both sides, expected to go on till the middle of next week, will be telecast live. All 13 Republican Congressmen happen to be former lawyers.

So rare is the trial that the Senate has had to make up rules as it gets going. No living person has witnessed the impeachment of a President, although the joke is it is not inconceivable that some Senators could have been around at the time of the last impeachment in 1868. The Senate has several venerable legislators like Strom Thurmond, 96, and Robert Byrd, 82, who go back a long, long way.

Ahead of the trial, which begins at 1 pm Thursday (11.30 pm IST), the 100 Senators, who will act as the jury, received a one-page list of do's and don'ts from their leadership, advising them on trial decorum. They were told to be present at all times, not to whisper or chat on cell phones, to vote by rising from their chairs, and to address the Chair as Mr Chief Justice.

The most difficult part for this lawmaking elite, which regards itself as the most powerful club in the world, is the code of silence they are sworn to. Normally voluble and verbose, the Senators can only ask written questions through the Chief Justice who acts as a moderator.

Although sworn to be an impartial jury, many Senators have already made known their views and they might be difficult to rein in before the media microphones that are usually placed outside the chambers for post-debate sound bites. Some, like Democrat Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, has called the largely-Republican case a sham, counterfeit and a pile of dung.

Meanwhile, reports spoke of the House prosecution team contacting Monica Lewinsky's lawyers to discuss a possible appearance by her. But her attorneys rebuffed the overtures and it would seem the prosecution will have to subpoena her and force her to testify.

There were also indications that the Republican team would call the President himself before the Senate. Clinton aides have said the President will not take the stand on his own volition and have doubted the Senate has the power to compel him to appear before it.