Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Starr To Probe Hale Allegations > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Brushing aside possible conflicts of > interest, the Justice Department gave Whitewater > prosecutor Kenneth Starr the go-ahead Thursday to > investigate allegations that a conservative foundation > may have provided financial assistance to his star > witness. > > Justice officials were looking at Starr's ties to the > American Spectator foundation, said a senior agency > official who requested anonymity. But Deputy Attorney > General Eric Holder told Starr in a letter that the > independent counsel has ``investigative and > prosecutorial jurisdiction over these allegations'' > because it involved possible tampering with one of his > witnesses. > > ``The department lacks jurisdiction to investigate > it,'' Holder wrote. > > A witness has alleged that top Whitewater witness David > Hale received payments and other assistance from > conservative activists working for the American > Spectator Educational Foundation, which publishes the > magazine, when Hale was cooperating with Starr's > investigation. > > Starr's friend and former law partner, high-powered > Washington lawyer Theodore Olson, is a director on the > foundation's board and the magazine's publisher is a > personal friend of Starr's. Also, the foundation has > received funding from a group controlled by billionaire > publisher Richard Mellon Scaife that gave $1 million to > Pepperdine University, where Starr plans to teach after > the investigation. > > Holder alluded to those ties in his letter, saying that > ``there have been suggestions that your office would > have a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a > conflict ... because of the importance of Hale to your > investigation and because the payments allegedly came > from funds provided by Richard Scaife.'' > > And Holder practically invited Starr to refer the > matter back to the Justice Department if necessary. > > ``Should you believe that this matter would be better > investigated by the Department of Justice,'' he wrote, > ``we would be prepared to accept a referral from you.'' > > Earlier Thursday, Attorney General Janet Reno declined > to talk in detail about the matter although she told > her weekly news conference that Justice officials hoped > to have a decision quickly. > > Allegations that Hale was assisted by conservative > activists working for the magazine first came to light > in March. > > Caryn Mann, a Bentonville, Ark., funeral home employee, > said that her former live-in boyfriend received money > from magazine officials and that her son saw the > boyfriend give cash to Hale when Hale was cooperating > with Starr's invesigation. > > She said Hale and Dozhier provided information about > the Whitewater probe to officials at the magazine and > that Hale was often accompanied by FBI agents when he > visited her former boyfriend. > > Parker Dozhier, Mann's former boyfriend, acknowledged > to The Associated Press that he received $35,000 to be > the magazine's ``eyes and ears'' in Arkansas and that > Hale occassionally stayed rent-free in a secluded > fishing cabin he owns, but denied giving money to Hale. > > Whitewater prosecutors working with Hale said they were > were unaware of Dozhier's ties to the conservative > activists. > > Terry Eastland, publisher of American Spectator, said > there's no evidence that money from a $1.7 million > research project on Whitewater, dubbed the ``Arkansas > Project,'' went to Hale. Eastland is overseeing an > internal audit to determine how the project money was > spent. Olson is assisting with that audit. > > Starr and Olson were partners at the same law firm in > the 1970s and both worked at the Justice Department > during in the 1980s -- Olson as assistant attorney > general and Starr as solicitor general. > > Olson represented Hale in Washington in 1995 and 1996 > during congressional hearings on Whitewater. > > Justice officials were looking at these connections and > were considering whether the investigation should be > conducted by Starr, the agency's Office of Professional > Responsibility or the Arkansas judge that heard Hale's > testimony in Whitewater trials in Little Rock. > > Hale's testimony in 1996 helped convict President > Clinton's former business partners, J im and Susan > McDougal, and Arkansas' sitting governor, Jim Guy > Tucker. > > A lawyer for Mrs. McDougal, said he would file a court > challenge to have Starr removed from the investigation. > > ``That's clearly a conflict of interest,'' said the > lawyer, Mark Geragos, speaking in Little Rock. ``We'll > take the appropriate action ... to move to recuse > him.'' > > Geragos claimed that two witnesses in the case would > come forward to say they had seen FBI reports available > to Starr that detailed meetings between Hale and > representatives of conservative groups in which money > was passed. He declined to identify the witnesses. > > Starr's chief deputy, W. Hickman Ewing Jr., denied the > allegation. > > ``We're convinced ... that none of our people had any > knowledge of any such payments,'' he said. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
