Starr Seeks To Seal Secret Material
By JOHN SOLOMON
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Prosecutor Kenneth Starr is asking a court to prevent a
woman indicted in the Kathleen Willey investigation from disclosing secret
materials provided to her lawyers. Starr argues the release of the materials
could jeopardize his broader investigation.
Starr requested the protective order in the case of Julie Hiatt Steele, a
Richmond, Va., woman charged with obstructing justice and making up a false
story that cast doubt on Mrs. Willey's allegation of an unwanted sexual
advance by President Clinton.
Ms. Steele was indicted earlier this month and denied the charges.
``The government still has pending criminal investigations related'' to the
Monica Lewinsky controversy, Starr told the court in seeking the protective
order. ``Disclosure of some of the discovery materials the government may
provide poses a substantial risk of impeding and influencing those
investigations.''
Starr was not specific as to what aspects of his investigation might be
adversely affected, but said ``disclosure beyond that necessary to prepare a
defense could impact the interests of the parties in this indicted case.''
The prosecutor's motion said Ms. Steele's lawyers refused to voluntarily agree
to the restriction. Nancy Luque, one of Ms. Steele's lawyers, declined comment
Monday on the dispute.
Ms. Steele was indicted earlier this month by a grand jury in Alexandria, Va.,
on three counts of obstruction of justice and one count of false statements.
Among other things, the indictment accused Ms. Steele of filing a false
affidavit in Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against Clinton, lying to two
grand juries and attempting to influence the testimony of other witnesses.
The president's lawyers had used Ms. Steele's testimony in an effort to cast
doubt on the credibility of Mrs. Willey, a former White House volunteer who
alleges Clinton made an unwanted sexual advance toward her in the Oval Office
in 1993.
Clinton denies Mrs. Willey's accusation, which became a focus of Mrs. Jones'
sexual harassment lawsuit. In his testimony in the Jones lawsuit, the
president said Mrs. Willey ``was not telling the truth'' and that her
credibility had been ``pretty well shattered.''
The indictment alleges that a lawyer for Clinton approached Ms. Steele in
January 1998 to get her to file the affidavit and that she initially refused,
then changed her mind. Ms. Steele eventually filed an affidavit in the Jones
lawsuit claiming Mrs. Willey never told her about the alleged advance as she
had claimed.
Starr alleged the affidavit and Ms. Steele's subsequent testimony before two
federal grand juries were false.
Ms. Steele ``well knew and believed'' Mrs. Willey had told her about the
alleged sexual advance shortly after it happened and ``even related
information about Mrs. Willey's account of the incident'' to several of her
friends as early as 1993.
The indictment also charged that Ms. Steele ``repeatedly attempted'' to
convince two friends that she hadn't told them about the Willey incident, even
though she had. At the time, one of the friends was being sought by FBI agents
for questioning.
