-Caveat Lector-
Starr Fades Out: One Year After Clinton�s
Testimony, Starr Prepares to End Inquiry
Source: ABCNEWS.com
Published: 8/17/99 Author: By J. Jennings Moss and Brian Ross
Aug. 17 � ABCNEWS has learned that Kenneth Starr has told the
three-judge panel that appointed him he is ready to leave the
Office of the Independent Counsel, though a great deal of work
remains unfinished, including a decision on whether to prosecute
the Clintons.
But Starr, who wants to leave in the next few months, has
determined it is not feasible to hand the work to the Justice
Department and is recommending that the OIC continue its work.
Sources also said Starr has forwarded the resumes of three of his
deputies � including Michael Emmick, who led the sting operation
against Monica Lewinsky � to the judges as recommended
replacements who then would file a final report closing out the
five-year investigation into President Clinton.
Starr has yet, however, to file an official notice of his
resignation with the judges. Winding Down
Already there were signs that Starr�s probe was winding down.
At its peak in September 1998, Starr�s OIC had 28 attorneys and
32 staff members. As of this month, the office has 18 attorneys
and 32 employees on staff, said Starr spokeswoman Elizabeth Ray.
The investigation has cost at least $40 million.
�Right now, we�re beginning to draft it,� Ray said of the final
report. �It�s not a �blistering report� as some people have
reported it to be. We have no guidelines of how a final report
should be written so we�re taking it step by step but we have
started writing.�
The final report is expected to encompass much of the scope of
Starr�s investigation, only part of which dealt with his office�s
historic questioning of Clinton about the president�s affair with
Lewinksy, a former White House intern.
Starr�s probe has delved into the complicated Arkansas real
estate venture known as Whitewater, the law firm business
practices of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the firings of White House
travel office employees early in the Clinton administration, the
suicide of a Clinton friend and other matters.
The timing of that report is important because it might raise
questions about the actions of Mrs. Clinton, who is expected to
seek a Senate seat from New York.
�We are trying to move forward very, very rapidly in that
respect,� Starr told reporters earlier this month at an American
Bar Association convention.
Starr refused to discuss whether he had closed out the
possibility of seeking an indictment against either the president
or the first lady, although there are suggestions he will do
neither. �It would be inappropriate for me to be commenting at
all about the future of the investigation,� Starr said.
What a Difference a Year Can Make
Today�s news comes exactly a year after Starr made history by
getting a sitting president before a grand jury.
For four hours in a windowless room at the White House, Starr�s
prosecutors grilled President Clinton about his relationship with
Lewinsky while a grand jury watched the interrogation blocks away
over a closed-circuit line.
While Starr, a former federal appellate court judge who held
positions in the Reagan and Bush administrations, is cautious
about talking about the Clintons, others who have come up against
Starr are not so hesitant to offer their opinion.
�It was kind of a lesson in prosecutorial misconduct for the
whole country to see,� says Mark J. Geragos, the attorney for
Susan McDougal, one of the targets in the Whitewater probe who
preferred to spend time in jail rather than cooperate with Starr
in his investigation.
�This is what happens when you give unfettered rights and
discretion and budget to a federal prosecutor.�
Nancy Luque, the lawyer for Julie Hiatt Steele, agreed. Starr
prosecuted Steele because he believed she made false statements
that hindered his investigation into whether Clinton made an
unwelcome sexual advance on Kathleen E. Willey, a onetime White
House volunteer. A jury deadlocked on four obstruction of justice
charges May 7 and Starr decided against a retrial.
�Starr�s problem is that he was arrogant enough to think he could
do this job when he didn�t have the experience or the judgment,�
Luque said.
�It�s the most important prosecution in the history of our
country. Just like I wouldn�t go pole vault at the Olympics, he
shouldn�t have taken it on.�
But while Starr has detractors, he also has a sizable number of
supporters who argue that the independent counsel was following
his philosophy of judging illegal activity and misconduct in an
unambiguous way. It is a view without a gray area. Someone tells
the truth or lies, someone stays within the law or breaks it.
Supporters Praise Starr�s Integrity
�Early on in the process, Judge Starr knew that his service would
be a thankless one,� said Todd Gaziano, a former presidential
legal adviser to presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton.
�I think Judge Starr knew that this would hurt the president,
hurt the country and probably hurt his own standing in the minds
of some and yet it was his sense of duty and integrity to accept
the case.�
Starr should take some satisfaction, Gaziano said, in the ruling
of Judge Susan Webber Wright, who held Clinton in contempt for
the statements he made before the grand jury because it
contradicted the testimony the president gave in the sexual
harassment lawsuit filed against him by Paula Jones.
And if there is one disappointment, Gaziano said, it was Starr�s
apparent decision against pursuing a criminal indictment against
Clinton for perjuring himself before the grand jury.
How history will treat Kenneth Starr is unknown. His opponents
believe history books will show Starr as leading a personal
vendetta against a popular president. His supporters maintain
that historians will hold up Starr as an honorable man who
answered a thankless call to public service.
�Five years ago, Starr was perhaps the most prominent Republican
lawyer of his generation and an easy candidate for attorney
general or the Supreme Court in the next Republican
administration,� says Stephen Gillers, a professor at the New
York University law school.
�In terms of the world in which he moves, the cerebral and elite
members of the legal profession, he�s still part of that world,�
Gillers says of Starr, who teaches a course in constitutional law
every spring at New York University. �His experience in the last
five years hasn�t dislodged him one inch. In fact, it�s probably
cemented that position.�
Gillers says at least Starr should have some peace. �When this is
over, he can go back into a world that is entirely protective and
supportive of him and never have to encounter the kind of
hostility and press scrutiny that he�s endured these last five
years.
�That�s not true for the Clintons,� Gillers said. �They�re public
figures for life.�
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
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*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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