Starr Attacks Brill Article, Again
Prosecutor says it 'borders on the libelous'
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 16) -- The author of a controversial magazine article claiming Independent Counsel Ken Starr admitted leaking information to the press is now under fire himself.
In his third response in four days, Starr issued a single-spaced, 19-page attack Tuesday on Steven Brill's interpretation of an interview Starr granted the publisher.
Also in this story:
While struggling to contain the controversy, Starr minced few words. "Your reckless and irresponsible attack borders on the libelous," Starr wrote.
The controversial article which appeared in the debut edition of "Brill's Content," a new magazine on the media, accuses Starr of "leaking the most damaging details of the investigation to a willing, eager press corps."
In excerpts from a 90-minute interview with Brill, Starr was quoted as saying he spoke privately with reporters "on some occasions," but his deputy, Jackie Bennett, had more extensive discussions with journalists.
In Tuesday's letter, Starr offered a point-by-point version of how various stories involving the sex-and-perjury allegations against President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky became public and what role he claims his office did or did not have.
For example, Starr attempts to debunk the widely reported story that his investigators tried to get Lewinsky to secretly record conversations with Vernon Jordan and the president.
"This office never asked Ms. Lewinsky to agree to wire herself for a conversation with Mr. Jordan or the president," Starr writes. "You have substituted inference and assumption for factual reporting."
Furthermore, Starr insists, his office is permitted to discuss aspects of the investigation and much information can legally be given to the media. "Rule 6(e) does not encompass all the facts that can somehow be associated with a grand jury investigation," Starr writes.
Starr also argues many leaks could come from elsewhere but be blamed on the Office of Independent Counsel as part of an orchestrated public attack.
"I categorically and unequivocally reject the charge that this office has in any way violated any precept of law, policy or ethics," Starr concluded.
Starr is investigating allegations that Clinton had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, a former White House intern, and urged her to lie about it under oath. Clinton has denied wrongdoing.
Keeping the pressure on Starr
The president's legal team is trying to keep the pressure on Starr. Clinton's private attorney, David Kendall, has written to Starr, also accusing him of wrongfully leaking information to the news media.
"Your statements in the Brill article are at breathtaking variance with your previous public statements about your duties and actions," Kendall writes. "What is so astonishing about your comments in the Brill article is that they contradict not simply our view but your own frequently and publicly expressed views both about the need to put a stop to leaking and your own protestations about your and your own staff's utter innocence in that regard."
Kendall's letter, written before the release of Starr's latest attack on Brill, accused Starr of engaging in media leaks that "violate the ethics rules for federal prosecutors."
On Monday, Judge Norma Holloway Johnson called a meeting with prosecutors from Starr's office and lawyers representing Clinton and Lewinsky to review the allegations contained in "Brill's Content." Sources tell CNN Johnson will hold a hearing next month to determine whether Starr violated the law.
Brill admits mistake in not disclosing donations
Before Starr's latest letter to Brill, the publisher made an admission of his own. Brill has told The Washington Post he should have disclosed in the article his past campaign contributions to Clinton and other Democrats.
A check of Federal Election Commission records shows Brill gave $1,000 to the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1995, more than $9,000 to various Democratic candidates for Senate and House since 1992 and $2,000 to the National Cable Television Association's PAC in 1996. There are no donations to Republicans. There also appear to be no large soft-money contributions.
Although Brill told The Washington Post he stopped making political donations after deciding to launch "Brill's Content," he admits, "I should have disclosed it."
Also, many of the sources quoted in Brill's article have stepped forward to say Brill misrepresented their comments.
TIME Managing Editor Walter Isaacson, Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff, Washington Post reporter Susan Schmidt and NBC reporter David Bloom all have told The Washington Post that they, their publications or their comments to Brill were misrepresented in the article.
Podesta, Hernreich back before grand jury
In Washington Tuesday, White House Oval Office manager Nancy Hernreich returned for her sixth appearance before the grand jury investigating the sex-and-perjury allegations against Clinton and Lewinsky.
Hernreich was expected to be questioned about Lewinsky's many visits to the president's working quarters between early 1996 and late 1997.
John Podesta, Clinton's deputy chief of staff, also made a return visit to the grand jury Tuesday. Podesta played a role in trying to help Lewinsky find a job by contacting U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson on her behalf.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Bob Franken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
News
Lewinsky