Kenneth Starr says he shouldn't have been involved in Lewinsky case

AP ^ | Dec 2, 2004

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Kenneth Starr says he never should have led the investigation that resulted in the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.

The former independent counsel, now dean of the Pepperdine University law school, says "the most fundamental thing that could have been done differently" was for somebody else to have investigated Clinton's statements under oath denying he had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

[wallcrawlr]

it seems they are really twisting his words to make that headline

[Paloma_55]

At his 1999 impeachment trial, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate of perjury and obstruction of justice.

They loved publishing that line. They must have forgotten to point out that he *was* impeached and also found guilty of contempt for lying under oath.

[atomicpossum]

it seems they are really twisting his words to make that headline

Yes, any time the quotes are minimal and the paper summarizes a statement, I'm suspicious.

[TommyDale]

I'm surprised the headline wasn't twisted into something like "Ken Starr Says Ohio Needs Election Investigation" and that Bush didn't really win.

[doug from upland]

I agree that he was not the right one. They needed someone who would have gone for the throat and not been pushed around. He should have prosecuted Clinton for perjury in the criminal case of Branscum and Hill.

[chas1776]

What it did do was save us from Ken Starr ever being nominated to the supreme court.

[Sprite518]

Exactly the Senate Trial was for the removal from Office only. Clinton will go down in history as the second impeached President of the US. I am still mad at Trent Lott for not allowing any witness during the trial. I am sure the Dems must of had something on Trent to make him do the things he did.

[FredZarguna]

This is a complete non-story. Once again, somebody in the AP newsroom is trying to rewrite history by taking some variation on a statement that Starr has made many times in the past and turn it into some kind of vindication of Bill Clinton. Look for more and more stories of this type as the Dark Queen gets ready for her run at the Presidency. In the next four years there is going to be an absolutely disgusting attempt to rehabilitate the Clintons. FReepers better get ready: the fact that Clinton was impeached is going to be turned into a liability for Republicans and an asset for the junior senator from NY if we let it.

The truth of the matter is that the Monica Lewinsky investigation was requested by Janet Reno. There has always been (well informed) speculation that the Clinton's made this request of the panel overseeing the Special Prosecutor because they knew not only of some connections between Starr and the law firm handling Paula Jones' case, but also because they had already established their own task force to deal with Starr, and they didn't want a new Special Prosecutor--an unknown quantity with whom they had no experience--handling the case.

What a load. Typical of AP. Their "news" articles should be posted under Parody or General/Chat. Not news.

[jimbo123]

This this A.P. story mention that Clinton was disbarred, or did they conveniently leave that part out?

[ServesURight]

Starr was a stooge anyway. Shortly after it was announced that he was the independent counsel, the Clintons and their cronies publicly called him a "partisan" and right-winger but privately they were celebrating because they knew he was their man.

[yoe]

Kenneth Starr says he shouldn't have been involved in Lewinsky case.......

...could that be because Star was working for Reno? Hummmmmm.....?

[FredZarguna]

The story concludes thus, disingenuously,

At his 1999 impeachment trial, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate of perjury and obstruction of justice. The Whitewater case ended with the conviction of Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and two of Clinton's former business partners for fraud and conspiracy. Clinton was never charged.

[Labyrinthos]

At his 1999 impeachment trial, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. The Senate did not acquit him of either offense. It simply ruled that perjury and obstruction of justice are insufficient grounds for removing a sitting president from office.

[lilylangtree]

Starr was stooge of the clintoons.

[OldFriend]

Starr couldn't run away from the Vince Foster case fast enough.

All the insiders drink the same designer water.

[thegreatbeast]

What a horse's ass, though, to give them anybody anything to work with. The more we learn of Kenneth Starr the more we learn he was inadequate to his duty.

[DestroytheDemocrats]

"The truth of the matter is that the Monica Lewinsky investigation was requested by Janet Reno. "

It was permitted by Janet Reno when Tripp went to Starr's people about the Jones case. But Reno should have given it to someone else and not Starr. It make it look like Starr was out to get anything he could on Clinton. She should have let Starr do Whitewater and others do, Filegate, Lewinsky and the other investigations. Then the dems would have 3 or 4 Special Prosecutors to trash and smear instead of just one. I think that's what Starr was trying to say.

[ServesURight]

The Lewinsky matter was just a ruse to take attention away from Chinagate and all of the other Clinton crimes.