Starr report to suggest Clinton be Impeached
The London Telegraph
4/9/98 Hugo Gurdon
KENNETH Starr, the independent counsel, has already written much of a report to Congress confirming that he believes that President Clinton committed impeachable offences.
Sources familiar with Mr Starr's investigation of alleged perjury, witness tampering and obstruction of justice confirm that prosecutors have damning evidence against the President. This had seemed ever more apparent since the weekend, when the White House cranked up its already intense efforts to besmirch Mr Starr. The Clinton staff's every nerve is now strained to undermine the independent counsel's credibility before his report gets to Congress, probably late next month, and then on to television and into newspapers.
Mr Starr's staff have compiled evidence that they believe obliges them to notify Congress. This implies that they think Mr Clinton is guilty of crimes and misdemeanours, because the independent counsel law requires a report to the legislature only if there are "substantial and credible information . . . that may constitute grounds for an impeachment".
The fact that the report has been partially written means the crisis surrounding Mr Clinton has moved into a yet more dangerous phase a week after the President celebrated the collapse of Paula Jones's sexual harassment suit against him.
Leaders of the Republican majority, who have avoided comment hitherto for fear of seeming overzealous in trying to bring down a popular President, are now moving into the open and taking pot shots at Mr Clinton. They know they must chip away at his opinion poll ratings if they hope to use Mr Starr's evidence to impeach him.
Richard Armey, the House of Representatives' majority leader, assailed Mr Clinton saying he was "a shameless person" and should resign. He said: "My own guess is that that man spends very little time and effort in his life pursuing anything other than his own physical comforts."
Mr Clinton, continuing to project the demeanour of a statesman far above such grubby stuff, declined to comment, but his staff frothed with indignation. Paul Begala, a political adviser to the President, said: "If goofy ideas ever go up to $40 a barrel, I'd like to have drilling rights to Dick Armey's head." Mr Begala said Mr Armey's comments showed that the Republicans were trying to form an alliance with Mr Starr.
This is a tried and tested tactic of Mr Clinton's. During the 1996 election, he used every speech and advertisement to suggest a link between his opponent, Bob Dole, and the Republican leader, Newt Gingrich, who was then deeply unpopular.
Now that Mr Starr, with the help of White House staff, has replaced Mr Gingrich in the national demonology, Mr Clinton wants to link anyone critical of him to independent counsel. Although the Paula Jones case has been thrown out, it has left possibly perjured witness statements from the President and Monica Lewinsky, a White House clerk. In testimony to Mrs Jones's lawyers, who were trying to show a pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr Clinton, the two denied having an affair. This flies in the face of a mound of evidence.
Miss Lewinsky did not file her affidavit with the court until after Mr Clinton's friend, Vernon Jordan, had secured her a good job in New York. She has been tape recorded by the FBI confirming that she had a long sexual affair with Mr Clinton. He has publicly denied it - so his credibility with voters is on the line.
If he persuaded Miss Lewinsky to lie under oath, he would be guilty of perjury, inciting perjury, witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Strong evidence of such federal crimes would certainly require Mr Starr to report the President to Congress.
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