jlallen, aren't there also situations where given an uncooperative witness, law enforcement has no choice but to issue a subpoena?
I didn't know Starr subpoenaed an anonymous member of a receiving line, but how do we know an FBI agent didn't attempt to conduct some very simple fact gathering (i.e. we saw you on the tape, did this individual, Lewinsky, say anything to you?) and the person refused for whatever reason. While the likelihood of any material info coming out of this witness may be VERY low, what signal would this send to other prospective witnesses if given a refusal to answer questions, investigators just adopted the attitude of "oh, okay, you don't want to answer our questions. No problem."
Also, the notion that Monica Lewinsky's reading list is somehow "off limits" is ludicrous. The books she bought are believed by investigators to be relevant to the case, most likely as evidence that will corroborate statements made to Linda Tripp OR in FBI interviews. Do these people who were protesting down in D.C. actually believe this was the first instance where government investigators ever looked into book purchases?
What if one of the books she purchased was actually exculpatory re: the President? What if she maintains that she herself wrote the talking points to Linda Tripp and the reason they sound as if they were coming from two voices, one of whom has an obvious familiarity with the law, is explained by the fact that she purchased a book on the topic and merely copied selected passages? (frankly, I doubt it, but it could be possible).
Good trading,
Tom |
