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Big D, thanks to Clinton's defenders at the Justice Department, it now appears that Clinton will get to know the testimony against him BEFORE the prosecutors know it! The Supreme Court wouldn't bow down to him so he gets HIS DOJ to do it!!! This man has caused much of this country to sink so low that the threshold of outrage is knee high to a grasshopper!
Justice Department policy for federal witnesses raises eyebrows
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department, which has been paying the legal bills of some figures in the Monica Lewinsky inquiry, is now insisting that lawyers whose clients want reimbursement must alert the White House to testimony that might involve executive privilege.
Legal and political experts worry the new policy could give presidents under investigation an early warning of potentially damaging testimony that they could then block by invoking privilege.
''Could this be sort of a tip-off? The answer is yes,'' said Peter Shane, a University of Pittsburgh Law School professor and former Justice Department lawyer.
The department says the policy change it made this summer ensures there is no violation of the legal doctrine that presidents deserve to keep confidential the advice they get from their staff. Federal employees who need lawyers for work-related investigations can have the government provide one - who would know the privilege doctrine - or hire their own. Justice changed the policy to make sure outside lawyers learn the doctrine and abide by it.
''If you are going to reimburse people during the investigation, then you want to make sure that their representation is not creating snarls for the government,'' spokesman Bert Brandenburg said.
President Clinton invoked the executive privilege and other privileges to try to keep prosecutors from hearing certain testimony in the Lewinsky matter, sparking lengthy legal battles that reached the Supreme Court. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr prevailed in those fights, but they delayed him for months.
Even before the new policy, some had raised concerns about witnesses telling the White House about their testimony under an aggressive joint defense agreement the president's lawyer arranged with other attorneys.
For instance, the lawyer for Oval Office secretary Betty Currie, a key witness, talked to White House lawyers early on about whether her conversations with Clinton should be covered by the privilege. In the end, no privilege was invoked and Mrs. Currie gave some of the most damaging testimony against her boss that led to one of Starr's obstruction of justice allegations against the president.
Under the new policy, witnesses such as the Secret Service agents or White House stewards who testified before Starr's grand jury without telling the White House what they observed on duty might have to tell their lawyers to inform the White House of certain aspects of their accounts first.
Federal regulations allow Justice to approve reimbursements for federal employees who hire lawyers in criminal or congressional investigations. The rules give the department broad discretion to approve or decline such requests based on whether the testimony stemmed from the witnesses' official duties and the reimbursement is ''in the interest of the United States.''
Two Lewinsky case witnesses have already received permission to have their legal bills paid: Col. Richard Bridges and Robert Tyrer, Pentagon officials involved in Starr's inquiry into how confidential information from witness Linda Tripp's personnel file was released to the public.
Lawyers for former top Clinton aide George Stephanopolous have been reimbursed $4,811 for their work when he testified in congressional investigations into Whitewater.
The reimbursement policy has been in effect for years. However, traditionally, witnesses and their lawyers in criminal and independent counsel probes had to wait until the investigations were over to get paid. Now Justice allows people to request and receive reimbursement while investigations are still active.
The department also increased the reimbursement rate for lawyers from $99 an hour to $125 an hour, still well below the average in Washington where lawyers command upwards of $250 an hour.
As part of the changes, Justice added the new requirement regarding executive privilege. Brandenburg said the department isn't concerned the policy could be abused.
''The proper handling of privileged information is of vital historic importance to the government and is more important than its effect on the person who is president,'' he said. ''Without any mechanism, the government might never know about a claim that could be of great importance to the presidency.''
But others fear the change could drive a witness who otherwise might not tell the White House of damaging testimony to disclose it, even before prosecutors know about it.
''It strikes me that the president is not entitled to know in advance how a witness will testify. It's giving a broader reach'' to the privilege, said Mark Rozell, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
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