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To: Little Joe who wrote (9613)	4/8/1998 9:23:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116811

Starr Says Scandal Probe 'Moving Very Quickly' 08:57 p.m Apr 08, 1998 Eastern By James Vicini WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Independent counsel Kenneth Starr said Wednesday the investigation into the White House sex-and-perjury scandal is ''moving very quickly'' but there is no decision on if or when a report will be made to Congress. ''While federal law requires us to convey to the House 'any substantial and credible information...that may constitute grounds for an impeachment,' our investigation is still ongoing and no decision has been made on the issuance, timing or contents of such a submission,'' Starr said in a statement. Sources familiar with the investigation have said Starr's team hopes to have a report to Congress on the inquiry of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky ready by the end of May, alhough it may end up taking longer. The report could provide the basis for any impeachment inquiry by the House. The dismissal last week of the Paula Jones sexual harassment case against President Clinton gave the White House added ammunition to call on Starr to complete the grand jury investigation quickly, the sources said. But in his statement, Starr discounted recent news articles indicating his team planned to issue a report to Congress, saying there had been no contact between his office and the House. He said, however, that the investigation into allegations that Clinton had a sexual affair with Lewinsky and then tried to cover it up was ''moving very quickly, but it continues to be impeded by a variety of privilege invocations.'' Clinton has denied all allegations and his lawyers have invoked executive privilege to shield testimony of several top White House aides. Starr concluded his statement by saying, ''We are proceeding expeditiously in all phases of the investigation, including the litigation necessary to gather and assess all relevant facts.'' James Kennedy, special adviser to the White House counsel, said it was about time that Starr finished his work. ''We are please to hear that, after spending four years and some $40 million, the independent counsel is now moving expeditiously,'' Kennedy said in a statement late Wednesday. Kennedy said it was odd that Starr would ''chastise those who seek to protect historic principles of confidentiality,'' especially given his attempt to obtain private conversations between former White House adviser Vincent Foster and his lawyer, a move the Supreme Court has deemed worthy of review. In another development, Starr's office has hired Charles Bakaly III, a California lawyer with experience in the Reagan White House who also served as spokesman for the independent counsel investigating former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. Bakaly said in a telephone interview he would act as counselor to Starr's operation, ''working with the media and providing public understanding of the independent counsel's work within the restrictions that are imposed on prosecutors.'' ''There's a tremendous concern that there's misinformation out there that could affect witnesses and the conduct of an ongoing criminal investigation,'' Bakaly said. Bakaly would not comment on a Washington Post column citing a reported conversation between Starr and Bakaly on a flight from Little Rock, Ark. to Washington. The column quoted Starr, who has not always enjoyed favorable media coverage, as saying that he would ''really like to get your views on how to nurture relationships with individual reporters.'' ''I'm not a public relations person. I'm an attorney who has experience dealing with the media,'' Bakaly told Reuters. At the U.S. courthouse in Washington, lawyers for Clinton, the White House and Lewinsky argued that hearings stemming from the independent counsel probe were properly closed, while an attorney representing 12 media organizations argued that those proceedings should be open. Clinton's lawyer David Kendall maintained that it would be difficult to separate the hearings so that the legal arguments about such subjects as executive privilege were open, but the parts dealing with secret grand jury information were closed. But Ted Boutrous, representing the news organizations that want to open the proceedings, said U.S. District Judge John Sirica, the presiding judge in the Watergate scandal involving President Richard Nixon in the 1970s, held open hearings on executive privilege and other issues. ''We believe it would be preferable and in the public's interest to have access to live hearings,'' Boutrous said. Starr's office did not participate in the arguments, as Starr has urged that the hearing on executive privilege should be open. A three-judge appeals court panel took the case under advisement, with a ruling expected soon. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.