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Politics : Did Slick Boink Monica? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DD™ who wrote (15563)	6/2/1998 5:12:00 PM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 20981

Again Petitions High Court Starr Seeks Speedy Ruling RELATED LINKS Sorting Out Secret Service Privilege U.S. HEADLINES ABCNEWS.com W A S H I N G T O N, June 2 - For the second time in as many weeks, Independent Counsel Ken Starr is asking the Supreme Court to help speed up his investigation of President Clinton. Starr filed a motion today asking the high court to skip the normal appeals process and decide whether Secret Service agents should testify before the grand jury looking into the president's relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In a filing Tuesday, Starr said he "has reason to believe that the `privileged' observations that Secret Service is currently withholding from the grand jury would constitute important evidence" in determining whether federal crimes have been committed in the Lewinsky case. Starr also asked the court to take the Lindsey matter even though President Clinton had dropped his claim of executive privilege. Just yesterday, the Justice Department appealed U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson's decision to force Secret Service agents to testify. Department attorneys representing the Secret Service have argued the courts should recognize a protective function privilege, whereby Secret Service employees should not be forced to testify about the actions of thosewhom they protect. Otherwise the service fears presidents would push their protectors away and endanger their own lives. Judge Johnson, however, was not swayed by these arguments. In her ruling, Johnson said that even if a president knew his agents could testify against him, he would not push them away. "The president has a very strong interest in protecting his own personal safety," she wrote. Anxious to avoid yet another delay in his investigation, Starr is asking the Supreme Court to skip the appeals court and decide immediately whether agents and officers should testify. In making his case before Johnson, Starr had argued that, as officers sworn to uphold the law, Secret Service officials are obligated to report any wrongdoing they may witness-even if it is committed by the president. Starr has said he intends to limit his questioning of the Secret Service agents-he won't ask for documentation, and he only wants to question between eight and 12 uniformed agents who guard the White House grounds but do not serve as Clinton's personal bodyguards. abcnews.com