Anatomy of Lewinsky Immunity Deal
By Pete Yost
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, August 1, 1998; 1:29 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A pivotal meeting in reaching Monica
Lewinsky's immunity deal took place a week and a half ago in the Chevy
Chase, Md., home of prosecutor Kenneth Starr's ethics adviser, Sam
Dash, who has known Ms. Lewinsky's two lead lawyers for more than
two decades.
The one-hour, face-to-face discussion was set up by a break-the-ice
telephone call from prosecutor Kenneth Starr to one of Ms. Lewinsky's
lawyers, Jacob Stein, early in the week of July 20. After weeks of
stalemated negotiations over Ms. Lewinsky's testimony, Starr told Stein,
''Let's meet.'' Starr suggested Dash's home.
''There's a mutuality of respect there with Sam'' that was helpful to getting
a deal, Lewinsky lawyer Plato Cacheris said.
Stein and Cacheris were interviewed by telephone separately Saturday.
Stein and Cacheris knew Dash well from their days together in the
Watergate investigation. Stein and Cacheris both represented clients in
Watergate, in Cacheris' case former Attorney General John Mitchell.
Dash was chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee.
Starr is younger than the other three, and during Watergate was clerking
for Chief Justice Warren Burger. Also, Stein and Starr felt comfortable
with each other because they became acquainted during the criminal
investigation of former Sen. Bob Packwood.
Cacheris and Stein were hired by Ms. Lewinsky's family in June and
ended up being the replacements for California lawyer William Ginsburg,
whose bargaining over a possible deal with Starr's office had foundered in
an atmosphere of mistrust.
With Starr having spent six months gathering evidence about an alleged
affair cover-up involving President Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky, 25, Starr
was approaching a decision on whether to indict the former White House
intern.
A day or so after the phone call, Dash's wife was serving bagels to Starr,
Dash, Stein and Cacheris in a session that Cacheris recalls as ''extremely
friendly, relaxed and informal.'' The four lawyers laid the groundwork for
the five-hour interview in New York last Monday of Ms. Lewinsky, Stein
said in an interview.
''Starr was interested in getting to the truth and we wanted to get our
client out of harm's way,'' Stein said.
Starr said ''if this works, she will be out of harm's way,'' Cacheris
recalled.
As a prelude to the final immunity deal, Starr and Dash offered an
arrangement in which prosecutors would interview Ms. Lewinsky while
agreeing in writing not to use any of the information she gave them against
her.
Cacheris and Stein agreed.
''We were agreeable to it because our client had nothing to lose and she
wasn't at risk,'' said Cacheris.
Cacheris and Stein suggested that instead of prosecutors opening the
session with Ms. Lewinsky with their own questions, a lawyer in Cacheris'
office, Sydney Jean Hoffmann, with whom the former White House intern
was comfortable, would start.
New York was chosen for the interview since both sides believed it
unwise to bring Ms. Lewinsky, who was in California, to Washington
where she would be spotted by the news media. The prosecutors
arranged the location, at an undisclosed midtown Manhattan residence.
''At the conclusion of the meeting'' at Dash's home ''I said, 'What's your
time frame' for the interview?'' and Starr said 'now,''' recalled Cacheris.
''That's when we arranged to meet the following Monday.''
In the New York City interview, Mrs. Hoffmann questioned Ms.
Lewinsky for the first half hour, walking her through her account.
Then prosecutors took over, questioning Ms. Lewinsky for the next 4 1/2
hours. Present were Starr deputies Robert J. Bittmann and Sol L.
Wisenberg, along with staff prosecutor Mary Anne Wirth. Dash was there
as an observer.
''I think Sam's presence and assessment of our client was a big factor in
the immunity deal,'' said Cacheris.
Starr called Stein later that night, asking to meet the next morning at 10
a.m. When Stein and Cacheris arrived at Starr's office, prosecutors had a
draft immunity agreement in hand. The two sides ''tinkered with some
language, nothing stupendous,'' recalled Cacheris. It was ''quickly
resolved, and we got a signed agreement.''
As part of the deal, Ms. Lewinsky agreed to provide physical evidence --
telephone message recordings carrying Clinton's late-night calls and a
dress that may or may not carry evidence of a physical relationship. It was
not known if the dress played any role in the immunity negotiations.
The dress has a visible stain on it, according to a law enforcement source
who demanded anonymity, and was being examined by the FBI lab for
any possible material linking it to Clinton. |
