A Threat To Ken Starr

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

July 21, 1998 / 8:14 PM EDT / CBS

The president's lawyers are trying to turn the tables on Ken Starr, reports CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Scott Pelley.

Sources tell CBS News that in a closed hearing this morning the president's team demanded sworn testimony from Starr and some of his prosecutors. Mr. Clinton's defense team alleges the prosecutors have leaked secret grand jury evidence to the media.

Starr has been under pressure since a controversial magazine article alleged his office was the source of news reports on grand jury evidence. Four weeks ago an angry judge Norma Holloway Johnson ordered a hearing on the allegation. But Starr filed a series of appeals claiming the president's lawyers are trying to wreck his investigation.

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All of the lawyers came to argue the case before the appeals court Tuesday. The issues are whether Starr and his prosecutors must testify, what documents they must turn over to the president's lawyers and whether Monica Lewinsky's lawyers can join the investigation of Starr's office. The stakes are enormous. If the appeals court rules against Starr, he will be forced to commit vast resources to defending himself.

Elsewhere in the court house Tuesday, it was Starr on the attack. Five Secret Service officers appeared before the grand jury. CBS News has learned that Starr sent a flurry of new subpoenas Monday evening to the Secret Service.

He is now seeking testimony from a third member of the president's personal security detail. Sources say some officers have testified that they saw Lewinsky often around the oval office and that she may have been alone with the president.

The issue of whether Starr is held in contempt of court for news leaks is far from being decided. For now the appeals court is considering only how much evidence Starr must give to the president's lawyers. But Starr's office is gravely worried about the investigation.