President v. Prosecutor
In his 500-page report to Congress released on the Internet on Sept. 11, 1998, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr alleged 11 acts by President Clinton that "may constitute grounds for an impeachment."
The president's attorney David Kendall, in an immediate rebuttal that also appeared on the Internet, claimed that the report focuses on private conduct that, no matter how wrongful, cannot constitute legal grounds for impeachment.
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Below are summaries of the accusations in the Starr report, and the response from the president's legal team.
The Starr report claims that the president lied under oath in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case about his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. It bases its claim on the president's denial that he had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky, although it admits that the definition of sex was narrowly defined. He also bases it on testimony from Lewinsky about her relationship with the president.
Of the president's testimony in the Jones case, Kendall says: "In a civil deposition, he gave narrow answers to ambiguous questions." Answers to fundamentally ambiguous questions can never be considered perjury, he says, and no one can be convicted of perjury based only on one other person's testimony.
Starr's report accused Mr. Clinton of lying under oath to the grand jury about his sexual relationship with Lewinsky.
Pointing out that "no accused has an obligation to help his accuser" and claiming that impeachment has been a goal of the investigation "since Day One," Kendall said that even if an answer doesn't directly answer the question asked, it is not perjury if it is true."
Starr's report claims the president lied under oath during the Jones deposition when he stated he could not recall being alone with Lewinsky and minimized the number of gifts they had exchanged. He uses Lewinsky's testimony about gifts and notes they exchanged, and descriptions of their 10 sexual encounters.
"The President never testified in the Jones deposition that he was not alone with Ms. Lewinsky, Kendall says. "The president never testified that his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky was the same as with any other intern." He says the president admitted exchanging gifts and notes with her and knowing details of her personal life.
Again basing his claim on Lewinsky's testimony, Starr says Mr. Clinton lied under oath in his civil deposition concerning conversations with Lewinsky about her involvement in the Jones case.
Kendall says that for those claims to be true, the government must prove that there was a pending judicial proceeding, that the defendant knew of the proceeding and acted "corruptly" to obstruct or interfere with the proceeding.
Another allegation in the Starr report claims the president tried to obstruct justice by "engaging in a pattern of activity to conceal evidence" regarding his relationship with Lewinsky from the judicial process in the Jones case.
Kendall points out that the president has given depositions at the White House on four occasions, gave videotaped depositions on two occasions, submitted interrogatory answers, and produced more than 90,000 pages of documents and other items.
Starr cites Lewinsky testimony that she and the president agreed to keep their relationship secret in his accusation that the president come to an understanding with Lewinsky that they would lie under oath in the Jones case about their relationship.
Citing sections of the law, Kendall says that to prove this charge, the government must show that Mr. Clinton "knowingly engaged in intimidation, physical force, threats, misleading conduct or corrupt persuasion with intent to influence, delay or prevent testimony."
The Starr report accused the president of trying to obstruct justice by suggesting that Lewinsky file an affidavit so that "she would not be deposed, she would not contradict his testimony and he could attempt to avoid questions about Lewinsky at the deposition."
Kendall's response did not address the Lewinsky affidavit, but did mention the so-called talking points that Lewinsky allegedly gave to Linda Tripp. Kendall says these points, once believed to have come from the White House, were a key to getting judicial approval to investigate the president's private life. Lewinsky has apparently admitted to writing them, he says, and Mr. Clinton wasn't even questioned about them in his August deposition.
In the Starr report, Mr. Clinton is accused of trying to obstruct justice by helping Lewinsky obtain a job in New York at a time when she would have been a witness against him were she to tell the truth.
Kendall says the president was aware that Lewinsky was unhappy at the Pentagon and looking for a new job, but that he never instructed anyne to hire her. "Ms. Lewinsky was never offered a job at the White House after she left -- and it's pretty apparent that if the president had ordered it, she would have been."
Starr's report accuses the president of lying under oath in describing his conversation with presidential friend Vernon Jordan about Lewinsky. He cites testimony by Jordan about reporting to the White House on his efforts to find work for Lewinsky, including a "mission accomplished" message to the President's secretary, Betty Currie.
Kendall claims that Currie asked John Podesta to help Lewinsky find a job, which led to an interview in the office of the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Kendall says that Currie also asked Jordan to help with the search.
Starr's report claims that the president tried to obstruct justice by attempting to influence Currie's testimony by questioning her about Lewinsky's visits and gifts.
Kendall points out that this conversation took place after the president's testimony in the Paula Jones case and that Currie was never supposed to be a witness in the Jones case.
In a further attempt to obstruct justice, Starr's report alleges, the president refused to testify for seven months while simultaneously lying to potential grand jury witnesses, knowing they would relay the falsehoods to the grand jury.
Kendall admits that the president misled his family and staff, but called that a personal failing, not a criminal abuse
of power. "If allowing aides to repeat misleading statements is a crime," he says, then any number of public officials are guilty of misusing their offices."
The Starr report accuses the president of committing acts since Jan. 17, 1998, regarding his relationship with Lewinsky that were "inconsistent with the president's constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws."
Kendall claims the president's assertions of privilege were lawful and asserted that the president never "asked, directed or participated in any decision" regarding privilege for the Secret Service. Kendall also claims that the White House attorneys provided the president and the White House staff with informed, candid advice on issues raised during the investigation as is appropriate in matters that could lead to impeachment.