Starr Wars: Prosecutor vs. Clinton
Special prosecutor Kenneth Starr has asked a federal grand jury to consider whether the White House is trying to sabotage his investigation, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Scott Pelley reports.
Pelley said Starr has gone to the extraordinary length of trying to find out what the president's staff is telling reporters.
 |
| Click here for our Special Report |
Sidney Blumenthal, one of President Clinton's top image makers, was summoned to the grand jury. Blumenthal said his subpoena demands to know what he is telling reporters about the prosecution.
When the investigation broke, first lady Hillary Clinton called it "war." Since then, the White House and Democratic operatives have been telling reporters that the prosecution has skeletons in its closet, personal problems and difficulties with past cases.
In a statement Starr made on Tuesday, he said "misinformation" is being spread "to intimidate" prosecutors.
Starr also summoned a private eye who works for the president's lawyers to find out whether the White House is digging up dirt on the prosecution.
White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the lawyers deny that allegation. He was asked if the lawyers are telling him the truth.
McCurry said, "Yes. God help them if they're not."
Prosecutors say the techniques being used are "traditional and appropriate." But Tuesday's developments are also a diversion that will prolong the inquiry and take the grand jury's focus away from the principal charges of obstruction of justice.
Starr is investigating whether the president had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and then asked her to lie about it.
©1998, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved