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Whitewater Prosecutor to Take on FBI Files Flap

FBI Files

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 22) -- A federal appeals court has granted the Whitewater special prosecutor authority to look into the FBI files controversy.

In an order released Friday, three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted Attorney General Janet Reno's request to expand Kenneth Starr's jurisdiction to include the controversy.

Starr will determine if anyone in the Clinton administration acted improperly in asking for files of people who had worked in the White House.

Starr

He also will look at whether there was any attempt to impede an investigation into the Clinton White House's request for some 480 FBI background files in 1993 and 1994.

Among those whose files were retrieved: Reagan-Bush era aides Marlin Fitzwater, Ken Duberstein and James Baker.

A preliminary FBI review determined that at least 407 of the requests were unjustified.

The White House has said the FBI files were obtained through an honest, bureaucratic mistake and no improper use was made of the information in them.

Livingstone

The order authorizing an inquiry into the matter said Starr will "have jurisdiction and authority to seek indictments and to prosecute" the case.

The order specifically cited as a target of Starr's scrutiny Anthony Marceca, the Army criminal investigator who said he relied on an outdated Secret Service list in requesting the files from the FBI.

Marceca was brought to the White House by personnel security chief Craig Livingstone. Livingstone, who supervised the office that collected the files , was placed on administrative leave Monday, pending a White House review.

He is scheduled to testify next week before a congressional committee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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