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Investigating the President

 Lewinsky Meets With Independent Counsel's Office (07-27-98)

 Starr Subpoenas Clinton To Appear Before Grand Jury (07-25-98)

 Lead Secret Service Agent Testifies (07-23-98)

 Starr Appeals Judge's Sanctions Over Leaks (07-21-98)

 Secret Service Agents Give Grand Jury Testimony (07-17-98)

 Justice Appeals Secret Service Dispute To Supreme Court (07-16-98)

 Starr, Justice Face Off Over New Secret Service Subpoenas (07-15-98)

 Secret Service Must Testify, Appeals Court Rules (07-07-98)

 Day Two Of Tripp Grand Jury Testimony (07-02-98)

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Documents

 Text Of Chief Justice Rehnquist's Order Denying Secret Service Stay (7-17-98)

 Documents From Secret Service Privilege Case (05-20-98)


Timeline/Players

 Tripp: No Stranger To Controversy

 Who Are Plato Cacheris And Jacob Stein?

 A Chronology: Key Moments In The Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal

 Cast of Characters In The Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal


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Lewinsky's Dad Speaks Out On Investigation's Toll

lewinsky

LOS ANGELES (AllPolitics, April 17) -- Dr. Bernard Lewinsky, father of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, says the aggressive tactics of Independent Counsel Ken Starr and the constant media surveillance have taken a financial and emotional toll on his daughter and their family.

Monica works in the Washington office of her lawyer, Bill Ginsburg, every day, and "tries to defray the costs" of her legal defense, Dr. Lewinsky said on CNN's "Larry King Live" Thursday night.

Aside from that work, Monica is not able to go out or talk to friends and family, her father said. "She's very disturbed that she has no life right now. She sits at home," he said. Monica "can't talk to her friends. She's afraid she's going to put all her friends in jeopardy if she talks to them. She hasn't seen her brother."

Dr. Lewinsky said he lives in fear Starr will indict Monica. "I think of it all the time, wake up at nights worried about what will happen," he said. "And I fear for my daughter having to go to prison. I think that that would be disastrous. And I would hope the country would rally behind her."

 Transcript: Lewinsky's Dad Speaks Out On Investigation's Toll

Starr is investigating reports President Bill Clinton had a sexual relationship with Lewinsky and encouraged her to lie about it under oath. Clinton has denied both accusations.

Dr. Lewinsky maintained he has not discussed the details of the allegations with his daughter, including whether she had a sexual relationship with the president. King pointed out that many find that puzzling.

"I feel very strongly about not getting involved with anything that has to do with the sex life of my daughter. I really don't feel it's any of my business. And I respect that ..." he said. "I just will not deal with that subject with her."

But when asked if the threat of being hauled before Starr's grand jury is also a factor, Dr. Lewinsky responded, "Absolutely."

"I have to watch my step," he said. "You know, her mother got brought into the grand jury. I think that's a horrible thing to do to a mother. And, you know, there's no reason for me to get dragged in just because I talked to my daughter."

Dr. Lewinsky also said that he does not feel free to speak to his daughter because he thinks their phone lines are tapped.

Calling Starr "dangerous," Dr. Lewinsky said that the independent counsel should not be allowed such free rein in his investigation. "I don't understand how in this country we can allow one individual to have that much power. I think that he has gone into areas that none of us want the government to go to.

"Going to a bookstore and subpoenaing the receipt of the books that you bought as a private citizen of this country -- that's what this country is made of. We have a right to do what we want. And he is invading into that," Dr. Lewinsky continued.

Monica's father defended the need for a legal defense fund to help pay for his daughter's growing legal bills. "Reality is that common citizens cannot fight this battle alone," he said. "We're dealing with Ken Starr, who has spent $40 million of our taxpayers' money, invested in all of these things."

Dr. Lewinsky said he was defending the office of the president, not necessarily the individual. He said he feels the private life of the president should remain private. "He has to deal with his life between him and his wife, and it's not for me to comment about it," he said.

Dr. Lewinsky said Clinton has been a good president. "I think that if you look at the stock market and you'll see what the economy is doing, I think that you will get an idea of what's happened during his presidency. We're all living better than we were before.

"Bottom line, this is his second term and things are going quite well in this country, and I would think that, you know, in foreign policy he's done well so that my estimation and my feeling of his presidency, he has he's been a very good president," Dr. Lewinsky said.

In Other News

Friday April 17, 1998

Ashcroft Says GOP In Danger Of Losing Majority
Clinton Hails Democracy, Free Trade
Susan McDougal Fights Grand Jury Summons
Cohen Begins Mideast Trip
Lewinsky's Dad Speaks Out On Investigation's Toll


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