Clinton Lawyer, Starr's Office Quarrel Over Leaks Again
Starr's deputy calls Kendall's motion 'abusive'
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 8) -- In an unusual display of public pique, Whitewater prosecutors have demanded President Bill Clinton's lawyer withdraw a motion that seeks contempt sanctions against prosecutors for allegedly leaking a judge's private decision on executive privilege.
"Although we owe you no courtesy after yesterday's abusive
filing, we demand that you withdraw your motion by noon" today,
Independent Counsel Ken Starr's chief deputy, Jackie M. Bennett Jr., wrote on Thursday. "Otherwise we will seek appropriate relief from the court, including sanctions against each of the persons under whose names the motion was submitted."
But David Kendall, Clinton's private lawyer, called the request to withdraw the complaint "ridiculous."
Kendall's complaint asked the prosecutors to prove why they should not be held in contempt. He filed the motion after the Fox News Channel attributed a report on the executive privilege ruling to Starr's office.
Fox News said Wednesday, however, there was a "mischaracterization" and the erroneous attribution was due to a miscommunication between reporters.
Clinton has claimed executive privilege, the doctrine that protects
the privacy of some presidential conversations, in an attempt to protect aides Bruce Lindsey and Sidney Blumenthal from answering grand jury questions in the Monica Lewinsky controversy. A grand jury is looking into whether Clinton had a sexual relationship with the ex-White House intern and urged her to lie about it under oath. Clinton has denied the allegations.
But in a sealed ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson rejected the executive privilege claim, and the White House is likely to appeal.
In a letter to the four attorneys who joined the Kendall
motion, Bennett wrote that "the allegations are reckless,
irresponsible and false," adding that Kendall knew "these
reports emanated from the White House."
In an interview Thursday, Kendall told The Associated Press he complained to Starr about "more than one leak. We look forward to a hearing on the independent counsel's press relations."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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