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Clinton attorney wants info that spurred Starr's inquiry

By John King and Pierre Thomas/CNN

WASHINGTON (October 6) -- President Bill Clinton's lawyer mounted a new attack on Independent Counsel Ken Starr Monday, suggesting Starr may have misled Attorney General Janet Reno when he requested expanded authority to investigate the Monica Lewinsky matter.

Kendall
Clinton attorney David Kendall  

Attorney David Kendall cited news reports of previously unreported contacts by Linda Tripp with the Paula Jones lawyers, by Tripp through alleged intermediaries to the Starr staff, and by lawyers working with the Jones team who also came into contact with independent counsel's staff.

CNN has confirmed that Starr's office received a telephone tip about accusations involving Clinton and a White House intern, a few days prior to the call by Tripp.

Jerome Marcus, a former law school friend of an attorney in Starr's office, called his colleague with information involving Clinton, but Starr's office took no action because the information was "sketchy," said an official familiar with the overture.

Clinton's supporters are pointing to the Marcus call as evidence of a right-wing conspiracy, in part because of press reports that Marcus is associated with a number of conservative lawyers who assisted the Jones legal team. Those supporters also point out that Starr made no mention of this phone call in his report to Congress. Marcus, a Philadelphia attorney with the law firm of Berger and Montague, did not return a telephone call from CNN.

Kendall said these stories raise "troubling questions about the events surrounding Independent Counsel Ken Starr's request for jurisdiction over the Lewinsky matter." Kendall asked Reno for access to all of the information Starr submitted in requesting expanded jurisdiction.

Kendall said Starr has repeatedly asserted he was not out to get the president. "One test of his good faith is to examine precisely what OIC (Office of the Independent Counsel) disclosed to the department about Ms. Tripp's motives, history, reasons for seeking both state and federal immunity and contacts with anti-Clinton partisan," Kendall said.


Investigating the President

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Tuesday, October 6, 1998

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