Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [404]
For ten hours, Starr maintained his cool. It was not until twilight crept over the Capitol that David Kendall walked up to the lectern and changed the dynamic in the sleepy hearing room. The president’s lawyer squared his shoulders like a reluctant parent about to administer a whipping to a child and then went after the special prosecutor, leading to the sharpest exchange of the day.
Kendall began: “Mr. Starr, good evening.” Starr answered pleasantly: “Good evening. How are you, David?” Observers in the gallery chuckled nervously, knowing the true feelings the two men had for each other. Cameras zoomed in on Starr from an angle, capturing the large black mole on his face.
Within minutes, Kendall had forced Starr to admit that he had never laid eyes on Monica Lewinsky or asked her a single question to assess her credibility, even though the entire Starr Report was premised upon her veracity as a witness. When Kendall proceeded to excoriate the former judge for “massive leaking from the prosecutor’s office,” Starr finally lost his composure. “That’s an accusation and it’s an unfair accusation!” he snapped. “I completely reject it. And I would say, David, let’s wait until the litigation has concluded.… That’s not fair.”
Kendall pressed forward, leading Starr into a buzz saw by cajoling the special prosecutor into denying that OIC had urged Monica Lewinsky to “wear a wire.” The president’s lawyer immediately produced the FBI’s “302” report contained in the appendix of Starr’s referral, using Starr’s own documents to disprove his testimony.
Kendall next bored away on the issue of the Ritz-Carlton “sting,” demanding to know why Starr’s agents “held” Ms. Lewinsky against her will. Starr replied loudly: “I have to interrupt. That premise is false.”
“I was not meaning to be offensive. Let me rephrase it.” Kendall could tell that he was getting under his opponent’s skin.
“That is false and you know it to be false,” retorted Starr, becoming angrier.
“Well, I’ll rephrase the question.”
“She was not held.”
Kendall returned fire: “Her own psychological state will speak for itself. As to how she felt, it’s in the record in her testimony.”
Watching the clock run out, Chairman Hyde jumped in to break up the tussle. Just as Ken Starr sighed wearily, “It’s almost my bedtime,” Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took a final shot at the special prosecutor, declaring that he had provided the committee with “conflicting information” that might rise to the level of “perjury.” Hyde directed Waters to send in her question by mail. He then called on his chief investigator, David Schippers, to deliver a brief closing. The burly Chicago criminal lawyer stood up and lobbed Starr a few soft-balls, doing his best to end on a rousing note that energized Starr’s supporters. He gazed at the special prosecutor admiringly and asked: “And, Judge, for… doing your duty, you’ve been pilloried and attacked from all sides. Is that right?”
Starr replied with a self-effacing shrug: “I would hope not all sides but I guess that’s …” Now came the softest pitch of all:
SCHIPPERS: How long have you been an attorney, Judge Starr?
STARR: Twenty-five years.
SCHIPPERS: Well, I have been an attorney for almost forty years, and I want to say I am proud to be in the same room with you and your staff.
For a moment that provided a stark glimpse into the future, all pretense of bipartisanship was cast to the wind. The Republicans in the hearing room rose to give the independent counsel a roaring ovation, while Democrats on the committee remained bolted to their chairs,