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By Root 2037 0

” (Ken Starr, interview by author). Sam Dash, before his death, insisted that Starr and his prosecutors misconstrued his position. Dash’s sharp recollection was that he had opposed language that suggested the president’s assertion of “executive privilege” and “attorney-client” privilege were impeachable offenses. Dash explained, “[My position] was that the president had a right to assert these, even though he’d lose them after asserting them. And that they were not the kind of acts which would be impeachable acts” (Sam Dash, interview by author). What the ethics counsel did want to strengthen, he said, was the notion that the president had arguably conspired to obstruct justice, a theme that ran throughout a number of the counts. If proven, such conduct violated the president’s constitutional duty to “faithfully execute the laws.”

Dash told Starr: Sam Dash, interview by author.

The report was cleaned up: The final version of Ground Eleven in the Starr Report did include this allegation: “The President Repeatedly and Unlawfully Invoked the Executive Privilege to Conceal Evidence of His Personal Misconduct from the Grand Jury.” Thus, this general point survived.

Jackie Bennett had worked diligently: Jackie Bennett, interview by author.

The House staffers: Jackie Bennett, interview by author; Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth at Any Cost, 258.

No sooner had she secured it: Robert J. Bittman, interview by author.

“I understand you have”: Ibid.; Schmidt and Weisskopf, Truth at Any Cost, 258.

More than twenty-five lawyers had pulled all-nighters: Jackie Bennett, interview by author.

“completely out of our hands”: Ken Starr, interview by author.

“The American people deserve”: Press re lease, “Hyde Statement to House Rules Committee,” United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, 10 Sept. 1998.

In the ornate Yellow Oval Room: CNN, AllPolitics, 11 Sept. 1998; John Harris, “White House Rushing to Prepare Response,” Washington Post, 11 Sept. 1998, A33; Woodward, Shadow, 461.

he was appalled when he learned: Ken Starr, interview by author.

Deputy Bittman phoned a high-ranking staffer: Robert J. Bittman, interview by author.

a short-lived debate within OIC: Stephen Bates, interview by author.

Prosecutors “ran around in the hallway”: Jackie Bennett, interview by author.

Rather than trying to halt: Bob Bittman, e-mail to author, 3 Oct. 2008.

The next morning, Friday, President Clinton was scheduled: Bill Clinton, National Prayer Breakfast speech, White House, 11 Sept. 1998; John F. Harris, “For Clinton, a Day to Atone but Not Retreat,” Washington Post, 12 Sept. 1998, A1.

Yet President Clinton himself would take issue: Bill Clinton, interview by author.

saw trouble brewing on the horizon: Barney Frank, interview by author.

“online traffic jams”: Howard Kurtz, “News papers Weigh In,” Washington Post, 13 Sept. 1998, A31.

David Kendall released: “White House Lawyers Prepare a Second Rebuttal,” CNN All-Politics, 12 Sept. 1998.

Those close to the president: David Kendall, interview by author.

A bug in OIC’s: Jackie Bennett, interview by author; Michael Emmick, interview by author.

“You got both flavors”: Jackie Bennett, interview by author.

“We had nothing to do with it”: Robert J. Bittman, interview by author.

In the wake of the huge stir: See Kurtz, “Newspapers Weigh In;" “Time to Resign,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 Sept. 1998, 56; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, editorial, 13 Sept. 1998.

at a loss for words: Janet Reno, interview by author.

O’Sullivan was particularly aghast: Julie O’Sullivan, interview by author.

“That sort of detail wasn’t necessary”: William S. Duffey, Jr., interview by author.

Even Archibald Cox, the principled: Archibald Cox, interview by author.

“Talk about something that flies”: Joe Purvis, interview by author.

Betsey Wright, who had already sunk: Betsey Wright, interview by author.

had written a personal letter to Ken Starr: Marcia Lewis Straus, interview by author.

Monica Lewinsky, on that day: Monica Lewinsky, interview by author.

Lying in the hospital bed: Bernie Lewinsky,