Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [532]
President Clinton later expressed vigorous disapproval: Bill Clinton, interview by author.
If Judge Wright had chosen: Criminal contempt generally relates to an act of disrespect for the court—an act that impedes the administration of justice. Typically, it has involved improper conduct committed by a defendant in the judge’s presence, such as throwing the proverbial ink-pot at the judge. In this case, Judge Wright had ordered President Clinton to answer certain questions about relationships with “other women;" she had flown to Washington to preside over the deposition; and in her presence, Clinton had intentionally answered certain questions untruthfully. Although it would have been a stretch, Judge Wright could have found grounds for criminal contempt. Pursuant to Rule 42 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Republican federal judge could have appointed a prosecutor to look into the charges, held a short contempt trial, and then adjudicated that Clinton had engaged in criminal contempt when he had flouted her discovery order and lied under oath.
“If Judge Wright had held”: James Duff, interview by author.
Susan McDougal walked out: “McDougal Not Guilty On One Count; Mistrial Declared on Other Two Charges,” cnn.com, 12 Apr. 1999.
Chapter 51: “Who Will Blink?”
“He wanted people to have”: Michael Emmick, interview by author. In late spring, OIC had suffered a major setback in the only criminal case it had pursued during its protracted investigation of the Lewinsky matter, when a federal judge in Virginia granted a mistrial in the prosecution of Julie Hiatt Steele (Don VanNatta, Jr., “Jury Deadlocked in Case Involving Starr Investigation,” New York Times, 8 May 1999). Steele, Kathleen Willey’s former friend who had recanted her story corroborating Willey’s version of events, had been charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators. After the Steele prosecution imploded, OIC had polled numerous jurors in Virginia and reached the worrisome conclusion that there were increasing numbers of citizens who “were not going to convict Clinton or anybody connected to Clinton on anything, no matter what” (Hickman Ewing, Jr., interview by author).
“My answer is ‘no’”: Hickman Ewing, Jr., interview by author.
Ironically, Starr himself: U.S. Senate, “The Future of the Independent Counsel Act,” Hearings Before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, 106th Congress, 1st sess., 14 Apr. 1999 (testimony of Honorable Kenneth W. Starr).
“All roads led to”: Ken Starr, interview by author.
Some commentators were quick: Ken Gormley, “A Post-Mortem of the Lewinsky Scandal and Clinton Impeachment,” lecture at Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, N.Y., August 11, 1999.
“It was a relief”: Alice Starr, interview by author.
Starr wrote a farewell: Kenneth Starr, “What We’ve Accomplished,” Wall Street Journal, 20 Oct. 1999.
a “bittersweet” going-away: Alice Starr, interview by author; Hickman Ewing, Jr., interview by author; Ken Starr: The Way We Were, Oct. 1999, film, courtesy of Hickman Ewing, Jr.
Since replacing Ken Starr: Judy Keen and Kathy Kiely, “It Ain’t Over, New Independent Counsel Says,” USA Today, 10 Jan. 2000, 8A; Pete Yost, “Starr Steps Down: Successor Asked to Wrap Up Clinton Investigation,” Associated Press, 18 Oct. 2000.
“The timing of this”: “Grand Jury Probing Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal, Sources Reveal,” CNN AllPolitics, 17 Aug. 2000.
Gore’s Republican opponent: “A New Grand Jury Looks at Clinton’s Past,” New York Times, 18 Aug. 2000.
“emphatically state his disapproval”: Frank Bruni, “The 2000 Campaign: The Texas Governor; Bush Calls on Gore to Denounce Clinton Affair,” New York Times, 12 Aug. 2000.
had inadvertently let slip: “Lashing Out at Leaks,” Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2000; Richard D. Cudahy, “Written Statement of Judge Richard D. Cudahy Issued August 18, 2000,” U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
argued in favor of “terminating”: Richard D. Cudahy to Judges David Sentelle and Peter Fay, Re: Starr-Madison Guaranty, 9 Aug. 1999. Nonetheless, Cudahy