Indictments of a number of people close to President Clinton are
expected soon, according to sources close to the investigation of
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.
Clinton will be forced to testify in a number of the trials, and his
testimony will play a part in the indictments that will eventually come
against him and against Hillary Clinton after they are out of the White
House, the sources say. Starr hinted at his intentions in his recent
report to Congress, and sources close to the investigation have
confirmed that the Starr investigation has a bombshell ready to drop.
Additional evidence is also being prepared for Congress, according to
several sources familiar with Starr’s secretive strategy.
The House Judiciary Committee may be one step ahead of Starr.
Committee members are reportedly discussing with each other the need to
ask Starr for his evidence on Whitewater, the FBI files and the travel
office firings. It is expected that Democrats will vigorously oppose
such an effort to expand the inquiry into those areas.
House Republicans, particularly some on the Judiciary Committee, are
frustrated that Attorney General Janet Reno has not appointed an
independent counsel to review campaign fund-raising abuses by the
Clinton-Gore committee and the Democratic National Committee. The
Justice Department is conducting a preliminary investigation, and there
have been investigations in Congress for more than a year.
Several Judiciary Committee members are reported to be discussing
with each other the possibility of including campaign abuses within
their hearings to determine if full impeachment proceedings are
warranted, according to a staff member of one of the Judiciary Committee
members who spoke on condition he would not be identified.
David Kendall, attorney for Bill Clinton, asked in his rebuttal to
the Starr report to have Clinton cleared of allegations investigated by
Starr.
“Despite the exhaustive nature of the OIC’s investigation into the
Whitewater, FBI files and travel office matters, and a constant stream
of suggestions of misconduct in the media over a period of years, to
this day the OIC has never exonerated the President or the first lady of
wrongdoing,” said Kendall in his rebuttal.
“That will never happen. Judge Starr has no intention of letting
those issues go,” explained a source close to the Starr team. “There’s a
great deal about to happen,” he added.
Clinton is not the only one in Washington who should be worried
about what Starr’s plans are.
“The investigation is not over, and the indictments are about to come
out,” said an attorney familiar with Starr’s legal staff and their
plans. “They’ve been holding back on indictments of others until they
got the report to Congress taken care of. Jordan, Ickes,
Carville and the gang know they will soon be indicted. Everyone in the
White House is in desperation mode. They are on code red.”
Starr also reportedly has plenty of evidence about other women
besides Monica Lewinsky.
“I think he (Starr) was trying to spare the country the shock of the
extent of the problem. It’s not really needed for impeachment, so he
left it out,” claimed the source who
said the full details of the many women in Clinton’s life will likely be
revealed in future indictments.
The Starr grand jury in Virginia has been keeping very tight security
on the identity of witnesses. Vans and limousines with dark windows are
used to bring witnesses directly into the building so no one can see who
gets out. Depositions are reported to still be under way with all the
Starr grand juries.
“The report to Congress did not mean an end to the depositions,” said
the source.
The Starr report itself contains hints that more information will be
provided to Congress, as well as hints that others may be indicted.
It states: “From the outset, it was our strong desire to complete all
phases of the investigation before deciding whether to submit to
Congress information — if any — that may constitute grounds for an
impeachment. But events and the statutory command of Section 595(c) have
dictated otherwise. As the investigation into the President’s
actions with respect to Ms. Lewinsky and the Jones litigation
progressed, it became apparent that there was a significant body of
substantial and credible information that met the Section 595(c)
threshold. As that phase of the investigation neared completion, it
also became apparent that a delay of this Referral until the evidence
from all phases of the investigation had been evaluated would be unwise.
Although Section 595(c) does not specify when information must be
submitted, its text strongly suggests that information of this type
belongs in the hands of Congress as soon as the Independent Counsel
determines that the information is reliable and substantially complete.
“All phases of the investigation are now nearing completion. This
Office will soon make final decisions about what steps to take, if any,
with respect to the other information it has gathered. Those decisions
will be made at the earliest practical time, consistent
with our statutory and ethical obligations.”
