Starr Defends Integrity of Whitewater Investigation : Probe: In retort to White House complaints, independent counsel asserts that his office is abiding by strict standards of fairness, accountability.

Independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr on Saturday made a spirited defense of his Whitewater investigation in the wake of White House criticism that such probes ought to be more insulated from politics.

“Our office has taken steps to guard against arbitrary and capricious decision-making,” Starr insisted, stressing that he has implemented the same “practices and mechanisms of accountability” that apply to ordinary federal prosecutors.

In a commencement address at the Duke University School of Law, Starr said his first step after taking charge of the probe last year was to employ a staff of experienced, nonpartisan lawyers who would not be influenced by political considerations. In addition, “we have established safeguards to ensure that our major actions and decisions are subject to the most searching and rigorous internal scrutiny,” he said.

Among these safeguards, he said, is the practice of subjecting proposed indictments to an extensive review process similar to that used by the Justice Department, and the calling of witnesses before a federal grand jury “only in consultation with senior attorneys and deputies in Little Rock and Washington.”

These steps are designed to ensure “effective and fair decision-making,” he said.

In copies of his speech made available here, Starr said he was partly responding to criticism last week by White House counsel Abner J. Mikva, who said Congress should revise the independent counsel statute to better shield the process from politics.

Mikva, who served with Starr on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia when both were judges, stressed that his comments were not aimed personally at Starr. Mikva, however, has been deeply involved in President Clinton’s defense against Whitewater allegations, and other Democrats and Administration officials have suggested that Starr, a Republican, may be politically motivated in pursuing charges against friends and associates of the President long before his election.

For example, Bruce Lindsey, a close aide to Clinton who is Mikva’s deputy, has been notified that he is the target of a Starr investigation that could result in his indictment for alleged financial irregularities arising from activities in Clinton’s 1990 gubernatorial campaign in Arkansas.

Besides Starr’s probe, other independent counsel investigations are proceeding against former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros. Another is being considered for Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown.

Ironically, the Clinton Administration fought hard for renewal of the post-Watergate law after congressional Republicans allowed the statute to die during the George Bush Administration.

Starr noted that Congress has revised the law by attempting to put constraints on the time and money available to independent counsels, following criticism that former independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh spent more than $35 million on his seven-year investigation of the Iran-Contra scandal. However, he suggested that the counsels themselves could best assure nonpartisan investigations.

“The most important mechanism that guides what we do is the accountability that we have to each other,” he said, speaking of his own staff. “Not a day goes by that we do not seek to discuss and judge what we are doing, why we are doing it and the impact of what we are doing on others.”