Story of Mock Starr Trials Retracted

A newspaper said Friday that it was wrong in reporting that the office of Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr held four mock trials of President Clinton and his wife.

“Our Saturday story concerning the mock trials was obviously wrong,” said Griffin Smith Jr., executive editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The newspaper reported last Saturday that two mock trials had been held in Washington and two in Little Rock at which members of Starr’s staff presented evidence for two counts each of obstruction of justice against Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Each jury voted to acquit the Clintons, with the closest vote being 8-4, the paper reported. The paper stood by its story after Starr said his office never conducted the trials.

In Friday’s article, the Democrat-Gazette said its source began questioning his information about the trials after repeated denials from Starr’s office. The source talked to an acquaintance in Starr’s office again, the newspaper reported, and was told the information was incorrect.