Legal Veterans Urge High Court to Shield First Lady’s Notes

A distinguished group of former White House counsels and other top lawyers, from Republican and Democratic administrations, has filed a brief supporting the Clinton administration effort to keep confidential certain notes of conversations with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The “friend-of-the-court” brief was submitted by William T. Coleman Jr., Transportation secretary in the Ford administration; Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., White House counsel for President Reagan; Lloyd N. Cutler, former White House counsel for President Carter and for Clinton; Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, attorney general in the Johnson administration; Abner J. Mikva, former Clinton White House counsel; and Elliot L. Richardson, attorney general in the Nixon administration.

They urged the Supreme Court to reverse an appellate court ruling that said the usual attorney-client privilege does not extend to conversations between government officials and their lawyers. The Clinton administration has invoked the privilege in refusing a request by Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr for notes of conversations between the first lady and government lawyers. The White House has appealed the ruling by the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ordering that the notes be surrendered.

The former government lawyers said the ruling conflicts with their experience as government lawyers and the views of legal scholars. Unless it is reversed, they said, officials will be prevented from seeking full and frank legal advice from their lawyers.

They acknowledged in the brief that a prosecutor’s interest may sometimes override an assertion of attorney-client privilege and said such a determination should be left to a judge who would assess whether the subpoenaed information would be relevant evidence.

The Supreme Court will announce within the next two weeks whether it will take the case.