U.S. Seeks to Halt Starr Questioning
The Justice and Treasury departments argued Tuesday that Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr can be barred from questioning Secret Service officers about President Clinton’s relationship with former intern Monica S. Lewinsky without Clinton himself making a claim of privilege, officials said.
That argument came in a sealed court brief filed in opposition to Starr’s sealed April 3 request that U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson compel members of the White House security detail to answer questions, according to a senior government official who requested anonymity.
The filing came as talks between the two departments and Starr continued in an effort to reach a compromise.
Officials working on the case, also talking on condition of anonymity, said there are numerous privileges in law that block testimony and do not need to be invoked by presidential order, including the state secret privilege and attorney-client privileges.
Starr has asserted that Clinton himself must invoke it.
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