Lewinsky Drops Ginsburg, Hires Washington Lawyers

Former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky hired two prominent lawyers to take control of her defense Tuesday, abruptly ending the involvement of the often-outspoken William H. Ginsburg of Los Angeles.

By retaining the two new lawyers--Jacob A. Stein and Plato Cacheris--the 24-year-old Lewinsky has placed her fate in the hands of seasoned Washington practitioners who are no strangers to independent counsel investigations.

Even before their hiring was announced, the new lawyers sought to improve their client’s badly frayed relations with independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, paying a courtesy call to his office, according to people familiar with the matter.

Lawyers involved with the case suggested privately that the departure of Ginsburg--whose unorthodox tactics and often ubiquitous media presence made him an instant celebrity--could free Lewinsky and Starr to move closer to a compromise that would see Lewinsky testify against President Clinton.

“We hope we have a lot to bring to the table,” said Cacheris, 69, a former Justice Department prosecutor who represented Fawn Hall, secretary to Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, during the Iran-Contra scandal.

A spokesman for Starr, Charles G. Bakaly III, said that the independent counsel has “known Jake Stein and Plato Cacheris for a number of years and has great respect for both of them.”

Stein, 73, who in the 1980s was appointed an independent counsel to investigate Reagan administration figure Edwin Meese III, was typically circumspect during a brief news conference Tuesday, at which Lewinsky appeared outside a Washington office building with her new lawyers.

Starr is investigating whether Lewinsky or Clinton has lied under oath or sought to unlawfully cover up the nature of their relationship. Lewinsky had told Starr’s office four months ago that, in exchange for immunity from prosecution, she was willing to testify that she and Clinton had engaged in a form of sex.

But no deal securing her testimony was reached, largely because Lewinsky was silent about whether she would implicate either Clinton or his aides in a cover-up. The aspect of Lewinsky’s involvement with the White House that has most interested investigators is the role of Clinton advisor Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

It was Jordan who lined up a job offer for Lewinsky at the same time lawyers in a civil lawsuit were seeking to question the former intern about whether she and the president had been intimate.

Lewinsky was represented in those negotiations by Ginsburg and Nathaniel H. Speights, a Washington lawyer whom Lewinsky has decided to keep on her legal team.

Ginsburg, who set something of a modern record for verbosity by appearing one Sunday on five television talk shows, depicted his departure from the case as a mutual decision of his and Lewinsky’s.

“In light of the present status of this matter, the fact that an indictment may be imminent, as well as the strained nature of my dealings with Mr. Starr and my strong feelings about the impropriety of his approach . . . both Monica and I mutually felt that it would be in her best interest if a change was made,” Ginsburg said.

Ginsburg’s representation of Lewinsky was offbeat from the outset. When interviewed by The Times on Jan. 20, the night before the controversy broke publicly, Ginsburg said that Lewinsky stood behind an affidavit “for now” that she had signed on Jan. 7 denying any sexual contact with Clinton.

Just last week, in an “open letter” to Starr, published by a California law journal, Ginsburg blasted the independent counsel, writing: “Congratulations, Mr. Starr! As a result of your callous disregard for cherished constitutional rights, you may have succeeded in unmasking a sexual relationship between two consenting adults.”

Judy Smith, a spokeswoman for Lewinsky, said in a prepared statement that Ginsburg--whose specialty is defending medical doctors accused of malpractice--was departing “through mutual agreement.” In an interview, however, Smith said that the replacement of Ginsburg was “a decision made by Monica, her mom and dad.”

Lewinsky’s father, Los Angeles oncologist Bernard Lewinsky, is a longtime friend of Ginsburg and has shouldered much of her legal fees. He is divorced from her mother, Marcia Lewis, who has made her own emotional appearances before the grand jury.

The shake-up of Lewinsky’s legal team came amid a flurry of developments Tuesday in the 20-week-old investigation.

Starr, in the bluntest of terms, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to leapfrog a lower appeals court and resolve swiftly whether Clinton can continue to block questioning of his closest staff confidant by invoking attorney-client privilege. Such a move by the nation’s highest court would be extraordinary.

Starr told the Supreme Court that Clinton “treats this as a matter-of-fact investigation. But the unhappy fact is that, at the determination of the attorney general herself, a president is under serious criminal investigation.” Starr added: “Only a definitive decision from this court will bring an end to such contrived privilege assertions.”

In mid-January, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno endorsed Starr’s request for expanded jurisdiction to investigate allegations that had been brought to his office. A special panel of appellate judges granted Starr the authority on Jan. 16.

For months, Clinton had approved the use of both the attorney-client privilege and executive privilege to constrain the questioning of his staff confidant, Deputy Counsel Bruce R. Lindsey, before a federal grand jury.

In asking the Supreme Court Monday not to intervene, Clinton informed the justices that he was dropping his use of executive privilege--the doctrine wielded unsuccessfully by former President Nixon. But Clinton’s lawyers said that they would persist in asserting the attorney-client privilege to shield Lindsey from some questions.

Starr made a second request Tuesday of the Supreme Court. He asked the justices to immediately hear an expected appeal by Clinton administration lawyers of a district court judge’s ruling that requires three Secret Service officials to testify to the grand jury about their knowledge of Lewinsky’s visits to the Oval Office.

James Kennedy, a White House spokesman, accused Starr of “trying to end run the rules and leapfrog the legal process.” Starr’s filings with the Supreme Court, Kennedy said, amount to “an act of public relations, not a work of law.”

Prosecutors on Tuesday brought no witnesses before the federal grand jury in Washington that has been examining evidence concerning Clinton’s relationship with Lewinsky.

Meanwhile, people familiar with the inquiry said that Starr’s office in recent weeks has begun presenting some evidence to a second grand jury, meeting in nearby Alexandria, Va.

It could not be determined what aspects of the Lewinsky case are before the grand jury in Virginia. Lewinsky was in suburban Virginia on Jan. 16, when investigators first approached her as she met at a hotel restaurant with her then-friend and co-worker at the Pentagon, Linda Tripp.

Meanwhile, Starr this week has named the Justice Department’s former chief internal watchdog, Michael E. Shaheen Jr., to investigate an allegation that convicted Whitewater figure David Hale accepted support from conservative sources, including Richard Mellon Scaife, while serving as a witness for Starr.

In Cacheris and Stein, Lewinsky has retained lawyers with reputations for considerable skill. When Stein was named an independent counsel in the 1980s, Meese’s nomination to be attorney general was placed on hold. Stein’s investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of Meese.

Stein is a formal man who sometimes plays tennis in long white tennis pants and who prides himself on his mastery of literary references.

Starr and Stein came into frequent contact in 1994, when Stein served as lawyer for then-Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), who was under scrutiny for sexual harassment by the Senate Ethics Committee. Starr was appointed to review five years of Packwood’s audio-taped diaries to determine if they should be withheld from the committee because of privacy concerns.

Cacheris, barrel-chested with a flair for stylish suits, has a beaming smile and is proud of his Greek heritage, frequently visiting his parents’ birthplace in Greece.

In addition to defending North’s secretary, Cacheris more recently represented former CIA official Aldrich H. Ames, who pleaded guilty in 1994 to spying for the Russians.