Starr Aide Linked to Media Leak Resigns

The spokesman for independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr abruptly resigned Thursday as Starr disclosed that he had requested a Justice Department investigation of an alleged press leak from his office.

Starr announced that Charles G. Bakaly III was put on paid administrative leave after an internal investigation in connection with a Jan. 31 story in the New York Times.

The story, quoting unnamed “associates” of Starr, said the independent counsel’s office had concluded that Starr had the constitutional authority to seek an indictment of President Clinton while he was still in office.

Bakaly could not be reached Thursday. But his attorney, Howard Shapiro, said his client is “confident that he will be found not to have violated any statute, regulation or court order.”

A Justice Department spokesman confirmed that Starr’s office had referred the matter to the department but said it was uncertain how it would handle the referral.

“We have not yet received the investigative materials in connection with the matter from the FBI agents assigned to the Office of Independent Counsel, said Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin. “When we receive it, we will determine how best to proceed.”

Neither Starr’s office nor Justice officials disclosed the findings of Starr’s internal review.

In a three-paragraph statement, Starr said: “After having been provided with the preliminary results of the internal investigation, this office has referred the matter to the Department of Justice.”

Starr has been sharply criticized for months for allegedly leaking grand jury material. A special investigator appointed by Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson is examining possible violations by Starr’s office of the federal rules barring prosecutors from disclosing information related to grand jury investigations.

At the same time, Starr himself faces a separate Justice Department probe for alleged misconduct during the investigation of former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky.

Bakaly, a Los Angeles lawyer, served as Starr’s spokesman throughout most of the independent counsel’s investigation of allegations that Clinton committed perjury and obstructed justice in trying to cover up his affair with Lewinsky.

Bakaly previously served as an advance man in the Reagan White House and, more recently, as chief spokesman for Donald C. Smaltz, the independent counsel appointed to investigate allegations against former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy.

The Jan. 31 story came at a particularly sensitive time, as Clinton was fighting to stave off his removal from office by the Senate after his impeachment by the House. Congressional Democrats charged that the story was an effort to influence Senate votes by Starr’s office.

Starr said at the time that he was “deeply troubled” by the leak and ordered a review.

Following the story’s publication, Bakaly said on national television: “Information did not come from our office. . . . We did not leak the information. . . . We do not leak grand jury information.”

In his statement Thursday, Starr said that he accepted Bakaly’s resignation “with regret.” Bakaly will remain on paid administrative leave until his resignation becomes effective June 1.

Shapiro said that Bakaly would cooperate “in every way” with the Justice inquiry.

“Given that it was Mr. Bakaly’s job as OIC spokesman to respond to media inquiries concerning the OIC’s work, it is no surprise that he has been interviewed in connection with the inquiry,” Shapiro said.

He said that Bakaly had joined Starr’s staff “during a high-profile and unavoidably controversial phase of the OIC’s investigation to communicate the OIC’s work to the media and the public.” This was a “logical time for Mr. Bakaly to make the transition back to the private sector,” Shapiro said.

Times staff writer Robert L. Jackson contributed to this story.