Email this article Printer friendly page

 For Immediate Release
Aug 11, 1998 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172


Starr should hold off on Filegate report until investigation complete

Judicial Watch sees little evidence of Starr investion FBI files matter


Press reports indicate that any impeachment report from Judge Kenneth Starr to Congress may focus on the Lewinsky scandal, while leaving aside the serious scandals of Filegate and Travelgate. Judicial Watch believes that Starr should indeed remain silent on Filegate and the related Travelgate matter until he has had a chance to thoroughly investigate them. Filegate and Travelgate, which involve the use of the FBI for political espionage and intimidation, are equal to Chinagate in importance. Judicial Watch, which has been conducting discovery in its Filegate civil suit, has found little evidence of Starr's investigative footprints. In fact, major witnesses have yet to be questioned by Starr about Filegate:

"Mack" McClarty, President Clinton's chief of staff during the period the FBI files were illegally collected by the White House, testified in his Judicial Watch deposition that he was not questioned about Filegate by Starr.

Terry Good, President Clinton's director of the Office of Records Management, testified in his Judicial Watch deposition that his office had custody and control of at least 400 of the FBI files obtained by Craig Livingstone's Office of Personnel Security. Incredibly, Starr has yet to question him.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to the Judicial Watch deposition testimony of Mandy Grunwald, thought that Starr's questioning of her earlier this year for only 9 minutes about Filegate essentially proved that Starr was not serious and only questioned her for political reasons. (Mrs. Clinton is a defendant in Judicial Watch's Filegate suit.)

As further evidence that Starr is behind schedule in investigating Filegate, Starr subpoenaed Judicial Watch depositions of the Pentagon officials involved in the illegal release of information from Tripp's Pentagon file. Tripp is a material witness in the Filegate matter.

Judicial Watch believes any Starr interim report to Congress should neither incriminate nor exonerate the President and his administration on Filegate and the related Travelgate. As Starr clearly doesn't have all the facts yet, he shouldn't come to any conclusions until he thoroughly investigates these important matters.



Top of Page