Kenneth Starr

American attorney who gained international notoriety as the Special Prosecutor for the investigation of wrongdoing of the American President, Bill Clinton. A reputable lawyer, looking more like an accountant than the tenacious warrior he is, he was appointed independent counsel on 8/05/1994, first investigating Whitewater. After passing the bar in 1973, he had an all-star Washington resume that included stints as solicitor general under George Bush and as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge and clerk to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger. With a small army of lawyers seeking to issue indictments against the President, the First Lady and their associates, he damaged his position in February 1997 when word leaked out that he planned to resign from the probe on the 1st of August to accept a position as dean of Pepperdine University Law school, then reversing himself. With a number of indictments of Clinton colleagues on record, Starr's investigation of the Paula Jones accusation of sexual harassment by the President took a new twist on 1/12/1998. Government employee Linda Tripp informed Starr's team that she had inside information on an affair between Clinton and a 21-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. On January 17, Clinton denied having sexual relationship with Lewinsky in a sworn deposition for the Paula Jones case. In the following seven months, 29 current and former White House employees went before the grand jury. After making a deal for immunity, Lewinsky testified about her relationship with Clinton on August 6. On August 17, when Clinton himself was forced to testify, he admitted that he had "misled people" and had indeed "had an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky." In mid-September 1998, Starr delivered his report to Congress. If the committee decides the report merits further action, it can ask for a resolution of inquiry and launch its own probe and hearings. After all evidence has been considered, the Committee can draft articles of impeachment and send them on for a floor vote if a majority are in favor. Another option would be to recommend a formal censure or reprimand. Starr himself is under criticism. With Clinton's popularity, many of the public wish the whole matter would go away, and the $40 million that is going into the investigation is a staggering statistic. Starr faces federal investigation of the accusation that his office illegally leaked information provided to the grand jury, and that one of his key witnesses received payoffs from Clinton enemies. Both are powerful weapons in the White House's continuing campaign to discredit Starr. After a costly five years, Starr resigned from counsel 10/18/1999, and reportedly will go in to private practice. Starr married Alice Jean Mendell 8/23/1970; three kids. Link to Wikipedia biography