Text of Starr's Testimony-9

By The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 18, 1998; 10:14 p.m. EST

Testimony of Independent Council Kenneth Starr prepared for delivery Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee:

Although perjury and obstruction of justice are serious federal crimes, some have suggested that they are not high crimes or misdemeanors when the underlying events concern the president's private actions. Under this theory, a president's obstruction and perjury must involve concealment of official actions. This interpretation does not appear in the Constitution itself. Moreover, the Constitution lists bribery as a high crime or misdemeanor. And if a president involved in a civil suit bribed the judge to rule in his favor or bribed a witness to provide favorable testimony, there could be no textual question that he had committed a high crime or misdemeanor under the plain language of Article II even though the underlying events would not have involved his official duties. In addition, virtually everyone agrees that serious crimes such as murder and rape would be impeachable even though they do not involve official duties.

Justice Story stated in his famous Commentaries that there is not a syllable in the Constitution which confines impeachment to official acts. With respect, an absolute and inflexible requirement of a connection to official duties appears, fairly viewed, to be an incorrect interpretation of the Constitution.

History and practice support the conclusion that perjury, in particular, is a high crime or misdemeanor. Perjury has been the basis for the removal of several judges. As far as we know, no one questioned whether perjury was a high crime or misdemeanor in those cases. In addition, as several of the scholars who appeared before you testified, perjury seems to have been recognized as a high crime or misdemeanor at the time of the founding. And the House manager's report in the impeachment of Judge Walter Nixon for perjury stated, ``It is difficult to imagine an act more subversive to the legal process than lying from the witness stand.'' And finally, I note that the federal sentencing guidelines include bribery and perjury in the same guideline (2Jl.3), reflecting the common-sense conclusion that bribery and perjury are equivalent means of interfering with the governmental process.

For these reasons, we concluded that perjury and obstruction of justice, like bribery, ``may constitute grounds for an impeachment.'' Having said that, let me again emphasize my role here. Whether the president's actions are, in fact, grounds for an impeachment or some other congressional sanction is a decision in the sole discretion of the Congress.

A final point warrants mention in this respect. Criminal prosecution and punishment are not the same as -- or a substitute for -- congressionally imposed sanctions. As the Supreme Court stated in a 1993 case, ``The framers recognized that most likely there would be two sets of proceedings for individuals who commit impeachable offenses -- the impeachment trial and a separate criminal trial. In fact, the Constitution explicitly provides for two separate proceedings. The framers deliberately separated the two forums to avoid raising the specter of bias and to ensure independent judgment.''

V. The Office of Independent Counsel: 1994-1998

Our job over the past several years has involved far more than simply the Monica Lewinsky matter. The pattern of obstruction of justice, false statements, and misuse of executive authority in the Lewinsky investigation did not occur in a vacuum.

A. Overview

In August 1994, 1 took over the Madison Guaranty investigation from Bob Fiske. Over the ensuing years, I have essentially become independent counsel for five distinct investigations; for Madison and Whitewater, for Foster-related matters, for the Travel Office, for the FBI files matter, and for the Monica Lewinsky investigation -- as well as for a variety of obstruction and related matters arising from those five major investigations. A brief overview of those investigations may assist the committee in its assessment of the president's conduct.

First, some statistics. Our investigation has resulted in conviction of fourteen individuals, including the former Associate Attorney General of the United States Webster Hubbell, the then-sitting Governor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker, and the Clintons' two business partners Jim and Susan McDougal.

We are proud not only of the cases we have won, but also of our decisions not to indict. To take one well-known example, the Senate Whitewater Committee sent our office public criminal referrals on several individuals. The committee stated in its June 21, 1996, public letter that the testimony of Susan Thomases was ``particularly troubling and suggests a possible violation of law.'' But this office did not seek charges against her.

 

Apart from our indictments and convictions, this office also has faced an extraordinary number of legal disputes -- on issues of privilege, jurisdiction, substantive criminal law and the like. By my count, at least 17 of our cases have been decided by the federal courts of appeals, and we have won all 17. One privilege case arising in our Travel Office investigation went to the D.C. Circuit where we prevailed 2-1 and then to the Supreme Court where we lost 6-3.

We had to litigate in the courts as our investigation ran into roadblocks and hurdles that slowed us down. It is true that the administration produced a great amount of information. But unlike the prosecutors in the investigations involving presidents Reagan and Carter, we have been forced to go to court time and again to seek information from the Executive Branch and to fight a multitude of privilege claims asserted by the administration, every single one of which we have won.

In sum, this office has achieved a superb record in courts of law -- of significant and hard-fought convictions, of fair and wise decisions not to charge, of thorough and accurate reports on the Vincent Foster and Monica Lewinsky matters, of legal victories in various courts. We go to court and not on the talk show circuit. And our record shows that there is a bright line between law and politics, between courts and polls. It leaves the polls to the politicians and spin doctors. We are officers of the court who live in the world of the law. We have presented our cases in court, and with very rare exception, we have won.
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