Reprinted from The Washington Times , 5am -- May 1, 1998
Starr likely to force Lewinsky to appear before grand jury
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr is expected to move to enforce a subpoena demanding Monica Lewinsky's appearance before the sex-and-lies grand jury, with the former White House intern having few options left to avoid testifying about her claimed affair with President Clinton.
Without the full immunity she and her attorney had sought, Miss Lewinsky risks imprisonment on charges of civil contempt or an indictment for perjury if she continues to defy efforts by prosecutors to solicit her testimony.
Her grand jury appearance was guaranteed when U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson sided with Whitewater prosecutors when she said Miss Lewinsky did not have the full immunity agreement she had claimed. The ruling was issued last week under seal.
Miss Lewinsky already has been subpoenaed in the case and, based on Judge Johnson's ruling, could be called at any time.
Lawyers and others close to the ongoing grand jury investigation said they expect Mr. Starr to first seek a limited immunity agreement with Miss Lewinsky and William H. Ginsburg, Miss Lewinsky's attorney, in which the independent counsel would agree not to prosecute her for answers she gives during her grand jury appearance.
With a mutual agreement in hand, Mr. Starr would then ask Miss Lewinsky about 20 hours of secretly recorded audiotapes on which she claimed an 18-month affair with Mr. Clinton and call on her to explain her sworn affidavit in the Paula Jones sexual misconduct lawsuit in which she denied ever having a sexual relationship with the president.
Mr. Starr also would be expected to ask Miss Lewinsky to explain a "proffer," or statement, she offered to prosecutors during immunity negotiations that reportedly confirmed that she had had an affair with Mr. Clinton.
Failing any compromise agreement, Mr. Starr could then compel her testimony, where Miss Lewinsky could refuse to answer questions -- citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. At that point, Mr. Starr would be expected to ask Judge Johnson for a court order of limited immunity, after which Miss Lewinsky would be brought again before the grand jury and re-asked the questions.
If she refused, Mr. Starr could petition the court to find her in contempt and ask that she be jailed. He followed a similar course with convicted Whitewater felon Susan McDougal, who refused in September 1996 to answer questions before the Little Rock grand jury and ended up spending 18 months in jail on a civil contempt citation.
Mr. Starr also could charge Miss Lewinsky with lying in the sworn affidavit, seeking an indictment against her on perjury charges. For the past several weeks, prosecutors have interviewed dozens of witnesses and reviewed hundreds of documents in an attempt to verify accusations that Mr. Clinton and Miss Lewinsky were romantically involved.
Mr. Ginsburg said Thursday his client will not testify without immunity from prosecution.
"Mr. Starr can do whatever he intends to do. Monica will not testify before the grand jury without immunity," he said, without spelling out what type of immunity.
Attorney General Janet Reno, in a Jan. 16 application to a judicial panel to turn over the inquiry to Mr. Starr, outlined the jeopardy Miss Lewinsky faced without immunity.
"In a taped conversation with a cooperating witness, Ms. Lewinsky states that she intended to lie when deposed," Miss Reno wrote. "In the same conversation, she urged the cooperating witness to lie in her own upcoming testimony."
Miss Lewinsky had been willing to tell about sexual relations she had with the president, but was reluctant to her testify on other matters, the sources said, including accusations that Mr. Clinton and Washington lawyer Vernon E. Jordan Jr. told her to lie about the affair in the Jones suit.
The sources said prosecutors, who had FBI agents put a body wire on Pentagon official Linda R. Tripp to record another conversation with the intern, are convinced Miss Lewinsky was telling the truth on the tapes when she said she had an affair and had been asked to lie about it.
They said Whitewater prosecutors would not have sought permission to expand the inquiry if they had questions about the validity of the accusations.
Mr. Clinton testified in the Jones suit that he never had sex with Miss Lewinsky and did not believe he ever was alone with her in the Oval Office, although he could not remember. Mr. Jordan also has denied any wrongdoing.Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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