THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040564
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 50 lines
Kenneth W. Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel investigating President Clinton, plans to speak today at an event co-sponsored by Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network and Regent University.
A White House aide said Thursday that Starr's decision to deliver the keynote address at the 10th anniversary of Regent University law school in Virginia Beach shows his ties to Clinton's political enemies.
Robertson, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, has strongly criticized Clinton on Whitewater and other matters, saying at one point that Clinton's inauguration amounted to ``a repudiation of our forefathers' covenant with God.''
Aides to Starr defended his speech on judicial decision-making, planned for a 12:30 p.m. invitation luncheon on campus, as entirely proper, saying his topic is apolitical and the appearance similar to others he makes at law schools around the country.
Starr is also scheduled to appear at a 2 p.m. news conference with Robertson and former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese outside the Robertson law building.
Starr, a Virginia resident and a former U.S. solicitor general, has been investigating allegations involving the Clintons and their associates in Arkansas for more than two years.
His inquiry is now focused on whether Bill Clinton, as governor of Arkansas, knew about an illegal $300,000 loan issued to his Whitewater business partner, and whether first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was truthful in sworn statements about her legal work for an Arkansas savings and loan and her involvement in the firings of several White House aides.
As a lawyer in private practice based in the District of Columbia, Starr took on a number of conservative causes. Mark Fabiani, an associate counsel at the White House, sought to draw a connection between Starr's earlier partisan work and the Regent University appearance.
``Kenneth Starr's ties to sworn enemies of the president, including the tobacco industry, right-wing groups and the Republican Party, are well-documented,'' Fabiani said. ``Americans will make up their own minds about whether they can trust Mr. Starr to be fair under these circumstances.''
Robertson founded Christian Broadcasting Network University in 1977, later changing its name to Regent. He has been chancellor of the university since its inception.
His criticism of Clinton dates to August 1992, when he attacked him as ``Slick Willie,'' a candidate with ``a radical plan to destroy the traditional family.'' by CNB