THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610050390
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NAOMI AOKI, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 69 lines
Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr defended his appearance Friday at Regent University, brushing aside White House criticism that his participation in the school's 10-year anniversary celebration casts doubt on the independence of the investigation.
Starr told reporters that the event at the law school - founded by one of President Clinton's political arch-enemies, religious leader Pat Robertson - was not political.
The day-long celebration was co-sponsored by the Christian Broadcasting Network, also founded by Robertson.
``My purpose in coming here was to note the 10-year anniversary of Regent. If I had been asked to appear at a political event, I would have declined,'' Starr said. ``I think it is odd to suggest that one should mark a special occasion in the life of an institution by somehow boycotting it.''
Since August 1994, Starr, as independent counsel, has been investigating financial dealings involving President Clinton, his wife, Hillary, and their associates in Arkansas.
Starr also is investigating the death of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster and a controversy involving the White House travel office. Robertson has questioned the suicide finding in the death of Foster in July 1993. Robertson once asked on his ``The 700 Club'' television program whether the longtime friend of the Clintons was murdered.
Starr declined to comment about the Whitewater investigation, other than to say it continues to be interested in facts and the truth.
Friday's appearance at Regent, however, left White House officials questioning Starr's objectivity.
Starr's appointment as independent counsel has been criticized from the start because of his strong Republican ties.
After graduating from the law school at Duke University, Starr clerked for then-Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger.
During President Reagan's first term, Starr worked under William French Smith in the attorney general's office. In 1983, Starr was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Six years later, then-President Bush named Starr solicitor general, the government's top lawyer.
Starr also has a history of donating to Republican campaigns, Federal Election Commission records show, and may have political ambitions of his own.
He considered running in the 1994 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate from Virginia.
On Friday, Starr spoke to about 300 people on the future of the judicial process. He did not mention the Whitewater investigation during his speech.
Instead, he told the audience that he was proud to be part of the celebration and that he embraces the vision of the law school, which adds a ``moral dimension'' to legal education.
In his half-hour speech, Starr stressed the importance of tradition, humility and wisdom for future judges.
``Judges today need the wisdom of Solomon,'' he said. ``They must preside with wisdom and make decisions involving troubled men, women and children, decisions that would have challenged the giants of our history. Thus, the need for a moral dimension to both legal education and the judicial process of the future.'' MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY C. KNAPP\The Virginian-Pilot
Pat Robertson, left, and Kenneth Starr, seated, chat at the
10th-anniversary celebration of Regent University. Starr's
attendance raised protests about his role as Whitewater prosecutor.
Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr spoke to the press after a
luncheon at Regent University on Friday. by CNB