WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Ken Starr, the prosecutor whose investigation led to the impeachment of former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1998, has died aged 76, his family said in a statement on Tuesday. Starr died Tuesday in Houston of complications from surgery, his family said. Starr came to national prominence as the special counsel who investigated the sex and perjury scandal that led to the impeachment of then-President Clinton. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up The investigation into Clinton’s affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky produced an official congressional document that became a bestseller when it was marketed as “The Starr Report.” Offering startling glimpses of sexual endeavors mixed with denser legalese, the report found that Clinton’s effort to cover up the affair offered grounds for impeachment. “According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the president on nine occasions. On all nine of those occasions, the president fondled and kissed her bare breasts,” The Starr Report reported. “She called him ‘Handsome;’ at times, he called her ‘Sweetie,’ ‘Baby,’ or sometimes ‘Honey.’ FILE PHOTO – Attorney Ken Starr speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal team continues to present opening arguments in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial in this still from video taken in the U.S. Senate chamber on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, USA, January 27, 2020 TV/US Senate Newsletter via Reuters The scandal centered on Clinton’s attempt to cover up his affair with Lewinsky, and the impeachment charges stemmed from his falsely denying the affair in his 1998 deposition and from the testimony in a sexual harassment case filed against him by Paula Jones of Arkansas. Clinton was governor. On December 19, 1998, the US House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton—only the second president to face impeachment charges. A subsequent trial in the Senate failed to remove him from office. Starr repeatedly said that no one, not even the president of the United States, was above the law. Born July 21, 1946, in Vernon, Texas, Starr clerked for former Chief Justice Warren Burger in 1974 and 1975, and in 1981 became counsel to William French Smith, then-President Ronald Reagan’s first attorney general. In 1989, he became solicitor general, chief judge of the US government. In that job, he argued 25 cases, including controversial lawsuits over abortion rights and school prayer. Before becoming a special prosecutor, he was often mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate for the US Supreme Court. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington. Editing by Eric Beech and Howard Goller Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
