Tag: Ken Starr

Ron Johnson to bring Ken Starr to testify at controversial hearing on 2020 elections

Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has invited former independent counsel Ken Starr and attorneys in key battleground states to testify at a controversial hearing next week where he plans to probe the 2020 election that President-elect Joe Biden won.

The hearing, which has prompted sharp criticism from senators in both parties over concerns that Johnson is peddling in debunked conspiracy theories, is moving ahead despite calls from Democrats that he scrap it.

But Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has not yet said if he’ll run for reelection in 2022, says his hearing is geared at “trying to restore confidence in the system” and says it is he who is “trying to debunk” questions about “suspicious activities” that occurred in the elections. He also says the hearings will help him decide whether to join House Republicans to challenge the electoral results on the floor in January, as he’s met with one of those conservatives — Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan — to help prepare for next week’s hearing. Continue reading.

Democrats cite Starr in effort to lift stay in Trump tax returns case

They noted the suit was filed more than six months ago.

House Democrats are asking a judge to end a delay in their suit seeking President Donald Trump’s federal tax returns, citing comments from Kenneth Starr, one of Trump’s defense attorneys in his impeachment trial.

In a court filing released Tuesday evening, lawyers for the House asked District Judge Trevor McFadden to allow the case to proceed, complaining, “this case has been stalled long enough.”

They noted the suit was filed more than six months ago, and expressed concern that time is running short, noting the current session of Congress ends in less than a year. Continue reading.

Starr Mocked Over ‘Ridiculous’ Impeachment Argument

Bringing Ken Starr on to President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team seemed like a terrible idea from the start, and on Monday afternoon, the former independent counsel showed why.

As the former independent counsel who pushed for a slew of impeachment charges against former President Bill Clinton, Starr is in the odd position of having vigorously and publicly advocated for removing a chief executive under much less serious accusations that Trump now faces. So inevitably, his defense was going to draw accusations of hypocrisy.

Yet somehow, he didn’t seem to foresee this and try to mitigate the damage. Continue reading.

Trump to add Dershowitz, Ken Starr to impeachment defense team

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s impeachment defense team for his Senate trial will include Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr, sources confirmed to The Hill on Friday.

Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow said the team will also consist of former attorneys Jane Raskin and Robert Ray, as well as former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Starr worked as independent counsel investigating former President Clinton over allegations that ultimately led to his impeachment. Ray followed Starr as independent counsel. Continue reading.

Ken Starr suggests Ambassador Sondland’s testimony could prompt GOP senators to ‘make a trip to the White House’ and ask Trump to resign

AlterNet logoIn the run-up to the release of Gordon Sondland’s opening statement for this Wednesday’s impeachment hearings, Fox News contributor Ken Starr suggested that Sondland’s testimony could cause GOP senators to push for President Trump’s resignation.

“The real issue is the senators are watching,” Starr said. “Are senators going to now say in light of what we hear today, it’s going to be a long day even with the ambassador alone, in light of what we have heard, ‘We need to make a trip down to the White House’?”

“That historic example set during the Nixon presidency,” Starr continued. “From what I’ve been able to glean I don’t think that’s going to happen. But obviously what happens today could—has the potential to be a game-changer.”

View the November 20 article from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Ken Starr Says If President Trump Fires Robert Mueller ‘There Would Be Hell To Pay’

Starr, the independent counsel while President Bill Clinton was in office, weighed in with Bloomberg.

Former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, who became a regular character in American politics as the independent counsel during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings, said President Donald Trump would be ill-advised to get rid of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Starr made the comments on Friday after Bloomberg’s David Westin asked him what the consequences would be if Trump were to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and get rid of Mueller.

“I think that there would be hell to pay if the president fired Mueller or ordered the firing of Bob Mueller,” Starr said.

View the complete September 15 article by Andy McDonald on the HuffingtonPost.com website here.

Brett Kavanaugh Exposed As Ken Starr’s Designated Leaker

Attorney Kenneth Starr speaks during arguments before the California Supreme Court to overturn California’s Proposition 8 in San Francisco, California March 5, 2009. REUTERS/Paul Sakuma

During the lengthy investigation that led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, the Office of the Independent Counsel (OIC), led by Kenneth Starr, leaked non-public information — including grand jury information whose release was allegedly illegal—to a stable of selected journalists, some of whom were identified by the OIC as “confidential informants.”

One of the OIC officials tasked to provide this non-public information — designed, in part, to smear Bill and Hillary Clinton — was Brett Kavanaugh, an accomplished Republican political operative whom Donald Trump has nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During the spring of 1997, I received an offer of a $100,000 advance from a conservative publisher, Regnery Publishing, to research and write a book about the controversial death of Vincent Foster, President Clinton’s deputy White House counsel. Regnery, which wanted a real crime reporter with good contacts in the law-enforcement community, gave me an end-of-the-year deadline.

View the complete article by Dan E. Moldea posted (9/11/18) on the National Memo website.

Starr: Grounds for impeachment if Trump lied about trying to fire Mueller

The following article by Julia Manchester was post on the Hill website January 28, 2018:

Former special counsel Ken Starr said on Sunday that there could be grounds for impeachment if President Trump was lying when he denied reports that he tried to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

“I think lying to the American people is a serious issue that has to be explored. I take lying to the American people very, very seriously, so absolutely,” Starr told ABC’s “This Week,” when asked if Trump lying about the report would be grounds for impeachment. Continue reading “Starr: Grounds for impeachment if Trump lied about trying to fire Mueller”

Ken Starr predicts indictments in Russia probe

The following article by Brandon Carter was posted on the Hill website October 7, 2017:

Ken Starr, the former independent counsel in the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals during Bill Clinton’s presidency, predicted Saturday that there would likely be indictments in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s election meddling.

“Given what we do know, especially given what happened this summer with respect to the FBI’s intrusion into Paul Manafort’s condominium, in light of the revelations that we’ve seen about General Flynn, I have a sense that there will in fact be indictments,” Starr said on CNN’s “Smerconish,” referring to President Trump’s former campaign chairman and his first national security adviser, respectively. Continue reading “Ken Starr predicts indictments in Russia probe”