Ken Starr, the renowned judge who lead the Whitewater, died at 76
Kenneth Starr, also known as Ken Starr who led the Whitewater Investigation into Bill and Hillary Clinton during the 1990s and published three controversial reports on his findings, died on Tuesday of complications from surgery at a Houston hospital. He was 76.
About Ken Starr
Ken Starr was born in 1946 and began his law career. He obtained a degree at Duke University before clerking for Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, after which he went on to serve as a federal judge under Ronald Reagan’s administration. Starr then became the US Solicitor General under President George H.W. Bush.
In the 1990’s, Ken Starr became a national focus after he lead an investigation into real estate deals made by the Clintons during Clinton’s early days in Arkansas.
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As an independent counsel, Starr was granted the ability to investigate any area of interest. In fact, Ken Starr’s investigations went beyond a simple real estate deal; they included many other areas.
In spite of the Clintons never being charged, the inquiry into their administration overshadowed much of the White House’s work and had a negative impact.
Despite Starr’s vain investigation of a potential connection between Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, his investigation led him to Clinton, who was involved in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones.
Clinton’s impeachment proceedings and the White House intern Monica Lewinsky scandal became Ken Starr’s main inquiry.
Starr delivered his 445 page report to Congress in 1998, laying out 11 grounds for impeachment. The report eventually led to Clinton’s impeachment, though the president was acquitted by the Senate and served out the remainder of his term.
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Ken Starr regrets how the Lewinsky scandal turned out. “I deeply regret that I took on the Lewinsky phase of the investigation as it led to my firing or resignation, but at the same time, as I still see it twenty years later, there was no practical alternative,” he wrote in his 2018 memoir Contempt: A Memoir That Mainstreamed Sex Scandals.
Kenneth Winston Starr was an American lawyer and judge who in 1994 to 1998, led an investigation into the Clinton administration.
Starr served as a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989 and as United States Solicitor General from 1989 to 1993 during the presidency of George H.W. Bush
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Starr was highlighted for his role as independent counsel during the passage of U.S. president Bill Clinton, while he initially investigated the suicide of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster and Whitewater real estate investments made by President Clinton.
A three-judge panel was then charged with administering the Ethics in Government Act that was expanded to include examining perjury about Clinton’s sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky.
After four years of investigation, the Starr Report was filed by Starr, in which it was claimed that during a sworn deposition, Clinton had lied about having an affair. The implication led to the impeachment of Clinton and his five year suspension from practicing law.
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As president of Baylor University and chancellor, Starr served in these positions for about two years. In 2010, he became dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law.
Baylor University fired President Ken Starr on May 26, 2016. Starr’s tenure as president would end on May 31, 2016.
On June 1, 2016, Ken Starr resigned due to allegations of sexual assault at Baylor. On August 19th, Starr announced he would resign from his tenured professor position at Baylor University, following the accusations of sexual assault.
Starr joined President Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial
Kenneth Starr was born near Vernon, Texas. He was the son of Vannie Maude (Trimble) and Willie D. Starr, and his father was a minister in the Churches of Christ who also worked as a barber. He attended Sam Houston High School in San Antonio, where he was voted “most likely to succeed” by his classmates. In 1970, Starr married Alice Mendell, raised Jewish but converted to Christianity. The couple had three children together.
Starr attended the Churches of Christ-affiliated Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, where he was a top student. He was involved with the Young Democrats and protested against Vietnam during his time at college.
As a college student in Washington, D.C., he met members of Delta Phi Epsilon and transferred to George Washington University in 1968 where he graduated with a history degree.
Christopher was classified 4-F, skipping the Army draft in Vietnam because of his psoriasis. Chris attended a local entrepreneurial program and eventually graduated from Brown University in 1969, earning his MA degree.
Starr then attended Duke University and became a managing editor at the law journal, where he graduated with honors.
After graduating from law school, Ken Starr clerked for judges David W. Dyer and Warren Burger of the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Fifth Circuit from 1973 to 1974, and from 1975 to 1977, he clerked for Chief Justice Warren Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1977, Starr joined the Washington, D.C., office of the Los Angeles-based law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (now Gibson Dunn). In 1981 he was appointed counselor to U.S. attorney general William French Smith.
On September 13, 1983, he was nominated by Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated by George MacKinnon.
Attorney General Comey was confirmed on September 20, 1983 and received his commission on September 20, 1983. He served until he resigned on May 26, 1989.
Starr Fights for the Bush Administration in The Courtrooms of America
When the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics needed someone to review Senator Bob Packwood’s diaries, the committee chose Ken Starr . When President Bush asked him to investigate Clinton in 2004, Starr followed suit and ended up being responsible for Bill Clinton’s impeachment that year.
After 178 days of delay, the Senate confirmed Anita Hill, who was nominated by William Brennan, as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Back then, due to the fact that Starr could not defend his conservatism as well as an appointed justice can, leadership from the Department of Justice put a hold on Ken Starr’s appointment.
David Souter was nominated by George H. W. Bush, instead of Judge Starr. Judge Starr also considered running against Senator Chuck Robb in Virginia in 1994, but decided not to oppose North for the Republican nomination.
