PRESIDENT LOSES ON TESTIMONY.Byline: James Bennet The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times A federal judge ruled Friday that Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify about President Clinton's relationship with a former White House intern, rejecting administration arguments that the agents are covered by a novel privilege required to protect presidents from assassins. After the decision, Clinton, who had largely recused himself from the debate over Secret Service privilege, told reporters that testimony by agents could have a chilling effect  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. on relations between presidents and those who guard them. The judge, Norma Holloway Johnson Norma Holloway Johnson (b. 1932) is a United States District Court judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In particular she ruled on Kenneth Starr's probe of the Clinton administration. , swatted aside that reasoning. The Justice Department had argued that if agents could testify, presidents would put themselves in danger by putting their guards out of sight or earshot ear·shot n. The range within which sound can be heard by the unaided ear; hearing distance: listened until the parade was out of earshot. . In a curt opinion, Johnson found that what the Secret Service called a ``protective function privilege'' had no basis in the Constitution, congressional intent, or federal or state history - or even, she suggested, in common sense. ``It is not at all clear that a president would push Secret Service protection away if he were acting legally or even if he were engaged in personally embarrassing acts,'' she wrote. ``Such actions are extremely unlikely to become the subject of a grand jury investigation.'' She added, ``The president has a very strong interest in protecting his own physical safety.'' The decision was another procedural victory for the Whitewater independent counsel, Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston Starr (born July 21, 1946) is an American lawyer and former judge who was appointed to the Office of the Independent Counsel to investigate the death of the , who is seeking to learn what Secret Service officials know about Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American woman with whom the former United States President Bill Clinton admitted (after initially denying) to having had an "inappropriate relationship"[1] while Lewinsky worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996. , the former intern and Defense Department worker. Starr has sought testimony from John Kelleher For John Patrick Kelleher, 1912-1924 baseball player, see John Kelleher (baseball) John Kelleher was an Irish sportsperson in the 1880s and 1890s who played hurling with Aghabullogue. , chief counsel of the Secret Service, and from two uniformed officers, Gary Byrne and Brian Henderson. Starr wants to know whether Byrne or Henderson discussed Lewinsky with Kelleher. Starr is investigating whether the president had an affair with Lewinsky and sought to cover it up. Clinton has denied the charges, and Lewinsky has sworn that she had no sexual relationship with him. One administration official said Friday evening that the Justice Department is almost certain to appeal the ruling. But Bert Brandenburg, a Justice Department spokesman, said a decision on an appeal probably will not be made for several days. ``We're just mulling that now,'' he said. That decision probably would involve both Solicitor General An officer of the U.S. Justice Department who represents the federal government in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. The solicitor general is charged with representing the Executive Branch of the U.S. government in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Seth Waxman and Attorney General Janet Reno. ``We continue to believe that any action that could distance the Secret Service from the president increases the danger to his life and that of future presidents,'' Brandenburg said. ``While the court did recognize that the Secret Service's views are legitimate, we are concerned that the court did not fully appreciate the impact that its decision could have on the safety of the president and other people the Secret Service protects.'' Susan Sallet sal·let n. A light, late medieval helmet with a brim flaring in the back, sometimes fitted with a visor. [Middle English salet, from Old French sallade, from Old Spanish celada , a spokesman for the Treasury Department, which includes the Secret Service, had no immediate comment on the decision. The Justice Department was said to be consulting with both the Secret Service and Treasury. Starr previously had won a ruling from Johnson that the president could not extend executive privilege executive privilege, exemption of the executive branch of government, or its officers, from having to give evidence, specifically, in U.S. law, the exemption of the president from disclosing information to congressional inquiries or the judiciary. or attorney-client privilege In the law of evidence, a client's privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent any other person from disclosing, confidential communications between the client and his or her attorney. to prevent the testimony of two of his senior aides. Clinton is appealing that decision. Charles Bakaly, a spokesman for Starr, declined to comment on the ruling. ``We have nothing to add beyond the judge's opinion,'' he said. The president said Friday that he would stay out of the deliberations over an appeal, but he left no doubt of how little he thought of the ruling. Asked about the decision after an unrelated Rose Garden appearance Friday, Clinton tersely noted that former President Bush had supported the Secret Service's reasoning. Asked again for his own views, Clinton mounted a sharp attack on Starr, without ever mentioning him by name. The president said there is no statute granting such a privilege, but that there is a simple reason for that: ``It never occurred to anybody that anyone would ever be so insensitive to the responsibilities of the Secret Service that this kind of legal question would arise.'' |
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