STARR'S ADVISER RESIGNS; ETHICS MONITOR CALLS TESTIMONY UNLAWFUL.

Byline: Don Van Natta Jr. The New York Times

Samuel Dash abruptly resigned Friday as Kenneth Starr's ethics adviser to protest the independent counsel's decision to testify before the House Judiciary Committee as ``an aggressive advocate'' for the impeachment of President Clinton.

In a bluntly worded, two-page letter, Dash, the 73-year-old former chief counsel of the Senate Watergate Committee, said he felt compelled to end his four-year affiliation with Starr because the prosecutor had rejected his strong advice to decline to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

``I resign for a fundamental reason,'' wrote Dash, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center. ``You have violated your obligations under the independent counsel statute and have unlawfully intruded on the power of impeachment, which the Constitution gives solely to the House.''

Starr disputed that assertion later in the day, saying he believed his testimony was not an argument for impeachment but a ``general status report on the state of the overall investigation.''

Dash had played an active and influential role in Starr's inquiry into President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, helping to broker an immunity deal with her in July and assisting in the writing and editing of the impeachment referral in September. And while his letter Friday praised Starr's integrity and professionalism, Dash had strongly objected to Starr's decision to continue to represent private clients, including a tobacco company, while serving as the independent counsel. Earlier this year, Dash said that Starr's private legal work ``does have an odor to it.''

Dash's letter was delivered less than 12 hours after Starr concluded his marathon day of testimony, in which he noted Dash's strong views and ``great wisdom.'' His resignation surprised and saddened Starr's prosecutors and staff members; several were told about it by reporters.

For his part, Starr said in his two-page response that Dash's letter ``reflects an inaccurate view of the law, as well as of the events that unfolded (Thursday).''

Starr explained that he was invited to appear by the House Judiciary Committee, and he said he had taken pains not to urge the House to impeach the president. But he often sounded like an impassioned advocate, especially during the cross-examination by David Kendall, the president's personal lawyer. And in response to questions from members, Starr said he believed that perjury was an impeachable offense, an argument that he did not advance in his Sept. 9 referral.

``You suggest that by appearing, I harmed public confidence in the independence of the office,'' Starr wrote. ``With respect, I disagree with that. Indeed, had I chosen to refuse the invitation to testify, I believe that would have harmed public confidence in the office. A refusal to appear would have suggested that we have something to hide, or that we are unwilling to defend and stand by the written referral.''

Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Friday that if Starr had not accepted the committee's invitation, ``we would have been compelled to subpoena him.''

``After four years of relentless abuse and unanswered accusations, I think the public was owed an explanation by the independent counsel,'' Hyde said.

In their letters, each man made clear his respect for the other. In an impromptu news conference Friday morning outside his home in McLean, Va., Starr said he regretted that he had had a ``gentle disagreement'' with Dash, but he added that he understood and respected his decision.

``Sam Dash is a man of total principle, and I love Sam Dash,'' Starr said. ``And I think he did feel strongly that while we had properly submitted the referral to Congress, that it was wrong for me to go forward and to testify yesterday in the way that, as he saw it, that I did.''

Dash spoke briefly Friday afternoon with reporters outside his home in Chevy Chase, Md. ``I resigned because he used most of his opening statement not as a defense of his office but as an aggressive advocate in reviewing the facts and the law urging impeachment,'' Dash said.

Without hesitation, White House lawyers and Democratic strategists began using Dash's sharp words as weapons against Starr.

Paul Begala, senior political adviser to the president, said, ``Starr's ethics guy resigned. Res ipsa loquitur,'' a Latin phrase that means, ``the thing speaks for itself.''

Jim Jordan, spokesman for the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, said, ``Obviously, Democratic members agree with Dash that Starr has exceeded his authority from the independent counsel statute in becoming an aggressive advocate of impeachment, rather than an objective purveyor of the facts.''

When Dash joined the office in October 1994, Starr said Dash would provide ethical and professional advice to him and his staff. But Dash quickly became one of Starr's most trusted advisers.