Starr OKd as Witness If Called in Impeachment Inquiry

WASHINGTON —  Republicans won’t try to stop the Democrats from calling independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr as a witness in President Clinton’s impeachment inquiry, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Friday.

Committee members and White House lawyers are to meet as early as Tuesday about that and other conditions for the inquiry.

One of the key areas of negotiation will be which witnesses to call. Democrats have demanded that the panel question Starr, whom they accuse of conducting a politically motivated investigation.

The committee’s chairman, Illinois Republican Henry J. Hyde, had slapped down any suggestion of calling Starr a day earlier, but reversed himself Friday--on one condition. Hyde said the first impeachment inquiry hearing by the full committee would probably occur in mid-November.

The panel’s ranking Democrat, John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, “has indicated that he is going to call Mr. Starr. And as of now I have no objection to that,” Hyde told reporters after meeting with GOP members of his panel. “If he has something to tell us . . . beyond his referral.”

Committee Democrat Barney Frank of Massachusetts attributed Hyde’s comments to “recognizing reality. The reality is that they’d be clobbered politically if they didn’t call Kenneth Starr.”

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who served on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate inquiry, shed some light on the charges he thinks the House should consider.

“If he lied under oath and obstructed justice, how can you not vote to impeach him?” Lott told reporters Friday night.

Hyde also said the inquiry could move to other areas, such as whether the scandal involving former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky had destroyed Clinton’s ability to lead.

He cautioned that any speculation on witnesses was premature, since the panel did not yet know the breadth of its inquiry. “That’s why we want to talk with the White House,” he said.

White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters: “We will go up and meet with them next week to figure out how we’ll work with them and to listen to them on how they plan to move forward.”

The Starr and stipulation issues are only the first in what’s expected to be a blizzard of negotiations on direction and scope as the third presidential impeachment inquiry in history moves forward.

Shortly after the House voted Thursday, 258 to 176, to begin the inquiry, White House Counsel Charles F. C. Ruff and Republican lead investigator David Schippers agreed to set up a time to meet privately, according to White House and committee officials. Democratic counsel Abbe Lowell also will attend.

White House confirmation of some of the testimony in Starr’s report would cut the committee’s investigation time, something Republicans hope will serve as an incentive for the administration.

Crafting a list of witnesses the committee wants to question is expected to be the target of intense negotiations.

By putting Starr on the stand during nationally televised hearings, Democrats hope to undermine the credibility of the GOP-led inquiry based on his report.

Hyde had said Thursday, “In my view, complaints about the independent counsel should be brought to [Atty. Gen.] Janet Reno, who sought his appointment, and she should bring them to the three-judge court which appointed him.”