Starr Deputy Takes Over Investigation

WASHINGTON —  Robert W. Ray, a top deputy to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, formally took over the long-running Whitewater investigation Monday and immediately promised to be “thorough and fair” in finishing the inquiry as soon as possible.

Standing on the steps of the U.S. Courthouse, Ray, 39, told reporters that he and his colleagues would “continue the work of this investigation in a prompt, responsible and cost-effective manner.”

He declined to answer questions.

Moments earlier, Ray took the oath of office in a closed ceremony inside the courthouse, accompanied by his wife and three children. Starr, completing more than five years in office and spending more than $40 million on the inquiry, is stepping down to resume his Washington law practice.

In a letter of resignation, the controversial Starr deplored the “unfortunate personalization” of his lengthy inquiry, which led to President Clinton’s impeachment and acquittal after a Senate trial. He said it is wise for another person to take over the investigation.

Starr said that he and his associates had dealt with “challenging circumstances” in seeking to carry out their obligations “in a thorough, comprehensive and professional manner.”

“To reduce the unfortunate personalization of the process, in particular in the wake of the inherently divisive impeachment proceedings, the wiser course, I believe, is for another individual to head the investigation,” Starr’s letter said.

Ray, selected by a three-member panel of appellate court judges that has appointed other independent counsels, has been a career federal prosecutor for 10 years, first in Manhattan and later in the office of Donald C. Smaltz, the special counsel who investigated former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. He joined Starr’s staff early this year.

He is a graduate of Princeton University and the law school of Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

In Starr’s office, he helped prosecute longtime presidential friend Webster L. Hubbell, the former associate attorney general, who pleaded guilty to a felony in June for allegedly concealing aspects of his and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s legal work on a fraudulent Arkansas land deal. Hubbell, however, said that he knew of no wrongdoing by Mrs. Clinton.

As the new independent counsel, Ray is charged with completing a final report on the Whitewater inquiry to be submitted to the three-judge panel by early next year, according to legal analysts.

He must also complete the unfinished investigation of whether anyone lied under oath about the first lady’s role in the 1993 firing of White House travel office employees, a matter first investigated by Congress.

In another area, legal analysts said, he must determine whether Nathan Landow, a wealthy Maryland developer and Democratic fund-raiser, sought to influence the testimony of Kathleen Willey, a former White House volunteer who alleged that Clinton groped her in a 1993 encounter in the Oval Office.

Clinton has denied the allegations and Landow has said that he never tried to influence Willey’s account.

Several attorneys who have worked both with and against Ray recently described him as aggressive but even-handed in his approach. Two veteran Washington lawyers who declined use of their names rated his abilities for the job ahead of Starr’s because, unlike the retiring independent counsel, he has considerable experience in criminal law and is generally regarded as more impartial.

Starr, who had been a federal appellate judge appointed by President Reagan and, later, solicitor general during the George Bush administration, never had prosecuted or defended a criminal case before his appointment as independent counsel. In addition, he was viewed by many lawyers as too “moralistic” for a prosecutor because he expressed disdain to close friends for what he regarded as Clinton’s immoral personal conduct, according to several Washington lawyers.

One of the judges who appointed Ray, Democrat Richard Cudahy of Chicago, said in a statement that the search for Starr’s successor had been limited to senior members of his staff to avoid the delays in familiarizing someone new with the complex inquiry.

“There can be no more vital consideration now than closure with all deliberate speed,” Cudahy said.

Congress allowed the independent counsel law to expire in June. Ongoing investigations, however, are permitted to run their course.