MEDIUM RARE by Jim Rarey August 19, 2000
CLINTON GRAND JURY: DISTRACTION OR COVER-UP?
The timing of the "leak" of the impaneling last month of a Grand Jury to investigate President Clinton’s testimony in the Paula Jones case has pundits alternately accusing Republicans and Democrats as responsible for varying motives.
Democrats accuse the Republicans and Independent Counsel Robert Ray of trying to upstage Al Gore on the day of his "speech of a lifetime", acceptance of the Democrat nomination for president.
Republicans accuse the Democrats of the leak so they can blame Republicans.
Independent Counsel Ray vows that the leak did not come from his office.
While it is unlawful to disclose anything that occurred in a Grand Jury session (other than one’s own testimony), there is nothing illegal about disclosing the existence of one.
ay is said to be investigating whether or not the President committed perjury and obstruction of justice in his testimony and actions in the Paula Jones case, One of the facets being investigated is whether the White House deliberately withheld subpoenaed E-mails relative to the Monica Lewinsky affair.
In this writer’s opinion, there are two objectives to the Grand Jury investigation as suggested in the title to this piece.
The media will undoubtedly use the investigation to reopen arguments as to what "is" is and whether "false and misleading testimony" in a civil matter subsequently dismissed on technical grounds constitutes perjury. Although not using the word "perjury", a federal district judge fined Clinton for lying in her court.
A committee of the Arkansas Bar Association has recommended Clinton be disbarred. The Arkansas Supreme Court will rule on that later.
However, the main objective may be to shut down the Judicial Watch civil suits on the E-mail scandals. Federal District Judge Royce Lambeth has granted Larry Klayman’s organization wide latitude in taking depositions about E-mails that were not captured by the system set up to comply with federal law.
In a recent deposition, an employee of a White House E-mail contractor disclosed the hitherto unknown fact that Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al and Tipper Gore have secret E-mail accounts that have not been disclosed. He also revealed that his life had been threatened (by persons unknown) in the leaving a list of the "Clinton body count" on his office chair.
The "Clinton body count" is a listing of persons close to Clinton (as Governor of Arkansas, presidential candidate, and president) who allegedly had derogatory information on Clinton and died under mysterious circumstances in "accidents", purported suicides and murders. Linda Tripp was similarly threatened in two incidents where the "list" was left on her office chair in the Pentagon.
In an earlier article, this writer detailed how grand juries are increasingly being used to cover-up evidence in various investigations. Proceedings of grand juries can only be made public in one of two circumstances. A court can order the release of testimony and/or evidence if it is material in another court proceeding. If an indictment results from a grand jury investigation, the record then becomes public.
As noted above, under rules for federal grand juries, witnesses are free to talk about their own testimony in a grand jury proceeding. However, the foreman of the Ken Starr’s grand jury complained that witnesses were going out on the courthouse steps and lying at press conferences about testimony they had just given. (Evidently that is not illegal.)
If Independent Counsel Ray’s objective is to stop the flow of information to the public on the E-mail scandals (not just related the Lewinsky/Paula Jones affair but the wider range of espionage and corruption in the White House), we can expect the following actions from him.
He probably would follow Special Counsel Danforth’s example in the Waco investigation and go to court to get an injunction against any further depositions and collection of evidence in Judicial Watch’s civil suits, on the grounds that it interferes with the grand jury investigation.
Ray has announced that he will not make a decision (whether or not to ask for an indictment) until President Clinton leaves office on January 20, 2001. Although Ray has the authority to indict Clinton without a grand jury, he says he wants the decision to be made by "twenty-three ordinary citizens". Grand juries seldom issue an indictment unless the prosecutor asks for one.
Thus, if successful in obtaining an injunction against Judicial Watch, Ray could stem the flow of incriminating evidence coming from Judicial Watch depositions, which Klayman is making public immediately after each deposition.
After January 20th, Ray would then say he was not requesting an indictment and the testimony and evidence presented to the grand jury would remain sealed unless a court order released it.
Permission is granted to reproduce this article in its entirety
The author is a free lance writer based in Romulus, Michigan. He is a former newspaper editor and investigative reporter, a retired customs administrator and accountant, and a student of history and the U.S. Constitution.
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