IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 545

Impeaching Kenneth W. Starr, an independent counsel of the United States

appointed pursuant to 28 United States Code section 593(b), of high

crimes and misdemeanors.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 18, 1998

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

RESOLUTION

Impeaching Kenneth W. Starr, an independent counsel of

the United States appointed pursuant to 28 United

States Code section 593(b), of high crimes and misdemeanors.

1 Resolved, That Kenneth W. Starr, an independent

2 counsel of the United States of America, is impeached for

3 high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following ar4 ticles of impeachment be exhibited to the Senate:

5 Articles of Impeachment exhibited by the House of

6 Representatives of the United States of America in the

7 name of itself and of all the people of the United States

8 of America, against Kenneth W. Starr, an independent
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1 counsel of the United States of America, in maintenance

2 and support of its impeachment against him for high

3 crimes and misdemeanors.

4 ARTICLE I

5 In his conduct of the office of independent counsel,

6 Kenneth W. Starr has violated his oath and his statutory

7 and constitutional duties as an officer of the United States

8 and has acted in ways that were calculated to and that

9 did usurp the sole power of impeachment that the Con10 stitution of the United States vests exclusively in the

11 House of Representatives and that were calculated to and

12 did obstruct and impede the House of Representatives in

13 the proper exercise of its sole power of impeachment. The

14 acts by which Independent Counsel Starr violated his du15 ties and attempted to and did usurp the sole power of im16 peachment and impede its proper exercise include:

17 (1) On September 9, 1998, Independent Coun18 sel Kenneth W. Starr transmitted two copies of a

19 ‘‘Referral to the United States House of Representa20 tives pursuant to Title 28, United States Code,

21 § 595(c).’’ As part of that Referral, Mr. Starr sub22 mitted a 445-page report (the ‘‘Starr Report’’) that

23 included an extended narration and analysis of evi24 dence presented to a grand jury and of other mate25 rial and that specified the grounds upon which Mr.
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1 Starr had concluded that a duly elected President of

2 the United States should be impeached by the House

3 of Representatives. By submitting the Starr Report,

4 Mr. Starr usurped the sole power of impeachment

5 and impeded the House in the proper exercise of

6 that power in various ways, including the following:

7 (a) In preparing the Starr Report, Mr.

8 Starr misused the powers granted and violated

9 the duties assigned independent counsel under

10 the provisions of Title 28 of the United States

11 Code. Section 595(c) does not authorize or re12 quire independent counsel to submit a report

13 narrating and analyzing the evidence and iden14 tifying the specific grounds on which independ15 ent counsel believes the House of Representa16 tives should impeach the President of the

17 United States. By submitting the Starr Report

18 in the form he did, Mr. Starr misused his pow19 ers and preempted the proper exercise of the

20 sole power of impeachment that the Constitu21 tion assigned to the House of Representatives.

22 Mr. Starr thereby committed a high crime and

23 misdemeanor against the Constitution and the

24 people of the United States of America.
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1 (b) In his preparation and submission of

2 the Starr Report, Mr. Starr further misused his

3 powers and violated his duties as independent

4 counsel and arrogated unto himself and effec5 tively preempted and undermined the proper ex6 ercise of power of impeachment that the Con7 stitution allocated exclusively to the House of

8 Representatives. Mr. Starr knew or should have

9 known, and he acted to assure, that the House

10 of Representatives would promptly release to

11 the public any report that he transmitted to the

12 House of Representatives under the authority

13 of Section 595(c). With that knowledge, Mr.

14 Starr prepared and transmitted a needlessly

15 pornographic report calculated to inflame public

16 opinion and to preclude the House of Rep17 resentatives from following the procedures and

18 observing the precedents it had established for

19 the conduct of a bipartisan inquiry to determine

20 whether a President of the United States had

21 committed a high crime or misdemeanor in of22 fice meriting impeachment. Mr. Starr thereby

23 committed a high crime and misdemeanor

24 against the Constitution and the people of the

25 United States.
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1 (2) Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr fur2 ther usurped and arrogated unto himself the powers

3 that belong solely to the House of Representatives

4 by using and threatening to use the subpoena pow5 ers of a federal grand jury to compel an incumbent

6 President of the United States to testify before a

7 federal grand jury as part of an investigation whose

8 primary purpose had become and was the develop9 ment of evidence that the President had committed

10 high crimes and misdemeanors justifying his im11 peachment and removal from Office. With respect to

12 the President of the United States, the only means

13 by which the holder of that office may be called to

14 account for his conduct in office is through the exer15 cise by the House of Representatives of the inves16 tigative powers that the constitutional assignment of

17 the sole power of impeachment conferred upon it.

18 Mr. Starr improperly used and manipulated the

19 powers of the grand jury and his office to effectively

20 impeach the President of the United States of Amer21 ica and force the House of Representatives to ratify

22 his decision. Mr. Starr thereby committed a high

23 crime and misdemeanor against the Constitution and

24 the people of the United States.
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1 In all of this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a man2 ner contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the

3 United States and subversive of constitutional govern4 ment, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and jus5 tice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United

6 States.

7 Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, war8 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

9 ARTICLE II

10 In his conduct of the office of independent counsel,

11 Kenneth W. Starr violated the oath he took to support

12 and defend the Constitution of the United States of Amer13 ica and his duties as an officer of the United States and

14 acted in ways that were calculated to and that did uncon15 stitutionally undermine the office of President of the

16 United States and obstruct, impede, and impair the ability

17 of an incumbent President of the United States to fully

18 and effectively discharge the duties and responsibilities of

19 his office on behalf and for the benefit of the people of

20 the United States of America, by whom he had been duly

21 elected. The acts by which Mr. Starr violated his oath and

22 his duties and undermined the office of President and ob23 structed, impeded, and impaired the ability of the incum24 bent President to fully and effectively discharge the duties

25 of that office include:
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1 (1) Mr. Starr unlawfully and improperly dis2 closed and authorized disclosures of grand jury ma3 terial for the purpose of embarrassing the President

4 of the United States and distracting him from and

5 impairing his ability to execute the duties of the of6 fice to which the people of the United States had

7 elected him. Mr. Starr has thereby committed high

8 crimes and misdemeanors against the Constitution

9 and people of the United States.

10 (2) Mr. Starr engaged in a wilful and persistent

11 course of conduct that was calculated to and that

12 did wrongfully demean, embarrass, and defame an

13 incumbent President of the United States and that

14 thereby undermined and impaired the President’s

15 ability to properly execute the duties of the office to

16 which the people of the United States had elected

17 him, including not only Mr. Starr’s wrongful disclo18 sures of grand jury material, but also other im19 proper conduct, such as his actions and conduct cal20 culated to suggest, without foundation, that the in21 cumbent President had participated in preparing a

22 so-called ‘‘talking points’’ outline to improperly in23 fluence the testimony of one or more persons sched24 uled to be deposed in a private civil action. By his

25 wilful and persistent conduct in misrepresenting as
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1 well as improperly disclosing evidence that he had

2 gathered, Mr. Starr committed high crimes and mis3 demeanors against the Constitution and the people

4 of the United States of America.

5 (3) Mr. Starr intentionally, wilfully, and im6 properly embarrassed the people and the President

7 of the United States by including in the Starr Re8 port an unnecessary and improper and extended de9 tailed, salacious, and pornographic narrative account

10 of the consensual sexual encounters that a grand

11 jury witness testified she had with the incumbent

12 President of the United States. By including that

13 unnecessary and improper pornographic narrative,

14 Mr. Starr intended to and did undermine and im15 peril the ability of the President to conduct the for16 eign relations of the United States of America and

17 otherwise to execute the duties of the office to which

18 the people of the United States had elected him, and

19 he knowingly and improperly embarrassed the

20 United States as a nation. By including that nar21 rative, knowing and intending that it would be pub22 lished and disseminated, Mr. Starr committed a high

23 crime and misdemeanor against the Constitution and

24 the people of the United States of America.
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1 In all of this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a man2 ner contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the

3 United States and subversive of constitutional govern4 ment, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and jus5 tice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United

6 States.

7 Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, war8 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

9 ARTICLE III

10 In his conduct of the office of independent counsel,

11 Kenneth W. Starr violated the oath he took to support

12 and defend the Constitution of the United States of Amer13 ica and the duties he had assumed as an officer of the

14 United States and acted in ways that were calculated to

15 and that did unconstitutionally arrogate unto himself pow16 ers that the Constitution of the United States assigned

17 to the federal courts; that were calculated to and did un18 dermine the institution of the grand jury established by

19 the Constitution of the United States; and that were cal20 culated to and did undermine and bring into disrepute the

21 office of independent counsel and offices of all those

22 charged with investigating and prosecuting crimes against

23 the United States. The acts by which Mr. Starr violated

24 his oath and his duties and by which he undermined the

25 federal courts and the grand jury and undermined and de-
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1 meaned the office and role of all federal prosecutors in2 clude:

3 (1) Mr. Starr disclosed and authorized and ap4 proved the disclosure and misuse of grand jury ma5 terials in violation of Rule 6(e)(2) of the Federal

6 Rules of Criminal Procedure and with contempt for

7 the federal courts and for the rights of those who

8 appear before grand juries of the United States and

9 of those who are subjects of grand jury investiga10 tions.

11 (2) Throughout his investigations, Mr. Starr

12 abused the powers of his office and condoned the

13 abuse of those powers to improperly intimidate and

14 manipulate citizens of the United States who were

15 interviewed or called to testify before a grand jury

16 or who were actual or potential targets of his inves17 tigations and to deprive them of rights guaranteed

18 to all citizens of the United States. Mr. Starr and

19 subordinates for whose conduct he is responsible fur20 ther abused and misused the powers of the office of

21 independent counsel and the powers of the grand

22 jury to improperly invade and needlessly intrude

23 upon the privacy of individuals and to demean the

24 rights guaranteed to all by the First and Fifth
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1 Amendments to the Constitution of the United

2 States.

3 (3) Throughout his investigations, Mr. Starr

4 has abused and misused and has authorized and ap5 proved the abuse and misuse of the powers of his of6 fice in ways that have demeaned the prosecutorial

7 office and that have undermined and will undermine

8 the ability of other prosecutorial officers of the

9 United States to discharge their duty to take care

10 that laws of the United States be faithfully executed.

11 (4) In his conduct of the office of independent

12 counsel, Mr. Starr has needlessly and unjustifiably

13 expended and wasted funds of the United States.

14 Over the past four years, Mr. Starr has expended

15 more than forty million dollars ($40,000,000) in a

16 relentless pursuit of investigations and prosecutions

17 that he knew or should have known did not merit

18 and could not justify such extraordinary expendi19 tures.

20 By the conduct described in this Article III of these

21 Articles of Impeachment, Kenneth W. Starr committed

22 high crimes and misdemeanors against the Constitution

23 and the people of the United States of America.

24 In all of this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a man25 ner contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the
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1 United States and subversive of constitutional govern2 ment, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and jus3 tice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United

4 States.

5 Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, war6 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

7 ARTICLE IV

8 By his conduct as an officer of the United States of

9 America, including the conduct described in Articles I

10 through III of these Articles of Impeachment, Kenneth W.

11 Starr has violated the oath he took to uphold and defend

12 the Constitution of the United States of America. He has

13 acted and persisted in acting in ways that were calculated

14 to and did embarrass the United States and the people

15 of the United States before the international community

16 and that were calculated to and did undermine the ability

17 of the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the

18 Judicial Branch to effectively exercise the powers and dis19 charge the duties assigned to each by the Constitution of

20 the United States of America. He has unconstitutionally

21 and improperly exercised powers that were not his to exer22 cise and has acted in ways that were calculated to and

23 did improperly demean a President of the United States

24 and diminish the capacity of the President to effectively

25 discharge the duties that the people of the United States
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1 elected him to perform. He has unconstitutionally and im2 properly exercised his powers and has acted in ways that

3 were calculated to and did demean the House of Rep4 resentatives and that have effectively deprived the House

5 of Representatives of its right to exercise its sole power

6 of impeachment in a deliberate and bipartisan manner

7 that was consistent with the procedures and precedents

8 it had established in prior proceedings and inquiries to de9 termine whether the President of the United States should

10 be impeached. He has unlawfully and improperly exercised

11 his powers in ways that demeaned the institution of the

12 federal grand jury, that demonstrated contempt of the

13 courts of the United States and the rules that govern their

14 proceedings, and that demeaned the office of independent

15 counsel and offices of all those charged with responsibility

16 for seeing that the laws of the United States are faithfully

17 executed. By his conduct as an independent counsel, Ken18 neth W. Starr has committed high crimes and misdemean19 ors against the Constitution and the people of the United

20 States.

21 In all of this, Kenneth W. Starr has acted in a man22 ner contrary to his trust as an independent counsel of the

23 United States and subversive of constitutional govern24 ment, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and jus-
14

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1 tice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United

2 States.

3 Wherefore Kenneth W. Starr, by such conduct, war4 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

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