The Justice Department can go forward with its investigation of Independent Counsel Ken Starr after a federal appeals court Thursday dismissed an outside challenge to the probe. The three-judge panel rejected a claim by the Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative group, which had gone to the court to block Attorney General Janet Reno from investigating Starr and his office. The panel held Landmark had no legal standing to intervene. And because of its own limited jurisdiction, the court said it did not have the power to review the attorney general's action and could not go beyond the powers set out in the Ethics In Government Act. That act enumerates our limited powers.
Landmark is a private conservative group.
Both the Justice Department and Starr's office opposed Landmark's request, arguing that the group had no legal standing to intercede in the case. The Justice Department is investigating allegations of misconduct by Starr and his prosecutors during their investigation of President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky. In a brief to the court, the Justice Department outlined its position that the three-judge panel had no jurisdiction to rule on whether the attorney general has authority to investigate Starr's office. The judges, in turn, ordered the Justice Department and Starr's office to respond to the Landmark 's attempt to block Reno. The court's order requiring Starr and Reno to outline their positions, clearly suggested the judges believed they may have some jurisdiction.