I will neither discuss my own sourcing within the office of the
independent counsel during the research of my book, nor will I
discuss my conversations with other reporters about their sourcing
within the Office of the Independent Counsel. However, I am willing to
discuss my conversation with the top official who explained to me the
OIC's process of cooperating with reporters and book reviewers.
But
before doing that I want to make it clear that:
1) Although I
initially wanted this OIC official to read portions of my manuscript
to ensure its fairness and accuracy, he never became a source of
mine.
2) He never provided me with any inside information about any
OIC investigation, even though I wanted it, and he said, at first,
that he was willing to cooporate with me, even after I told him about
a potential conflict of interest I had with Starr, stemming from a
legal situation before Starr became independent counsel.
3) In the
end, this official double-crossed me, leaving me in the lurch as I
was facing the deadline for my book ... The OIC official who
explained the rules about the OIC and the media to me, six weeks
before the Monica Lewinsky situation became public, was Hickman
Ewing, Kenneth Starr's chief deputy, who directed the federal grand
jury investigation of Whitewater and related activities in Little
Rock.
According to my personal notes of this conversation, Ewing told me
that:
1) prior to anything being published, the OIC freely talks to reporters and book reviewers and gives them the OIC's
positions on controversial issues along with occasionally providing
information that is not on the public record. This information is
provided to approved writers on an off-the-record basis.
2) Ewing
told me that if the OIC understands where a reporter is coming from -- in other words if he is in agreement with the OIC's positions -- then
the OIC will speak more freely with the reporter seeking inside
information.
3) Ewing told me that, even though he wanted to
cooperate with me, he could not do so without the permission of
Kenneth Starr. In other words, Ewing made it clear to me that no
reporter or book reviewer receives anything from the OIC without
Starr's expressed approval.
To summarize, according to Hickman Ewing, Kenneth Starr's chief
deputy, the OIC freely provides nonpublic information on an off-the-record basis to reporters and book reviewers who are personally
approved by Kenneth Starr and whose work is in sync with the OIC's
positions on key issues.
This runs contrary to the OIC's public
statements about its relationship with the media and is further proof
that the OIC's investigation of the Clinton White House, regardless
of merit, is political, partisan and punitive, built upon a series of
well-timed leaks that have turned gossip into gasoline and some
of these approved journalists into lapdogs who are dependent upon
their sources' access and goodwill. Because this matter has become a
legal issue, I have chosen to speak out about it.
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