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Starr's adviser resigns over impeachment testimony
Updated November 20, 1998
9:51 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sam Dash, the ethics adviser to independent counsel
Kenneth Starr, has resigned in protest of the independent counsel's
decision to testify yesterday before the House Judiciary Committee.
Dash had strongly urged Starr not to testify.
In a letter to the independent counsel, he says Starr violated his obligations as an independent
counsel, by testifying and by aggressively arguing that President
Clinton committed impeachable offenses.
``As independent counsel you have only one narrow duty under the
statute relating to the House's power of impeachment,'' Dash wrote.
``That one duty ... is to objectively provide for the House
substantial and credible information that may constitute grounds
for impeachment.''
Dash has counseled Starr on a wide range of issues for the past
four years, reviewing evidence and participating in the process on
whether grand jury indictments should be sought. A chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee a
quarter-century ago, Dash has been a lawyer for nearly five decades and
teaches at Georgetown University Law Center. He has long said that if Starr didn't
heed his advice, he would not stay on in the post.
At Thursday's House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing,
Starr gave no indication that Dash was quitting, hailing his
``great wisdom during my tenure'' and noting that Dash had
consulted on the impeachment referral that accused Clinton of
abusing his presidential powers.
``We were guided by Sam Dash, who had very strong views on
that,'' Starr said.
Amid strong criticism of Starr's Lewinsky investigation,
longtime associates of Dash in the legal profession have questioned
him privately about why he continues to work for the prosecutor.
Until now, Dash has strongly defended the prosecutor to these
associates, telling them that Starr is being unfairly criticized by
Clinton loyalists and that Starr is conducting an aggressive but
fair investigation.
Dash recently has come under criticism from critics of Starr's
office for the $400 an hour he charges the government for his
services as ethics counselor to the prosecutor. He said that he worked many free hours for Starr, putting his
actual compensation at closer to $100 an hour. Dash's pay is capped
at $118,400 a year.
Dash has played a role in a number of controversies surrounding
Starr's office. He put a halt to widespread speculation in 1995
that senior White House adviser Bruce Lindsey was about to be
charged with crimes, persuading the prosecutor to issue a public
statement saying it wasn't true.
In addition, Dash also defended Starr's decision to remain in private law
practice, where he has earned more than $1 million a year. His
clients have included tobacco companies and other opponents of the
Clinton White House.
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