Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
CBS News has seen
sealed court documents in
which the Clinton
administration claims that
Secret Service officers cannot
testify before the Ken Starr
grand jury even if they want
to, CBS News Chief White
House correspondent Scott
Pelley reports.
In letters to Starr's prosecutors, the Justice Department is
claiming a sweeping ban on what officers see and hear
around the president.
Excerpts from the letters are
contained in a sealed court filing. The
Justice Department claims the White
House security detail cannot talk
about any "observations of conduct [or] overhearing of
statements."
Justice says the right to refuse is "owned and controlled by
the United States and cannot be waived by individual
officers or agents."
So far, only one former member of the White House detail
has testified. Louis Fox is a retired officer who says he
let
Monica Lewinsky into the Oval Office.
CBS News has learned that Fox told the grand jury that Mr.
Clinton indicated that Lewinsky would be in the office for a
while.
In a sealed motion, prosecutors are asking a federal judge
to
compel Secret Service personnel to testify, arguing that
"obstruction of justice and intimidation of
witnesses...are criminal activities that fall well outside
the scope of the president's official duties."
Starr is investigating whether Mr. Clinton had an affair
with
Lewinsky and then obstructed justice by attempting to cover
up the alleged sexual liaison with the former white House
aide.
--
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