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NPR's Book of the Day

Ken Starr gives an inside look on Clinton investigation in his memoir, 'Contempt'

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2671 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2022

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ken Starr's 2018 memoir, Contempt, gives an inside look into his investigation of the Clinton administration that led to President Clinton's impeachment. In an interview from back when the book was published, Starr, who died this week, discusses in a conversation with Steve Inskeep his perspective on the president and the law, which at times may seem to conflict with his later stance on President Donald Trump.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Ken Starr is probably best known as the

0:08.2

dogged lawyer investigating one of Bill Clinton's land deals back when he was president, which led to the

0:14.1

whole sex scandal and President Clinton's eventual impeachment. Star himself wasn't free from scandal.

0:20.4

His time as the president of Baylor

0:22.3

University was cut short after a number of women at the school came forward with the accusations

0:27.7

of being sexually and physically assaulted, as well as raped by members of the football team.

0:32.8

An internal investigation found massive failures among the higher ups and Starr resigned.

0:38.4

He wrote a memoir about the Clinton investigation titled Contempt.

0:41.8

And in this interview with NPR Steve Inskeep, he talks a big game about how no one can be

0:46.3

above the rule of law and how what he was really after in his investigations was the abuse of power.

0:53.1

This interview was taped in 2018. By 2020,

0:56.8

Starr would join President Trump's impeachment defense team.

0:59.1

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts,

1:06.2

diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground

1:11.8

bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

1:18.2

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:23.9

Ken Starr has written a memoir of the investigation that led to the impeachment of President Clinton.

1:30.1

Starr was the Independent Council told to look into Bill and Hillary Clinton's land dealings in Arkansas.

1:35.5

While investigating, he was told that President Clinton lied in a civil deposition about an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

1:43.5

The charge of perjury became the heart of a

1:46.0

bitterly partisan fight in which the House impeached and the Senate acquitted the president.

1:51.2

Years later, Starr writes that the Clintons are, quote, fundamentally dishonest, and their Attorney

...

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