Ken Starr, the prosecutor who led the investigation into Bill and Hillary Clinton’s controversial Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals, has died at the age of 76. Starr died after battling a lengthy illness, KWTX reported on Tuesday.
Starr gained national fame for his role as the independent counsel investigating the Whitewater real estate controversy and the Lewinsky affair, which led to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton. He also argued 36 cases before the Supreme Court, including when he was solicitor general from 1989 to 1993, and, more recently, was a member of former President Donald Trump’s defense team during one of his impeachment trials, which ended with a Senate acquittal.
“Judge Starr was a consummate legal scholar and gentleman. It was a privilege to have been associated with him and to have known him. We have lost a giant,” retired judge Ralph Strother said, according to KWTX.
Starr, who was born in Texas, served as president of Baylor University from 2010 to 2016 and added the title of chancellor in 2013.
“Baylor University and the Baylor Family express our deepest sympathies to Alice Starr and her family, and our prayers remain with them as they mourn the loss of a husband, father and grandfather,” said Baylor President Linda Livingstone, per Fox 44. “May God’s peace and comfort surround them and give them strength now, and in the days to come.”
Starr became a household name in 1998 when a relatively minor investigation into the Clintons’ Whitewater real estate investments uncovered the president’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and the resulting efforts to cover it up. He was charged with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice during House impeachment proceedings. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate in December 1998.
Ken Starr, whose investigation of former President Bill Clinton led to an impeachment trial, has died.
In 1998, Morley Safer reported on Starr’s tactics while he was acting as special Whitewater prosecutor. https://t.co/lOpfEpXpes pic.twitter.com/UaETCXetl0
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 13, 2022
Starr’s tireless efforts won him the praise of many defenders, who saw him as a restless paragon of law and order, and the denouncement of many detractors, who saw him as a partisan and sex-obsessed bully. His lengthy investigation into the Lewinsky affair, the “Starr Report,” became a national bestseller.
Lewinsky issued a statement on Twitter on Tuesday, saying, “As i’m sure many can understand, my thoughts about ken starr bring up complicated feelings … but of more importance, is that i imagine it’s a painful loss for those who love him.”
as i’m sure many can understand, my thoughts about ken starr bring up complicated feelings… but of more importance, is that i imagine it’s a painful loss for those who love him.
— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) September 13, 2022
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Starr is survived by his wife, Alice, three children, and grandchildren.
