Dan Coats: “over the past 3 weeks or so, Independent Counsel Ken Starr has been the subject of a sustained attack by individuals…”

“over the past 3 weeks or so, Independent Counsel Ken Starr has been the subject of a sustained attack by individuals speaking on behalf of the President. Judging by some of these statements, it seems there is little that the President's surrogates are unwilling to say about Judge Starr. The objective of these comments seems clear--to undermine public confidence in the very legal processes designed to assure public integrity in the White House. In an extraordinary televised interview, the First Lady accused the independent counsel of being ``politically motivated'' by an investigation of the Monica Lewinsky matter and part of a ``vast right- wing conspiracy'' to bring down the President. Other Presidential advisors have also taken to the airwaves, attacking Kenneth Starr as a ``scumbag,'' and ``merchant of sleaze.'' One of these advisors went so far as to declare war on Judge Starr and the Office of the Independent Counsel. Now these tactics bring to mind the old adage known to every trial lawyer in the country: When you have the facts, argue the facts; when you have the law, argue the law; and when you have neither the facts nor the law, go after the prosecutor, go after the witnesses, go after the accuser, attack their credibility.”