More than just the one thing from Starr

Paul Clinton

MARINER’S MILE -- Attorney Kenneth Starr jovially thanked his hosts

at a luncheon here Thursday for high praise as they saluted him as

“Justice Starr,” even though he is still only a judge.

“Thanks for all the references to ‘Justice Starr,’” Starr joked.

“I don’t even remember the confirmation. I’ll take the promotion

anytime.”

Starr popped in as part of a promotional tour for his new book

about the U.S. Supreme Court. He spoke to local members of the

California Republican Lawyers Assn. over steak-and-noodles platters

at the China Palace restaurant.

Promoting his book “First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in

American Life,” Starr hit on everything from his new legal cause to

his investigation of President Bill Clinton in the mid-1990s.

Starr didn’t spend much time during the 30-minute speech on

Clinton, though he did take a moment to blast Clinton and his

administration.

“It was a moral culture of mendacity,” Starr said about the

Clinton White House. “It was a manipulation of facts.”

In 1994, Starr was appointed an independent counsel to investigate

a failed Arkansas land deal involving the Clintons, which later

became known as Whitewater.

Starr said Thursday he had expected the Whitewater investigation

to last six months. It dragged on into the late ‘90s, when Starr

expanded the probe to include Clinton’s tryst with 24-year-old White

House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 1998, Starr submitted “The Starr Report,” a 455-page document

detailing Clinton’s sexual indiscretions and outlining 11 causes for

impeachment. Congress later impeached Clinton.

Starr, an attorney with Washington, D.C.-area law firm Kirkland &

Ellis, also discussed his new client, the Coalition for Free Trade.

The group is battling to overturn laws in some states that ban the

importation of California wines.

“Free the grapes,” Starr joked.

Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas; former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson; and

70th District Assembly candidates Marianne Zippi, Cristi Cristich and

Chuck DeVore were at the event.

The luncheon was also hosted by the Republican Party of Orange

County. Party Chairman Tom Fuentes also handed a hospitality award to

China Palace owner Jack Mau.