Judge orders release of Clinton impeachment docs

WASHINGTON: A federal judge has ordered the unsealing of documents from then-Independent Counsel Ken Starr’s two-decade old probe that led to former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.

Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted the order in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from CNN. According to the judge’s order, CNN journalist Katelyn Polantz requested on Feb. 9, 2018 that eight sealed matters arising from Starr’s 1998 investigation of Clinton “be unsealed and made public.” Starr’s investigation began with the suicide of Clinton adviser Vince Foster and the Clintons’ Whitewater real estate deal in Arkansas. But it later expanded to include accusations of sexual misconduct and perjury, including Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998. Clinton was acquitted of the charges by the Senate, with no Democrats voting to remove him from office.