Secret Service Must Testify, Judge Decides
WASHINGTON — In a development that could accelerate the fiercely fought investigation of President Clinton, a federal judge ruled Friday that Secret Service officials can be compelled to testify before the grand jury examining Clinton's relationship with a former White House intern.
Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson rejected the position of Clinton administration lawyers, who had argued that subjecting the agents to such questioning would cause presidents to withdraw from their protectors and increase the likelihood of assassination.
"When people act within the law, they do not ordinarily push away those they trust or rely upon for fear that their actions will be reported to a grand jury," Johnson said in a 10-page ruling. "It is not at all clear that a president would push Secret Service protection away if he were acting legally or even if he were engaged in personally embarrassing acts."
The judge's decision appears to have strengthened independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's hand in obtaining first-person accounts of the comings and goings at the White House of the former intern, Monica S. Lewinsky.
Two uniformed Secret Service officers and an agency lawyer summoned before the grand jury had cited a "protective function" privilege in refusing to answer certain questions from prosecutors. As Johnson noted in her ruling, that privilege had never before been asserted.
Asked for his reaction to Johnson's ruling, Clinton told reporters at the White House: "At least, it will have a chilling effect, perhaps, on the conversations presidents have and the work that they do and the way they do it."
In a gibe at Starr, the president added: "It never occurred to anybody that anyone would ever be so insensitive to the responsibility of the Secret Service that this kind of legal question would arise."
Johnson's ruling seemed to surprise Clinton's lawyers in at least one respect: The document was not filed under seal and was immediately made available to the public.
By keeping most earlier proceedings and documents secret, Johnson has sought to keep a tight lid on confidential investigative information. But in so doing, the judge also has allowed the White House to resist various aspects of Starr's investigation without the potential downside of public exposure.
