Former independent counsel Ken Starr, who led the investigation of former President Bill Clinton that led to his impeachment, died on Tuesday at 76, according to his family.
Starr’s family revealed he died of complications from surgery.
Starr led the Whitewater investigation into President Clinton and former First Lady Hillary Clinton after a federal appeals panel appointed him as an independent counsel in 1994. Starr’s investigation ultimately led to President Clinton’s impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice after Clinton falsely denied an affair with his intern Monica Lewinsky.
Aside from his investigation into the Clintons, Starr had a lengthy career in the legal field. For example, he became a counselor to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith in 1981. Two years later, Starr was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be a federal judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Starr sat on the bench from 1983 to 1989.
After his service in the federal judiciary, former President George H.W. Bush nominated him in 1989 to become the U.S. Solicitor General, where he argued 25 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
More recently, Starr was a member of former President Donald Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial. Starr defended Trump vigorously during the proceedings and argued in front of the U.S. Senate that the House of Representatives impeachment vote violated Trump’s due process rights and the U.S. Constitution.
Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr offers his testimony to the House of Representatives Judicial Committee, Washington, DC, November 19, 1998. Starr alleged in his testimony and report that President Clinton engaged in “an unlawful effort to thwart the judicial process.” (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
Starr also criticized states for changing their election laws ahead of the 2020 presidential election, arguing they violated Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Starr said:
I think that Bush v. Gore stands for this basic proposition, you cannot have changes in election laws after the fact, you must in fact, be faithful to what the state legislature has done. That’s also what Justice [Samuel] Alito said in his opinion, I think essentially condemning, but certainly identifying as a huge issue, what had happened in Pennsylvania. I think all-in-all Bush v. Gore is just a reiteration of our constitutional structure.
Starr is survived by his brother, his sister, his wife Alice, their three children, and nine grandchildren.
One of Starr’s children, Randall, said:
We are deeply saddened with the loss of our dear and loving Father and Grandfather, whom we admired for his prodigious work ethic, but who always put his family first. The love, energy, endearing sense of humor, and fun-loving interest Dad exhibited to each of us was truly special, and we cherish the many wonderful memories we were able to experience with him. He is now with his Lord and Savior
In addition to his lengthy legal career, Starr served as Pepperdine University law school’s dean from 2004 to 2010 and president of Baylor University from 2010 to 2016.
A family-only memorial service will be held for Starr at Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas, on September 24.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
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