And They Were Heroes

It's probably impossible to explain the fun house absurdity that was the whole Ken Starr nonsense, and the way his goons were treated by the press, to people who didn't live through it. It wasn't just Lewinsky, either. The undertold story just how much low level White House staffers were hounded (amid escalating legal bills).

According to the report, a prosecutor who confronted Lewinsky “exercised poor judgment and made mistakes in his analysis, planning and execution of the approach.” The report, written by two lawyers appointed to investigate the matter by Robert W. Ray, Starr’s successor as independent counsel, concluded that the “matter could have been handled better.”

The report also lays out the encounter in detail, suggesting that it quickly spun out of control as a shocked and hysterical Lewinsky asked to consult a lawyer or a parent — even as prosecutors grew increasingly determined to persuade her to agree on the spot to cooperate against the president.