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| For Immediate Release | |
| Jun 9, 1999 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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Judicial Watch Seeks Evidence That Maryland Prosecutor Tampering With Material Witness In Filegate Lawsuit APPEARS BEFORE MARYLAND'S HIGHEST COURT TO ARGUE IN FAVOR OF LOWER COURT RULING REQUIRING MARYLAND DEMOCRAT PROSECUTOR TO LIST DOCUMENTS HE FAILED TO DISCLOSE ON ALLEGED POLITICAL INVESTIGATION (Washington) Judicial Watch, Inc., the conservative non-partisan government watchdog, smelled Clinton White House involvement when Maryland State Prosecutor Stephen Montarinelli opened a grand jury investigation of Linda Tripp as she was testifying before the Lewinsky grand jury, and as she was about to testify to Judicial Watch in its $90 million dollar Filegate lawsuit. If the state investigation was politically motivated -- and Tripp has stated that she believes it was inspired by Hillary Clinton -- then Montarinelli's actions could amount to witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Judicial Watch filed a Public Information Act Request, which is similar to the Federal Freedom of Information Act , seeking documents relating to whether or not political influence was involved. Rather than producing documents, Montarinelli stonewalled. When Judicial Watch was forced to file suit, he filed a misleading affidavit with the Court, suggesting that he had no documents. This proved false. The lower state court -- which obviously "smelled a rat" -- ordered the Maryland State Prosecutor to list, as is routine, the documents which he had in his possession, so it could review subsequent claims of privilege and determine whether to release them. Even this was too much for the Democrat prosecutor to bear, so he appealed. Yesterday, Larry Klayman, Chairman and General Counsel of Judicial Watch, argued the case before Maryland's highest tribunal, and pointed out how evidence of misuse of the government's investigatory process could not be privileged information. An hypothetical example would be a letter from Hillary Clinton to Mr. Montarinelli, ordering that he, as a loyal Democrat, investigate and prosecute Linda Tripp to threaten and impede her role as a material witness. However, inexplicably, Tripp's lawyers seem more intent on feathering the nest of the local Democrat politicians before whom they practice in Maryland, than agreeing with their own client. In The Washington Post today, Mr. Anthony Zaccagnini is quoted as saying: "... he doubts there is merit to Judicial Watch's argument. My impression was that we had no evidence that pressure on the prosecutor from the White House was occurring." Tripp's other lawyer, Joseph Murtha, adds: "Do I believe that Mr. Montarinelli is the handmaiden of President Clinton? I have no evidence that shows that." "Given Tripp's lawyers' strange comments, who needs enemies in the Clinton Administration?" stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Besides, Judicial Watch seeks the documents to determine the truth. Why are Tripp's lawyers so quick to side with the Clintons? This does not appear to serve the interests of their client, or justice," Fitton added. |
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