By John King/CNN
WASHINGTON (Jan. 31) -- President Bill Clinton's private attorney has subpoenaed the law firm of Whitewater Independent Counsel Ken Starr to determine if it has done any work in the Paula Jones civil rights-sexual harassment case, sources tell CNN.
Starr still works at Kirkland & Ellis for a reported $1 million a year, and if the firm was involved in the Jones cause it would raise questions about Starr's objectivity as independent counsel. Sources say Clinton's attorney, Bob Bennett, issued his subpoena after discovering that a Jones-related fax was sent by the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis to the Chicago Tribune. The fax was a transcript of an affidavit given by Cindy Hays, the head of the Jones legal defense fund, and the newspaper says it received the fax before the document was filed in court.
Sources tell CNN that Bennett was told of the episode and recently subpoenaed the law firm to determine who, if anyone, at Kirkland & Ellis was involved in the Jones case. The firm did not immediately return a message left by a CNN reporter Saturday; in the Tribune article the firm disavowed any knowledge of the fax but confirmed the coding on the document indicated it was sent from Kirkland & Ellis.
The Bennett subpoena comes as the White House and its allies increasingly question Starr's motives and tactics.
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) told CNN on Saturday that "never before in the history of this country has there been a so long-running inquiry by a special prosecutor. Never before has so much money been spent."
