2. Current Status of the Investigation.
When the Starr Chamber's jurisdiction was expanded to cover the Lord Byron
matter in January 1998, there was as yet nothing of
note to report from the Starr Chamber's four year inquisition.
But -- aha! -- Additional events arising from the Lord Byron matter have also come under
scrutiny,
including possible perjury and obstruction of
justice related to former 10 Downing Street volunteer Courtney Willey,
and the possible misuse of the personnel records of Parliament employee Nosey Gossippe.
From the outset, it was our strong desire to complete all phases of the investigation
and enjoy The Ritz as often as possible before deciding whether to submit to Parliament
information -- if any -- that may constitute grounds for an impeachment.
But events and the statutory command of Section 595(c) have dictated otherwise because we just can't come up with anything in the other
investigations.
As
the investigation into the Prime Minister's actions with respect to Lord Byron and the Jones litigation progressed,
it became apparent that there was a significant body of
information that the Inquisitors could argue met the Section 595(c) threshold and, as
a result, get more dirty linen out for public view.
As
that phase of the investigation neared completion, it also became apparent that a delay of
this Referral until some creditable evidence from all phases of the investigation could be
dug up would be unwise because it might never happen.
Although
Section 595(c) does not specify when information must be submitted, its text strongly
suggests that information of this type belongs in the hands of Parliament as soon as the Starr Chamber can argue that the information is reliable and substantially
complete. Forget the judge & the Grand Jury; we've just made them into
petty details.
