Bakaly Charged With Criminal Contempt
Is Ken Starr actually "hustling" Judge Norma Holloway Johnson?

Dave "Doctor" Gonzo

Friday, July 7, 2000 -- New York (AmpolNS) -- Well, well, well!

Just when you thought the Starr Chamber was going to get away with having attempted to subvert the Constitutional process of impeachment, a little bit of good news comes along -- but that news has piqued The Doc's curiosity.

A number of press outlets reported late yesterday -- which meant that the story would hit on Friday and not end up buried in the weekend "news cycle" -- that Charles Bakaly, the former spokesman for right wing hired gun turned Dependent Counsel Kenneth Starr, has been charged with criminal contempt and ordered to stand trial next week.

The charges stem from U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson's investigation into a pattern and practice of Starr's office having leaked half-truths, incomplete information and outright lies based on grand jury testimony during the so-called "Lewinsky scandal" as part of a strategy to manipulate members of the press all too eager to glom on to a "hot story" -- and thereby "try" Clinton in the press.

Judge Johnson herself will hear the case. Her purview as the chief judge of the federal court in Washington encompasses matters dealing with the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.

Bakaly himself requested a public jury trial, and Judge Johnson signed an order last week granting his request. The trial is scheduled to begin July 13.

While court documents don't specify the exact reason why Bakaly has been charged with contempt, they do say that he faces trial for statements made following an investigation into alleged leaks from the OIC's office during the Lewinsky flap -- and specify that Bakaly was accused by his own office of having a role in a January 1999 news leak.

Bakaly resigned as Starr's spokesman following Starr's referral of Bakaly to the Department of Justice in connection with a press leak following the OIC's own inquiry -- an unexpected and uncharacteristic referral that actually surprised many in the press.

Bakaly emphatically denies the allegation that he leaked any grand jury material.

Hmmm. The Doc is scratching his head, wondering whether Bakaly, though quite possibly culpable, has been set up as a sort of high-profile sacrificial lamb by Starr and his office to deflect attention from rumors that other officials of the OIC were directly and indirectly leaking information to the press.

Since the crest of the Lewinsky wave, it has come to light that a number of so-called "elves" had "helped" bring Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky to the attention of the OIC in an initiative to essentially unite Paula Jones's fraudulent civil suit against Bill Clinton to Starr's multiple "dry well" inquiries into a string of non-scandals.

These "elves" were well connected with a number of Starr's minions -- and at least one of them, Ann "O'Rexic" Coulter (as we love to call her at Ampol), was a frequent guest on cable news outlet weekday political shows.

And while The Doc is pleased to see that the allegations against Bakaly are being taken seriously, he just has to wonder whether we will have to wait until President Clinton leaves office to learn more about Leakgate. Remember, Clinton himself has said more than once that he intends to discuss the matter of his impeachment and exoneration once his term is up.

One can only wonder what he and his attorneys, especially David Kendall -- who was perhaps the most outspoken critic of the string of leaks concerning the Lewinsky investigation -- have up their sleeves.

Looks like we'll have to wait until after next January -- that is, unless Bakaly himself names names.