The drawback for the White House, of course, is that the air of noble patriotism that suffused the services own arguments for its silence goes right out the window. Attorney/client privilege isnt about protecting the lives of future presidents, its about keeping Bill Clintons secrets, and theres no longer any way to obscure that. But losing some PR bloom wont deter the White House legal team. "Ordinarily, a third party like Cockell isnt covered by attorney/client privilege -- if the window washer overhears things, he can talk about them," says Cohen. "But the White House can claim that since Clinton is required to have the agents near him, he still deserves the same privacy he would if he could be alone with his lawyer." And as Cohen points out, thats only one stall tactic of many: "Theres really no limit to the ideas a clever lawyer can come up with." Well, they dont call it the long national nightmare for nothing.
Rehnquist: Let the Testimony Begin
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WASHINGTON: William Rehnquist has taken a pass and will not delay the fight over "Secret Service privilege" until October. But even though Ken Starr ordered Larry Cockell and a number of other agents to appear in court at high noon, the President's body man isn't likely to sing the tune Starr wants to hear just yet. The reason? The Secret Service agent is now expected to claim that any conversations he overheard between the President and Bruce Lindsey are protected by attorney-client privilege. And that means the Justice Department is passing the baton back to the White House. "It will become strictly an attorney/client privilege fight now," says TIME legal correspondent Adam Cohen. That's why Starr wanted Cockell, a plainclothesman, in the first place: Cockell is presumed to have overheard Clinton and Lindsey talking about the Lewinsky case. It was a backdoor move around attorney/client privilege -- but now it ensures that the White House will claim that the Secret Service is covered under that privilege.