Starr Is Moving On

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WASHINGTON, D.C.: White House officials are reportedly thrilled by news that Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr has accepted a new job as dean of Pepperdine's law school, starting August 1. While Administration officials had no official comment, privately aides speculated that the announcement means that Starr doesn't have enough evidence to indict the Clintons. But a lawyer familiar with the investigation cautioned that nobody should read that much into Starr's departure. Starr, who said two weeks ago that he had completed his investigation, plans to have a report written and any indictments handed down before August. He had already said he did not plan to prosecute any cases his office may yet develop. A new special prosecutor would have to be appointed to carry any legal actions forward. Pepperdine President David Davenport said Starr told him that "the investigation will go forward" with or without him. "I'm assuming there will be some combination of Ken completing a chapter of his work and turning that over to some associates in whom I know he has a lot of confidence," Davenport said. At the very least, notes TIME Washington bureau chief Dan Goodgame, "this move can't help but be read as an assessment by a very ambitious man that the Whitewater inquiry was no longer enhancing his reputation or, perhaps, holding his or the nation's interest."