Adviser quits over Starr's appearance at hearing

Former Senate Watergate counsel Sam Dash abruptly resigned Friday as Kenneth Starr's ethics adviser to protest the independent counsel's decision to testify in the House impeachment hearing against President Clinton.

"You have violated your obligations under the independent counsel statute and have unlawfully intruded on the power of impeachment," Dash said in a letter to Starr that was obtained by The Associated Press."I resign for a fundamental reason," Dash said. "Against my strong advice, you decided to depart from your usual professional decisionmaking by accepting the invitation of the House Judiciary Committee to appear and serve as an aggressive advocate for the proposition that the evidence demonstrates that the president committed impeachable offenses."

Starr said he was saddened by Dash's departure and respected his adviser's position but added, "Reasonable minds can differ.

"I love Sam. I respect him. I admire him. He's a total man of principle. I have really profited from his judgment. I think it was a matter of principle. It was so important to him," Starr said outside his home.

Democrats pounced on Dash's resignation. "Here's the final word from a giant of American jurisprudence on the methods, motives and ethics of Ken Starr," said Jim Jordan, a spokesman for Judiciary Committee Democrats.

In his letter, Dash said that Starr had "only one narrow duty under the statute relating to the House's power of impeachment. That one duty is to objectively provide for the House substantial and credible information that may constitute grounds for impeachment."

Dash has counseled Starr on a wide range of issues for the past four years, reviewing evidence and participating in the decisions on whether grand jury indictments should be sought.

Dash, chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee a quarter-century ago, has been a lawyer for nearly five decades and teaches at Georgetown University Law Center.