Ken Starr

Background

Kenneth Winston Starr was born in Vernon, Texas, in 1946. He earned his law degree from Duke University School of Law, clerked for a federal appeals court judge, and built a distinguished legal career. He served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1983 to 1989, then as Solicitor General of the United States under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993.

Starr became nationally known as the independent counsel appointed to investigate the Whitewater real estate dealings of President Bill Clinton, a role that expanded into the investigation of Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The resulting 1998 Starr Report led to Clinton’s impeachment by the House of Representatives, though Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. Starr remained one of the most recognizable legal figures in the United States as a result.

After the Clinton investigation, he entered private legal practice at the firm Kirkland & Ellis and later established his own firm.

Connection to Epstein

Starr was one of several high-profile defense attorneys assembled for Epstein’s legal team during the 2006–2008 federal investigation conducted by the Southern District of Florida. Other members of the team included Jay Lefkowitz, Alan Dershowitz, Gerald Lefcourt, and Roy Black. Starr’s institutional prominence gave the team significant leverage in negotiations with DOJ’s Main Justice division in Washington.

Starr participated in the communications with federal prosecutors that produced the June 2008 non-prosecution agreement — one of the most criticized prosecutorial decisions in modern federal law. His precise contributions to the negotiated terms have been the subject of subsequent reporting and legal commentary, though he was never compelled to provide formal testimony about his role.

Aftermath

After his work for Epstein, Starr became president of Baylor University, a Baptist institution in Texas. He resigned from that role in 2016 following a sexual assault scandal involving the Baylor football program, in which he was criticized for inadequate institutional response to reports of assault. He subsequently joined President Trump’s legal defense team for the first impeachment trial in 2020.

Ken Starr died on September 13, 2022, from complications following liver surgery. His death meant he never faced formal questioning about his role in the Epstein NPA in any proceeding. His career arc — from Clinton independent counsel to Epstein’s defense attorney to Trump’s impeachment defense — became a subject of commentary about the uses of legal talent in service of the powerful.