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Monica lawyer represents murder suspect { February 16 2000 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.newsmax.com/archive/print.shtml?a=2000/2/16/101742http://www.newsmax.com/archive/print.shtml?a=2000/2/16/101742
Wednesday February 16, 2000; 11:09 AM EST
Monicagate Lawyer Representing Accused Starbucks Shooter
The lawyer representing the accused killer of former White House intern Mary Caity Mahoney played a key role in the Monica Lewinsky case, NewsMax.com has learned.
The case of Carl Derek Cooper, who was indicted last March in the July 1997 gangland-style slaying of Mahoney and two co-workers as they closed up a Washington, D.C., Starbucks coffee shop, has been assigned to Washington attorney Francis D. Carter.
A receptionist in Carter's office confirmed to NewsMax.com that Francis D. Carter is indeed the Frank Carter who became famous in January 1998 as Monica Lewinsky's first lawyer. Carter is Cooper's co-counsel in the Starbucks case, along with D.C. area lawyer Steven Kiersch.
In December 1997 White House fixer Vernon Jordan enlisted Carter to help Lewinsky respond to a subpoena in the Paula Jones case. Jordan had personally cleared Carter with the president, according to Michael Isikoff's book "Uncovering Clinton":
"Jordan told Clinton about Lewinsky's subpoena and promised to get a lawyer. He mentioned the name Francis Carter. 'You think he's a good lawyer?' Clinton asked. Jordan assured him Carter was."
Jordan personally escorted Lewinsky to Carter's office to work out the wording of an affidavit in which she denied a sexual relationship with Clinton. It was on the basis of that false affidavit that Lewinsky became vulnerable to perjury charges. To avoid prosecution, she made a deal with investigators for the Office of Independent Counsel.
Carter and Jordan were also investigated by the OIC for their roles in the Lewinsky cover-up. Neither was charged with a crime.
Three years before Lewinsky's name became a household word, Mary Caity Mahoney worked as an intern in the Clinton White House. Reportedly, several of her colleagues confided in her about incidents of sexual harassment by the president, a situation which she had vowed to remedy.
Just days before the Starbucks killings, Lewinsky informed Clinton that she was going to tell her parents about their relationship. "It's a crime to threaten the president," Clinton angrily responded, according to the Starr Report.
NewsMax.com has been unable to confirm reports that Lewinsky once told a White House friend, "I don't want to end up like Caity Mahoney." But the more famous of the two Clinton interns did make repeated references to fears she might be killed, in conversations recorded by Sexgate whistleblower Linda Tripp.
"I would not cross these people for fear of my life," Lewinsky told Tripp in December 1997, explaining why she could not tell laywers for Paula Jones the truth about her relationship with the president.
Just days after she made that statement Lewinsky was referred to Vernon Jordan, who then sought out Mr. Carter.
Last week Attorney General Janet Reno took the extraordinary step of seeking the death penalty for Cooper, even though Washington, D.C., currently has no capital punishment statute on its books. The last execution in the District took place in 1957.
In doing so Reno overuled local United States Attorney Wilma Lewis, making the Starbucks massacre one of the few cases in which Reno has pushed for capital punishment over the objections of a local federal prosecutor.
Reno's decision to seek Cooper's execution drew criticism from area officials, including D.C.'s congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton -- who complained that the Attorney General was ignoring the clear wishes of area residents and their elected representatives.
The case against Cooper is believed to be weak, resting primarily on a confession that was obtained by police after 54 hours of interrogation, which Cooper recanted shortly thereafter.
Prosecutors are expected to argue that Cooper's motive in the Starbucks killing was robbery, yet Mahoney was shot execution style with the key to the safe in her hand. The safe reportedly held $10,000 -- none of which was taken.
Another legal link between Monicagate and the Starbucks massacre emerged last week, when D.C. criminal defense lawyer William Martin spoke out in support of Reno's decision to seek Cooper's execution. Martin also has Monicagate ties -- as the lawyer for Lewinsky's mother, Marcia Lewis, who was under investigation by the OIC in 1998.
Martin told The Washington Post that he didn't think jurors would be affected by Reno's decsion to treat the Starbucks murders as a capital case.
On Monday Post staff writer Bill Miller, who covered Martin's comments for his report on Reno's decision, told NewsMax.com that any connection between the former Monicagate lawyer and the Starbucks case is purely coincidental.
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