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Many Surprises Detailed in the Book
Trust and Confidence -The 1998 Battle Between the Secret Service and Ken Starr is about the high-profile cases of former Director of the United States Secret Service, Lewis Merletti. Did you find anything in your research of this book that surprised you?
I never expected to obtain a copy of the Harris report—a special counsel investigation into possible misconduct charges by Ken Starr’s attorneys when they confronted Monica Lewinsky at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.
Harris was told her report had been sealed. After many months I had located the report and discovered it had not been sealed by the court. Harris opened up in a series of interviews regarding her interview with Ken Starr and several attorneys in the office of independent counsel. While Harris did not find any misconduct by the attorneys, her report points out that they had crossed an ethical line when Lewinsky asked to speak to an attorney several times and was dissuaded. The Department of Justice had stressed the importance of ethical conduct for all prosecutors.
The discovery of that report led me to track down and obtain documents related to the Secret Service matter. All the documents I received from the National Archives and utilized in “Trust and Confidence” had not been previously released and led to many surprises detailed in the book.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Trust and Confidence?
A much fuller account of the Starr investigation regarding the Clinton/Lewinsky relationship and how Ken Starr believed an anonymous source inside the Secret Service that director Lewis Merletti had a deal with Clinton: keep quiet about Lewinsky and I’ll make you director.
All false.
This is one of the best untold stories of integrity whereby readers will learn how valuable personal integrity is today.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’ve spent 12 years researching and writing “Trust and Confidence” I haven’t had a chance to think about what’s next.
Book Review
Trust and Confidence
Trust and Confidence – The 1998 Battle Between the Secret Service and Ken Starr is a historical look into the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. This in-depth analysis of the event started with author Jim Lichtman interviewing Lewis Merletti, the former Director of the United States Secret Service. This astute book gives readers an enthralling look into the political drama that unfolds when two factions of the Justice Department: Starr’s Office of Independent Counsel (OIC) and the upper echelon of the Department of Justice (DOJ) are pitted against each other. Lichtman opens this book with the thought-provoking epigraph:
“If you have integrity, nothing else matters.”
“If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” – Senator Alan Simpson
This sets the tone for the rest of the book and introduces the reader to the theme. It is a book about trust and confidence, the basic tenets of the United States Secret Service.
Merletti was an important figure in Starr’s investigation against the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal, which was part of the much bigger Whitewater Scandal. This intriguing book is based entirely on personal interviews, documents from the personal files of the former Secret Service Director Lewis Merletti, and several other documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The story is not just limited to Merletti’s encounters regarding the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal. It also covers how Merletti defended the report of his internal investigations on the raid by The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) on a religious sect led by the spiritual zealot, David Koresh. Additionally, Lichtman discusses how Merletti fulfilled his role in the presidential detail and ultimately got appointed as the Director of the US Secret Service. This gives the reader a deeper insight into Merletti as an individual, what he stands for, and thus better explains the concept of trust and confidence around which the entire book revolves.
Trust and Confidence is an intellectually invigorating read. This phenomenal book is recommended for anyone interested in political drama and wishes to dive deeper into the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal and look at its nuances as the book deliberately prevents the scandalous details of the extramarital affair from overshadowing the theme.
Pages: 212
LITERARY TITAN 