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Anatomy of Lewinsky Immunity Deal 

 By Pete Yost
 Associated Press Writer
Saturday, August 1, 1998; 1:29 p.m. EDT

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- A pivotal meeting in reaching Monica
 Lewinsky's immunity deal took place a week and a half ago in the Chevy
 Chase, Md., home of prosecutor Kenneth Starr's ethics adviser, Sam
 Dash, who has known Ms. Lewinsky's two lead lawyers for more than
 two decades. 

  The one-hour, face-to-face discussion was set up by a break-the-ice
  telephone call from prosecutor Kenneth Starr to one of Ms. Lewinsky's
  lawyers, Jacob Stein, early in the week of July 20. After weeks of
  stalemated negotiations over Ms. Lewinsky's testimony, Starr told
Stein,
  ``Let's meet.'' Starr suggested Dash's home. 
  
  ``There's a mutuality of respect there with Sam'' that was helpful to
getting
  a deal, Lewinsky lawyer Plato Cacheris said. 

  Stein and Cacheris were interviewed by telephone separately Saturday. 

   Stein and Cacheris knew Dash well from their days together in the
   Watergate investigation. Stein and Cacheris both represented clients
in
   Watergate, in Cacheris' case former Attorney General John Mitchell.
   Dash was chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. 

   Starr is younger than the other three, and during Watergate was
clerking
   for Chief Justice Warren Burger. Also, Stein and Starr felt
comfortable
   with each other because they became acquainted during the criminal
   investigation of former Sen. Bob Packwood. 

   Cacheris and Stein were hired by Ms. Lewinsky's family in June and
   ended up being the replacements for California lawyer William
Ginsburg,
   whose bargaining over a possible deal with Starr's office had
foundered in
   an atmosphere of mistrust. 

   With Starr having spent six months gathering evidence about an
alleged
   affair cover-up involving President Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky, 25,
Starr
   was approaching a decision on whether to indict the former White
House
   intern. 

   A day or so after the phone call, Dash's wife was serving bagels to
Starr,
   Dash, Stein and Cacheris in a session that Cacheris recalls as
``extremely
   friendly, relaxed and informal.'' The four lawyers laid the
groundwork for
   the five-hour interview in New York last Monday of Ms. Lewinsky,
Stein
   said in an interview. 

   ``Starr was interested in getting to the truth and we wanted to get
our
   client out of harm's way,'' Stein said. 

   Starr said ``if this works, she will be out of harm's way,'' Cacheris
   recalled. 

 As a prelude to the final immunity deal, Starr and Dash offered an
 arrangement in which prosecutors would interview Ms. Lewinsky while
 agreeing in writing not to use any of the information she gave them
against
 her. 

 Cacheris and Stein agreed. 

 ``We were agreeable to it because our client had nothing to lose and
she
 wasn't at risk,'' said Cacheris. 

 Cacheris and Stein suggested that instead of prosecutors opening the
 session with Ms. Lewinsky with their own questions, a lawyer in
Cacheris'
 office, Sydney Jean Hoffmann, with whom the former White House intern
 was comfortable, would start. 

 New York was chosen for the interview since both sides believed it
 unwise to bring Ms. Lewinsky, who was in California, to Washington
 where she would be spotted by the news media. The prosecutors
 arranged the location, at an undisclosed midtown Manhattan residence. 

 ``At the conclusion of the meeting'' at Dash's home ``I said, 'What's
your
 time frame' for the interview?'' and Starr said `now,''' recalled
Cacheris.
 ``That's when we arranged to meet the following Monday.'' 

 In the New York City interview, Mrs. Hoffmann questioned Ms.
 Lewinsky for the first half hour, walking her through her account. 

 Then prosecutors took over, questioning Ms. Lewinsky for the next 4 1/2
 hours. Present were Starr deputies Robert J. Bittmann and Sol L.
 Wisenberg, along with staff prosecutor Mary Anne Wirth. Dash was there
 as an observer. 

 ``I think Sam's presence and assessment of our client was a big factor
in
 the immunity deal,'' said Cacheris. 

Starr called Stein later that night, asking to meet the next morning at
10
 a.m. When Stein and Cacheris arrived at Starr's office, prosecutors had
a
 draft immunity agreement in hand. The two sides ``tinkered with some
 language, nothing stupendous,'' recalled Cacheris. It was ``quickly
 resolved, and we got a signed agreement.'' 

 As part of the deal, Ms. Lewinsky agreed to provide physical evidence
--
 telephone message recordings carrying Clinton's late-night calls and a
 dress that may or may not carry evidence of a physical relationship. It
was
 not known if the dress played any role in the immunity negotiations. 

 The dress has a visible stain on it, according to a law enforcement
source
 who demanded anonymity, and was being examined by the FBI lab for
 any possible material linking it to Clinton.