Ken Starr, the prosecutor who uncovered Bill Clinton’s affair, has died at age 76

Ken Starr, who was a United States circuit judge and the 39th solicitor general, has died at the age of 76, according to a statement released by his family. Starr is better known for having investigated former President Bill Clinton’s affair with his intern Monica Lewinsky.

The family statement praised Starr’s career and awards he received along with a personal message from one of his children.

“Starr argued 36 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including 25 during his service as U.S. Solicitor General from 1989 to 1993. He served as United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989, as Counselor and Chief of Staff to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith from 1981 to 1983, and as a law clerk to both Chief Justice Warren E. Burger (1975-1977) and to Fifth Circuit Judge David W. Dyer (1973-1974),” the statement said.

It continued, “He received numerous honors and awards, including the Edmund Randolph Award for Outstanding Service in the Department of Justice, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society 2005 Distinguished Service Award, the 2004 Capital Book Award, and the Jefferson Cup award from the FBI. He received honorary doctoral degrees from American University, Hampton Sydney College, Shenandoah University, and Pepperdine University.”

His son Randall P. Starr added: “We are deeply saddened with the loss of our dear and loving Father and Grandfather, whom we admired for his prodigious work ethic, but who always put his family first. The love, energy, endearing sense of humor, and fun-loving interest Dad exhibited to each of us was truly special, and we cherish the many wonderful memories we were able to experience with him. He is now with his Lord and Savior.”

Starr made a return to politics in 2020 as part of President Donald Trump’s legal team during his first Senate trial, hitting out at what he called “the Age of Impeachment” being used as a weapon in political wars. “Like war, impeachment is hell,” he told the Senate during the proceeding. “Or at least presidential impeachment is hell.”

Starr offered his thoughts on the Clinton case in his memoir “contempt,” in which he hit out at Clinton for his affair with Lewinsky and said Clinton showed a lack of respect for the law.

“I deeply regret that I took on the Lewinsky phase of the investigation,” he wrote. “But at the same time, as I still see it 20 years later, there was no practical alternative to my doing so.”