Carville's Cast of Characters

...Have we thought, 'Suppose he tries to do something...

...If I get a question on something that I'm not really sure about, I can reflexively take the position [to defend the Democrats]," Carville says, "but I can't carry it (Continued on page 78) 25 (Continued from page 25) through with the same passion [as with Starr]....I don't have the personal feeling deep down inside of me as a human being that this is all bulls--- like I know Whitewater is all bulls...

...Nor have they looked into questions of coordination between Carville's efforts and those of the Clintons' personal lawyers, other supporters, and White House staff...

...I may grow to...

...The independent counsel, Carville said, was a bitter partisan with a vendetta against President Clinton...

...But Carville has undoubtedly done some damage...

...Oh, yeah...

...the effect was to make Starr and his deputies look both pompous and menacing...

...Again, more publicity for Carville...

...And when Carville attacked Starr for working only part-time on an investigation of the potentially immense significance of Whitewater, Starr's defenders had a hard time justifying his decision to maintain his lucrative private practice while investigating the Clintons...

...On the other hand, Carville has decided to hold his fire on Fred Thompson, the Republican who will be holding the Senate's hearings on campaign finance...

...This whole thing is a federally funded smear campaign by a man that doesn't have anything better to do than go around and harass women...

...It is not clear why he singled out the libertarian, policy-oriented Cato Institute for special criticism...

...TEAM CAKVILLE Carville says that when he originally conceived of the idea for the Education and Information Project, he went to lawyer Robert Barnett of the Washington firm of Williams & Connolly for advice on how the organization should be structured...

...But Carville said "we haven't been in existence long enough" to file the papers.' In a third interview, conducted in the basement office of the $800,000 home he rents just a few blocks from the Capitol, Carville was more conciliatory...

...Carville licked his chops when he saw the piece...

...Starr and Mr...

...Bates, and Mr...

...Carville tried to convince them that the words were not significant...

...In late May Carville posted a web site article entitled "The Facts on Dan Burton," which described the Indiana congressman as a corrupt, hypocritical nut-case with "direct links to right-wing goofballs...

...Bauer's longest association has been with House minority leader Richard Gephardt...

...For example, Carville keeps the names of his financial contributors a closely-guarded secret...

...The result of Starr's misstep was more publicity for 78 August 1997 The American Spectator Carville...

...Carville says he has raised between $25,000 and $30,000 and has had several fund-raisers...

...Those are not the words of a man who is fired up for political battle...

...Carville says the Oklahoma event was organized by Mike Turpin, a former state attorney general who is active in Democratic politics (he once worked for Al Gore...

...On CNN's "Larry King Live" he was asked why he was so rough on the independent counsel...

...The shoes are getting ready to drop on payola," he said...

...Carville seems to regard Thompson as a fellow member of the Washington elite...

...We are not tax exempt," he shouted mistakenly, suggesting the reporter 23 consult a lawyer...

...People say he's an all right guy...

...He was the attorney for Gephardt's 1988 presidential campaign and also represented Gephardt's political action committee and congressional campaigns...

...But a look at those involved in the founding of Carville's group shows that it has been assisted by a corps of Democratic hit-men (and hit-women) who have played major roles in several of Washington's most violent ethics wars...

...Now put that down," he said...

...Carville of course maintains that Clinton "didn't do anything wrong," but adds, "beyond that, I don't know...

...Corley and Schadler did not return calls asking for comment...

...Robert Bauer is an attorney with the firm of Perkins, Coie in Washington...

...We learned that lesson from Gingrich...

...Over the years he has virtually created a specialty in defending Democrats accused of ethical violations and attacking the Republicans who accuse them (see chart above...

...The San Fernando Valley event—which was attended by several Clinton supporters in the entertainment industry—was arranged by Harry Thomason, 'An Internal Revenue Service spokesman says the IRS has no record of Carville's group...

...Although no one associated with EIP would answer questions about the group's legal tax status, it appears that Carville's organization is something known in the non-profit world as a 5o1(c)(4...

...Now, despite Starr's recent victories, Carville insists the independent counsel is beaten (the buzz-phrase among Clinton defenders these days is that Starr is looking for a graceful "exit strategy...

...The photographer had positioned his subjects artfully amid stark light and shadows in a hallway at the independent counsel's Little Rock offices...

...No one has undertaken an investigation of the Education and Information Project and its supporters...

...When the Cato Institute comes forward, then I'll be glad to," Carville said...

...When the enemies of the president send me a list of their stuff," he continued, raising his voice, "then I'll be glad to do mine...

...These days, Jost is working for Loretta Sanchez, orchestrating the defense against charges her supporters stole the election in which Sanchez unseated California Republican Robert Dornan last November...

...More recently, Bauer defended Senate minority leader Tom Daschle against charges he intervened in a case in which federal aviation investigators were investigating the crash of a charter plane owned by a friend of Daschle's...

...But, as he had done in previous interviews, Carville refused to reveal the names of any contributors—once again citing (incorrectly) the example of the Cato Institute...

...Carville produced a copy of the Times magazine...

...Barnett was once Bill and Hillary Clinton's personal lawyer and is a partner of David Kendall, who now represents the Clintons in Whitewater...

...His name appears alongside two others, Judith Corley and Holly Schadler, both partners with Bauer at Perkins, Coie...

...They had him posing in that picture and I went, 'Oh, man, look at this.' I was beside myself with glee...

...This is Mr...

...It's not a scrutiny they welcome...

...The group is a tax-exempt non-profit corporation...

...Carville, the former Clinton campaign manager who is now running a campaign to discredit Starr, immediately concluded that no matter what the article actually said, the picture made the independent counsel look bad...

...by mid-morning he had already been booked on CNN's "Inside Politics," the "Today Show," CNBC, NBC Nightly News, and other programs...

...And Starr's decision to hire more prosecutors indicates he is planning to take action in the near future...

...Invite reporters and shoot 'em up...

...You've got to have a Plan B. If Plan A doesn't go, you've got Plan B." It is likely that part of Plan B is the White House hiring of Carville's old partner Paul Begala...

...in the coming months Kenneth Starr might well find out just how rough they can be...

...This is a hell of a day, man," he said...

...Sometimes you have to have a Plan B. Culture Vultures...

...He was the lawyer for former Democratic Representative Tony Coelho, who resigned his House seat rather than face allegations of corruption in connection with a 1980's junk bond deal...

...Carville is referring to a favorite of Democrats on the Hill, the story of Burton's conducting a home ballistics test as part of his investigation into the death of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster...

...BY BYRON YORK n June the New York Times published a profile of Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr...

...Such posing, Carville claimed, showed that the prosecutors were more interested in good publicity than in concluding their investigation...

...I will remind the country of some of the things that Mr...

...He is considered an expert on campaign finance and has handled many matters concerning the Democratic Party before the Federal Election Commission...

...The result was far more serious when Bauer played a role in the ethics attack on Newt Gingrich...

...It wasn't long before Carville was on the phone with friends—he won't say who—at the White House...

...Coincidentally, Bauer, Corley, and Schadler are also listed in District of Columbia records as the incorporators of the Back to Business Committee...

...Starr is now free to subpoena all sorts of documents that the administration has thus far refused to release...

...While he was working with Jost, Gephardt, et al., Robert Bauer was also doing extensive legal work for the Democratic National Committee's two congressional branches, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee...

...Corley is another former Gephardt congressional staffer and campaign worker...

...Burton has done...

...the Clinton friend who has kept a low profile since his role in the White House Travel Office scandal...

...I asked Barnett what I should do," Carville says...

...I might have a watermelon party out at my farm...

...When told that Cato does indeed make such information public its 1996 annual report lists yearly contribution totals, plus a separate contribution total for the Institute's building fund, plus the names of 97 individual donors and 165 corporate donors, and that does not include the detailed information on expenditures available to the public in the institute's IRS filing—Carville appeared to soften his stance...

...Carville sounded as if he were practicing his soundbites for a crowded schedule of media appearances...

...Therefore, contributions to EIP are not tax-deductible...

...he will likely be doing the same thing from inside the White House that Carville is doing from the outside...

...There is no tax benefit to making a contribution," he says...

...For example, when Carville—along with many others—denounced the independent counsel for displaying awful judgment in momentarily deciding to quit in mid-investigation to accept a position at Pepperdine University, who could disagree...

...A Carville fundraising appeal tells supporters that "Unlike right-wing partisan organizations such as the Christian Coalition, EIP does not intend to cost the taxpayers a dime...

...the Burton threat increased in June when the House voted to give his committee far-reaching subpoena powers...

...the Education and Information Project would simply tell the American people the truth about Kenneth Starr...

...That means it is governed by a section of the tax code that allows it to be exempt from paying taxes and to engage in limited political activity, but does not permit it to accept tax-deductible contributions...

...Some took part in defending Democrats Richard Gephardt, Tom Daschle, and Tony Coelho against ethics charges of their own...

...Because with $40 million and five years into this, all this man does is pose for pictures and give interviews...

...the picture alone, he said, made Starr seem foolish...

...Carville asked repeatedly...

...Carville says...

...Carville made a big media splash back in November 1996 when he announced—again, on a TV talk show—his plan to form a group devoted solely to discrediting Starr...

...federal law requires him to inform prospective donors that contributions are not tax deductible...

...I don't detest Fred Thompson like I, uh, I don't dislike Fred Thompson the way I dislike Ken Starr," Carville says...

...EXIT STKATECY In late June, Carville jumped into action when the Washington Post reported that Starr had interviewed Arkansas state troopers and women with whom Bill Clinton had had extramarital relationships...

...In a series of interviews with TAS, Carville pointed out repeatedly that donations to the Education and Information Project are not deductible...

...Carville and his The American Spectator • August 1997 compatriots are relentless, and they play rough...

...Carville says he has seen the senator at The Palm, a ritzy restaurant favored by capital bigwigs...

...for one thing, Carville appears to be worried that the Democrats are guilty...

...Cutler told the Washington Post she wanted to spread "the truth about Whitewater" and "the truth about Kenneth Starr and all his conflicts of interest...

...Schadler is a former official of the Sierra Club...

...Goddammit, how stupid can you be...

...Bauer did not return more than a half-dozen calls...

...Carville says he wanted to keep the finances of the Education and Information Project separate from his political consulting business...

...Carville still flatly states that no one connected with the White House will be indicted...

...He insisted—wrongly—that tax exempt groups on the right are not required to disclose information on their contributions...

...Reading the paper while traveling, James Carville went straight to the Whitewater story...

...Starr, Carville said, is the "Pee Wee Herman of federal prosecutors...

...A short time later Carville gave his permission, but Bauer never talked...

...Shouldn't they be subjected to the same kind of scrutiny that Carville directs toward his political enemies...

...Then he relented on the contributions question, revealing that EIP has raised between $25,000 and $30,000, much of it through fundraising events...

...He said his lawyer, William McDaniel of the Baltimore firm McDaniel & Marsh, told him the Education and Information Project had 13 months in which to file the required IRS form...

...What about the backgrounds of those Carville has enlisted to support the antiStarr crusade...

...What is [sic] his politics...

...Carville promised that McDaniel would be willing to talk about the issue (McDaniel did not return several phone calls...

...What is surprising is that so far no one on the right has struck back at Carville...

...FIRST KEN, NOW DAN Carville's web site boasts that the anti-Starr campaign "has generated over 45o stories on the Lexis-Nexis database of major news sources...

...BYRON YORK is an investigative writer for TAS...

...The Back to Business Committee went out of business after the 1996 election—just days before Carville announced his campaign to do essentially the same job...

...Since starting EIP, Carville has pounded away at those two questions...

...More recently, Bauer defended Gephardt against allegations Gephardt misrepresented financial information about his luxurious beach home in North Carolina...

...So far, Carville has not seen anything from Thompson that would put him on the EIP hit list...

...In the early nineties, Bauer joined Gephardt's staff, a move that led to questions of whether his dual roles as private lawyer for Gephardt and as a publicly paid member of the congressman's staff violated ethics rules...

...22 August 1997 • The American Spectator J 1111111111111111.1111111, HARACTERS The Larry King performance was just one small part of Carville's work as head of something called the Education and Information Project (EIP...

...Look, we gave $3 million back," the former campaign manager says...

...While it might appear that Carville makes the claim to appear virtuous, it is actually made out of necessity...

...Bennett [all Starr deputies]....They're sitting around posing for pictures like they're running for political office...

...Carville responded incredulously...

...Carville said he can remember attending three fund-raisers, one in Oklahoma City, one in San Jose, California, and another in California's San Fernando Valley...

...Carville says more such attacks will come when Burton holds hearings on campaign finance...

...The complaint, of course, proved spectacularly effective...

...Carville soon added the Times article to his standard anti-Starr monologue...

...When the conversation turned to other questions about EIP's finances, Carville grew defensive and reluctant to provide information...

...After all, it might not be enough simply to hope that Kenneth Starr uncovers all the goods on Whitewater...

...He received no punishment when he amended his financial disclosure report...

...She has also done work for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the feminist interest group Emily's List...

...But these days he is preparing, just in case...

...He has given hundreds of interviews, made dozens of speeches, and started a Starr-bashing web site (www.eip.org...

...Starr, the paper reported, was looking for people in whom then-governor Clinton might have confided about Whitewater or other related matters (the paper neglected to report that Starr's predecessor Robert Fiske had done the same thing...

...JAMES'S SECRET Carville officially formed the Education and Information Project on January 13 of this year...

...Experts say that is not unusual, given that the group has been in existence just six months...

...The Sunday magazine layout featured a dramatic black-and-white photo of a dour-looking Starr and his team of prosecutors...

...In one brief conversation, he declined to discuss the Education and Information The American Spectator • August 1997 Project, saying he needed to check with "my client...

...When that came out, I couldn't believe it," Carville said in an interview with TAS...

...You don't give $3 million back because you want to...

...In 1994 Bauer was hired by Steven Jost, a Washington Democratic operative who worked with Gingrich's sworn enemy, former Georgia Representative Ben Jones, in bringing the ethics case against Gingrich (see "Cooter's Way," TAS, April 1995...

...So the attacks on Starr will continue and perhaps intensify...

...To do that, Bauer advised Carville to set up a non-profit corporation...

...His heart just doesn't seem to be in it...

...Now, even as he continues to attack Starr, Carville is setting his sights on another target: Dan Burton, the chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee that is investigating Democratic campaign fundraising abuses...

...When TAS pointed out that the Education and Information Project, like all other tax-exempt, non-profit organizations, regardless of ideology, is required by law to file financial information with the Internal Revenue Service, Carville grew angry...

...What is his background...

...In a second interview, Carville again insisted that groups like Cato do not reveal information about how much money they raise and who contributes, and therefore he would not do so either...

...Faced with questions on the rental income he collected from the house and on the tax arrangements involved with its sale, Gephardt 24 August 1997 • The American Spectator provided incorrect information to the House ethics committee...

...The White House announced in late June that Begala, who, like Carville, served in Clinton's 1992 campaign, will return to take a post as a wide-ranging adviser to the president...

...What about their politics...

...Hickman Ewing, and Mr...

...So many shoes are gonna drop, it's gonna sound like a clogging contest...

...Okay...

...Why so rough on Starr...

...I want to hold this up," Carville told King...

...Jost reportedly paid Bauer $4,500 to draft the complaint concerning Gingrich's college course...

...And he also played a role in the formation of the National Issues Foundation, a little-known organization closely associated with the House Democratic leadership...

...If Starr had not given me the fuel," Carville says, "I could have never made the fire...

...At the very least, his relentless carping has helped fire up opposition when Starr made mistakes that left him open to criticism...

...But for all Carville's furious talking, several questions have gone unanswered...

...Carville also said he has sent out an estimated 400 fundraising letters...

...Despite his threats, it is unlikely Carville will launch a full-scale assault on Republicans in the fundraising investigation...

...Documents on file at the District of Columbia Business Regulation Administration list Bauer among the incorporators of EIP...

...I've run into him two or three times," Carville says of Thompson...

...It would soon come out, he added, that the accusing troopers interviewed by Starr were paid to tell lies about Bill Clinton...

...He refused to reveal how much his group has collected or who has contributed...

...Begala is an effective television defender of the Clintons...

...I'll deal with him," he says...

...In the face of all Carville's agitprop, Starr seems to be surviving quite well...

...Yes, he said, his group does have to file some sort of form with the IRS (widely known as Form 990...

...He said, 'I want to stay away from this because Kendall represents the president.' So I said who should I go to, and he said, 'What about Bob Bauer...

...Some were closely involved in the attack on House Speaker Newt Gingrich...

...Should Burton make trouble for the White House, Carville will be ready...

...Those hearings—which have already been the subject of bitter disputes between the White House and Burton's committee—could pose a serious challenge to the president's denial of involvement in illegal fundraising...

...Its purpose, according to incorporation papers on file with the District of Columbia government, is "to educate the general public regarding government conduct and investigations" and "to encourage accurate and thorough press coverage on issues related to the activities of the federal government and the conduct of public officials...

...That group was formed in 1994 by Clinton supporters Lynn Cutler and Ann Lewis to defend the president and first lady...

...And no one associated with EIP—other than Carville himself—seems interested in talking to the press...

...None of Carville's incorporators are particularly eager to talk about their activities...

...Despite his way with a catchy phrase, the problem with Carville's payola allegation is that he has never provided any evidence to prove—or even suggest—that it actually happened...

...The recent Supreme Court decision that destroyed the Clintons' strategy to withhold documents on the grounds of attorney-client privilege gave new energy to his investigation of possible obstruction of justice in the White House...

...They thought it was a sympathetic piece," Carville recalls...

...Perhaps someday someone among the Republicans will decide to take a look...