Wednesday, March 9, 1999 --- New York (APJP) -- Here's a development in the feud between Kenneth W. Starr and the Justice Department that the "mainstream" press seems to have missed.

Flashback: On February 11, the Landmark Legal Foundation, whose front-man, Mark Levin, has been a consistent and outspoken of President Bill Clinton, filed what is called a "Writ of Prohibition" to prevent the Justice Department from investigating Starr. Many commentators on both sides of the political aisle questioned the legality of the move; American Politics Journal published an article by attorney Bonnie-Ann Brill Keagy explaining why Landmark had no right to interlope in the argument.

The content and timing of the original writ filing only served to amplify questions about Landmark's involvement with individuals in both the Paula Jones and Independent Counsel camps .

Yesterday, both the Office of Independent Counsel and the Department of Justice filed the responses requested by the court. But in an unexpected development, they were joined by Executive Intelligence Review, a magazine tied to eccentric perpetual Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche. The magazine filed an amicus brief which documented in detail Landmark Legal Foundation's own interest in trying to block a Justice Department probe into Starr's alleged abuses and not-so-alleged conflicts of interest -- interests which Landmark failed to disclose in their writ.

In their filing, EIR specifically spelled out the necessity "that the Court be fully appraised of Landmark's status as an interested party and ally of the Independent Counsel and potential target of any investigation conducted by the Department of Justice."

Starr's filing was less explicit; he limited his argument to Landmark's failure to show a specific interest in the case, or that it may suffer an injury from the investigation. It read like a necessary bit of legalese to establish "plausible deniability" while allowing what is essentially a corrupt manipulation of the courts by Landmark to hinder a fair and full investigation into Starr.

Unfortunately for Starr, his filing contrasts poorly with the thoroughly documented EIR filing, which asserts a covert back-channel involving Richard Mellon Scaife, Starr, and lawyers and advisors for Paula Jones.

While neither the filing by the Justice Department nor Starr's office was not unexpected, the filing by EIR was -- it could not have come at a worse time for either Landmark or Starr, and it leaves many with the distinct impression that Starr is going through the motions of telling Landmark to back off because he has to look as if he is.

-- David J. Gonzo