Ranting and raving

‘Ranting and raving’: The time Kavanaugh knocked Chris Ruddy

Records from Kenneth Starr's office suggest Kavanaugh didn't think much of Ruddy, who has become one of Trump’s top surrogates.

By JOSH GERSTEIN

Two decades ago, as Brett Kavanaugh labored on independent counsel Ken Starr’s team, the young prosecutor had some less-than-pleasant interactions with a man who would go on to become one of President Donald Trump's closest confidants: Christopher Ruddy.

At the time, Kavanaugh was responsible for re-investigating the death of Clinton White House attorney Vince Foster, which had become part of Starr’s sprawling probe.

And Ruddy, reporting for the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, was one of the chief conspiracy theorists casting doubts on earlier investigations into Foster's apparent suicide in Fort Marcy Park, just outside Washington on July 20, 1993.

Records from Starr's office obtained by POLITICO suggest that Kavanaugh didn't think much of Ruddy and his conservative media colleagues, who were dismissed in the mainstream press for peddling the idea that Foster was murdered — and that the Clintons may have played a role.

"Most of the conversation involved Ruddy ranting and raving about various matters," Kavanaugh wrote to Starr and other senior aides in a May 1995 memo. The young lawyer and former Supreme Court clerk said the chat followed very persistent outreach by Ruddy, who called eight to 12 times over a two-day period.

The memos provide an intriguing glimpse into Kavanaugh’s extensive work on the Starr Report and provide just a taste of what other details might emerge as more documents come to light.

POLITICO reviewed the memos this week at the National Archives, where they can be found scattered in records relating to Foster's death. However, the bulk of Kavanaugh's records from his years working for Starr — an estimated 20,000 pages — remain inaccessible to the public, as do hundreds of thousands of pages from Kavanaugh's tenure as a White House staffer and lawyer. Democratic senators are expected to press for the records to be disclosed prior to any hearing on Kavanaugh's nomination.

In the meantime, the handful of records already made public reveal an interesting overlap between Trump’s Supreme Court nominee and the now-Newsmax CEO, who has become one of Trump's highest-profile surrogates.

Ruddy would go on to write a book that challenged investigators for ignoring evidence at the scene of Foster's death and failing to chase down leads that might have established that Foster was murdered. The book, published in 1997, is careful not to assert outright that Foster was killed, but Kavanaugh said Ruddy was more definitive in their conversation.

"Ruddy said Foster's death is the classic staged suicide. Ruddy thinks he know how it all happened," Kavanaugh reported. "When I asked him to tell me his theory/facts, he refused."

Despite their tense interactions two decades ago, Ruddy seems to have warmed to Kavanaugh over the years and forgiven any differences.

"The Starr investigation was controversial, and many today look at it with a 20/20 view," Ruddy said in an email Wednesday. "At the time I may have differed with the Starr probe, but I believe Ken Starr and Brett Kavanaugh did an honest job. Brett has had a long, respected and stellar career in government and on the bench. When evaluating anyone you have to look at the big picture."

The records show that Starr deputy Hickman Ewing appears to have defused one showdown between Kavanaugh and Ruddy over claims that the prosecutor gratuitously asked a grand jury witness a question that suggested the witness was engaged in a sexual encounter when he visited the park where Foster's body was later found.

A transcription of a voicemail from Ruddy says the reporter informed Ewing that the issue would be left out of an upcoming story.

"I wanted to let you know that I have removed, there is no reference to genitals or anything really in the sexual issues ah in this article I'm doing," Ruddy said, according to the transcript. "You can assure Brett of that ah also assure him there's nothing in the piece that would be considered an attack on his person in any way ... even though [the witness] swears up and down that he did say it. Ah, I am doing this because of your request and the Christian gentleman I am."

The records show Kavanaugh participating in extensive strategy discussions about how to deal with the onslaught Starr's office was facing from Ruddy, as well as conservative groups like Accuracy in Media and the Western Journalism Center, as well as publications like the London Sunday-Telegraph and Insight Magazine.

The files could fuel accusations Kavanaugh is already facing that he had a part in what critics regard as improper or even illegal leaking to the media by Starr's team.

"While working for Ken Starr in 1998, Kavanagh [sic] routinely skirted or violated Rule 6 (e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by leaking details of Lewinsky probe. Mueller’s team obeys the law; Starr’s didn’t,” author and Daily Beast columnist Jonathan Alter wrote on Twitter Monday. “Reporters didn’t bust Brett because they benefited. Will one now?”

Alter later deleted that tweet, but added another: "I should have been more tentative in saying that Kavanaugh was among the Starr prosecutors leaking in 1998. That was what my Newsweek reporting turned up at the time but 20 yrs later I need more evidence before claiming he did so 'routinely.' Lewinsky-era reporters — Plse weigh in."

In an interview Wednesday, Alter declined to discuss specifics, but said: "Twenty years ago, I had indications that Kavanaugh was in contact with reporters and because it involves potential violation of federal law, those contacts need to be thoroughly explored in the confirmation process."

While violations of grand jury secrecy can be considered contempt of court, a 1999 federal appeals court ruling in a case related to Starr's office held that most of prosecutors' deliberations outside the grand jury are not covered by that restriction.

The small fraction of Starr papers currently available suggest some caution from Kavanaugh in dealing with reporters. In the memo about his talk with Ruddy, Kavanaugh says he "generally listened ... without responding."

When Ruddy referenced the potential role of a personal aide to the Clintons, Carolyn Huber, Kavanaugh says he was tempted to lash out, but didn't — to avoid revealing any details about the probe.

"I felt like saying, 'Of course I have heard of Carolyn Huber, you idiot' but resisted the temptation and said only that I would not be able to confirm whether I had heard of particular individuals because that might indicate whether they were involved in the investigation," Kavanaugh wrote.

Notes from Ewing also suggest Starr himself was directing some of the office's outreach to the media. An April 1995 note indicates Kavanaugh called to tell Ewing that Starr "wants you to consider talking to Ruddy prior to this week's press conference."

Another controversy Kavanaugh dealt with at the time may also have sensitized him to concerns about leaks: the abrupt departure of prosecutor Miguel Rodriguez after conveying concerns that his efforts to investigate Foster's death were being blocked. Media reports that Rodriguez left in a huff soon began to circulate. Kavanaugh was convinced Rodriguez was behind the stories.

"WE HAVE BIG PROBLEMS W/MIGUEL'S LEAKS," Kavanaugh wrote to Ewing in a fax, twice underlining the word, "big."

Rodriguez, still a federal prosecutor in Sacramento, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

When Kavanaugh went to work on Starr's staff, he was an intellectual standout, but a prosecutorial novice. Some of the papers reflect a giddiness at any development he regarded as good news. One Ewing note from March 1995 says he got a call from Kavanaugh relaying a promising chance to charge a Clinton White House staffer with lying to investigators — a crime prosecutors refer to as "1001" after a section in the U.S. code.

"Brett K. called at 2:04 pm. Interview L. Tripp — gave us slam dunk 1001 on another secretary. Let's discuss ..." Ewing wrote.

Kavanaugh ultimately found little support for the idea that Foster was murdered. The Starr aide was also highly skeptical that Foster was driven to suicide over concerns that issues related to the Clintons' taxes were a scandal about to explode.

"Would a person kill himself because of the potential tax problems related to returns of someone else that were filed many years ago and with respect to which the person played no role? It seems unlikely," Kavanaugh wrote in one memo. "Absent more evidence, the 'Whitewater contributed to Foster's death' allegations make little sense to me, although I'm willing to listen to contrary views."

The Starr office files also illustrate how Kavanaugh's path intersected with other figures that would go on to prominence in Trump's orbit, such as Alex Azar, a fellow Starr prosecutor who went on to work for drugmaker Eli Lilly and is now secretary of Health and Human Services. Records about the office's deliberations on how to spin Rodriguez's departure, show that Azar and Kavanaugh collaborated on a press statement Starr was considering issuing. "We all have serious doubts about whether this kind of statement is a good idea," Kavanaugh wrote.

A spokeswoman for Azar did not respond directly to a request for comment on his dealings with Kavanaugh on Starr's team, but pointed to a tweet from the Cabinet member Monday in which he called Kavanaugh a "great choice" and said he has been "a close friend for 30 years."

While the limited set of Kavanaugh memos currently available provide some insight into his role and thinking during part of his tenure at Starr's office, there also are signs that many tantalizing details remain just beyond the reach of the public and, maybe, even the Senate.

Even within the fraction of records that have been processed for release, significant portions are off limits. Among them a July 1995 memo Kavanaugh wrote proposing to "draft Foster-related questions for interview of First Lady" Hillary Clinton. Archivists deemed the document to contain grand jury secrets and blocked it from release.