Ken Starr on House Impeachment Tactics: ‘This Is Just Wrong’

Former Independent Counsel Ken Starr answers questions during a discussion held at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18, 2018. Starr is the public face of the newly launched Global Justice Foundation. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Former special prosecutor Ken Starr said the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against President Trump lacks transparency and “is just wrong.”

“We’re outside. We’re behind this veil of ignorance because of the closed-door proceedings,” he said Tuesday. “There is absolutely nothing, nothing that needs to be done behind closed doors in these secret proceedings.

On Tuesday, Ukraine Ambassador Bill Taylor was scheduled to testify behind closed doors with House lawmakers.

“I think this is just a grave disservice to everyone,” Starr told Fox News. He is best known for investigating President Bill Clinton’s alleged Whitewater affair and other charges, including the Monica Lewinsky affair.

“Because there is no doubt that someone’s going to go out and spin or give some version of what he has said. This is just wrong. It’s unfair. It’s just no way to run this process,” he said.

Starr said that should the impeachment process drag out, critics will start to blame Democrats for abusing their power for political gain during an election season.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Dallas, Texas, U.S. on Oct. 17, 2019. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

“It’s going to drag on. It is not going to be... very quick,” he said. “Unfortunately for us the American people, this is all being done in a process that is just again not transparent, so we don’t have a way to evaluate until we see something public.”

Starr called on Republican lawmakers to keep insisting on full transparency during the impeachment process.

“The Democrats frankly are playing a very dangerous game in insisting on secrecy,” Starr added. “They have a constitutional power to do it but it is wrong, wrong, wrong. For the Republicans, I think they continue to say—and independents, and just patriots saying, ‘open up the doors.’ Ronald Reagan said ’tear down this wall.' And I would say to Adam Schiff and the speaker, open up the doors and let the sunshine in. Let us see. What you are trying to hide? This is the people’s business.”

William B. Taylor in a file photo (US Department of State)

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Taylor is scheduled to talk behind closed doors with members of the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees—the three leading the inquiry into impeachment.

According to CBS News, he arrived at about 9:22 a.m. for his deposition.

The former Army officer is scheduled to testify behind closed doors Tuesday in an inquiry trying to determine if Trump committed impeachable offenses by pursuing information that could help his campaign from Ukraine. Trump has denied the claims.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.