The report, from a special master appointed by a federal judge, has been the subject of extraordinary secrecy. American Oversight, a liberal watchdog group, asked for its release last week, saying that “Judge Kavanaugh’s potential involvement” in misconduct “is a matter of great public importance and current national debate.”Only four copies were prepared, and until recently their whereabouts was unknown. In a court filing on Tuesday, lawyers for American Oversight said the National Archives had recently located a copy. The report was prepared by a special master appointed in 1998 by Judge Norma Holloway Johnson of the Federal District Court in Washington in response to complaints from lawyers for Mr. Clinton and others that Mr. Starr’s team had violated the law by disclosing information protected by grand jury secrecy rules. Judge Johnson, who died in 2011, said at the time that there was reason to think Mr. Starr’s team had violated the law by providing information to journalists for many news reports, including some in The New York Times.

Source: New York Times August 22, 2018 21:32 UTC