Sexgate

By Viveca Novak/Washington

KEN STARR'S righthand man may be ready to bolt. JACKIE BENNETT, Starr's top deputy, has interviewed with at least one Washington law firm with strong Republican credentials, promising to bring paying clients with him. Bennett's aggressive prosecutorial style has made him one of the most controversial figures in Starr's office and the one most despised by the White House. A veteran of the Justice Department's public-integrity section, Bennett has been under wraps ever since the federal judge overseeing Starr's grand jury called for an investigation of leaks from the independent counsel's shop; Bennett had been fingered as one of the media's main contacts there. Could his departure mean that he saw diminished prospects that PRESIDENT CLINTON would ever be indicted? Starr's office declined to comment.

--By Viveca Novak/Washington