Ken Starr, the prosecutor whose investigation led to the impeachment of former US president Bill Clinton in 1998, has died at the age of 76.
Mr Starr came to national prominence as the special prosecutor who investigated the sex and perjury scandal that led to Mr Clinton's impeachment.
The investigation into Mr Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky produced a book-length official document for Congress that became a bestseller when commercially sold as The Starr Report.
The scandal centred on Mr Clinton's attempt to cover up his relationship with Ms Lewinsky, and the impeachment charges stemmed from his false denial of the relationship in his 1998 grand jury testimony and in a deposition in a sexual harassment case filed against him by Paula Jones of Arkansas, where Mr Clinton had been governor.
Among the report's revelations were that Ms Lewinsky "performed oral sex on the president" and that the president "fondled and kissed her bare breasts".
On December 19, 1998, the US House of Representatives voted to impeach Mr Clinton.
A subsequent Senate trial failed to remove him from office.
In 2018 Mr Starr expressed some regret for his handling of the scandal, saying it had caused "pain" but saying it "had to be done".
Mr Starr died of surgery complications in Texas, according to his family.
After news of his death broke, Ms Lewinsky tweeted that it had brought up "complicated feelings".
"But of more importance is that I imagine it's a painful loss for those who love him," she said.
Prominent Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, paid tribute to Mr Starr.
“Ken loved our country and served it with dedication and distinction. He led by example, in the legal profession, public service, and the community," Justice Roberts said, according to CNN.
Senator McConnell said Mr Starr was a "brilliant litigator, an impressive leader, and a devoted patriot".
Born on July 21, 1946, in Vernon, Texas, Mr Starr was a clerk to former chief justice Warren Burger in 1974 and 1975, and in 1981, he became counsellor to William French Smith, then-president Ronald Reagan's first attorney general.
He became US solicitor-general in 1989, taking on cases on controversial subjects such as abortion rights and school prayer.
Before the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Mr Starr was touted by Republicans as a potential nominee to the United States Supreme Court.
He was a part of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's legal team in 2008, helping to immunise the financier from prosecution in Florida.
He joined then-president Donald Trump's defence during his first impeachment trial in 2020.
Mr Starr is survived by his wife Alice Starr, to whom he was married for 52 years, his three children and nine grandchildren, the family statement added. He will be buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
ABC/Reuters
