Republicans say the darndest things, or, Ken Starr's Successor Is Busted for Stalking

The New York Post reports (their headline is ever so tasteful "Stalker Rap vs. Bubba Prober")

The former prosecutor who negotiated the deal that kept President Bill Clinton from being indicted in the probe of his sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky has been charged with stalking an ex-girlfriend, a law enforcement official said.

Robert Ray surrendered to cops last night after Manhattan resident Tracy Loughlin, 40, filed a complaint.

"She tried to end it four months ago, but he kept calling her, sending her e-mails and showing up at places he knew she would be," the official said.

Ray, 46, was charged with fourth-degree stalking, given a desk-appearance ticket and freed.

Loughlin, a shapely redhead who works in magazine promotions, was in the news in January 2005 when she jumped into the East River to save her dog, Cho.

A group of concerned strangers then pitched in to help haul both to safety.

Ray succeeded Independent Counsel Ken Starr in the probe of the Clintons' failed Whitewater real estate investment. President Clinton also had faced possible perjury and obstruction of justice charges over his affair with Lewinsky.

Ray is now in private practice and lives in Long Branch, N.J.