Whitewater Foes Allied in Appeal : Leaks: Kenneth W. Starr and the Justice Department both oppose a judge’s ruling on disclosures to media, legal sources say.

WASHINGTON — Usually antagonists, Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr and the Justice Department have joined forces to appeal a judge’s ruling on alleged grand jury leaks during the Monica S. Lewinsky investigation, legal sources say.

Starr asked an appeals panel in mid-July to intervene quickly and overturn the findings of U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Justice Department has made its own inquiries into leaks that may have come from Starr’s office. But it has joined the independent counsel in his appeal, the sources said.

At issue is whether the independent counsel improperly leaked secret grand jury information to the news media. Federal rules prohibit prosecutors and court officials from disclosing evidence brought before a grand jury.

The Justice Department is not accused of leaking in this case, but the department may be worried that the ruling would be an unreasonable precedent. Justice officials have explained in the past that if they got involved in the case it would be to ensure that their own prosecutors are not hamstrung in giving reporters information in the future.

Though the impeachment investigation is long over, the judge’s investigation into alleged leaks remains a concern for the beleaguered independent counsel’s office. The prosecutors want to clear their names and avoid possible penalties, including fines or action against their law licenses.

In his appeal, which remains under seal, Starr argues that Johnson was wrong in ruling that investigative matters not yet brought before a grand jury should be covered by secrecy rules.

Starr also challenged the standard Johnson used to determine that there was preliminary evidence to believe the news articles in question likely came from Starr’s office, the sources said.

The sources include lawyers or employees inside the federal courthouse in Washington. They are not members of Starr’s office or of President Clinton’s legal team, which accused Starr in 1998 of illegal leaks.