Ken Starr, who headed the investigation that led to the impeachment of president Bill Clinton for lying about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, died on Tuesday. He was 76.

Starr died in Houston, Texas, of complications from surgery, his family said in a statement.

A former judge and conservative legal stalwart, Starr was best known for leading the probe that resulted in Clinton's December 1998 impeachment by the then Republican-controlled House of Representatives.