DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
POLITICS OF PERSONAL DESTRUCTION
LINDA TRIPP
Revised 8/20/99
FROM LEWINSKY TIMELINES SECTION:
1996
April 17
ML moves to the Pentagon as a confidential aide to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and becomes friends with Linda R. Tripp, who had formerly worked as secretary to the White House counsel, Bernard W. Nussbaum. .1997
Mar
Aug Linda Tripp tells Newsweek she saw Kathleen Willey leave the Oval Office after she fought of WJC's sexual advances. WJC attorney Bob Bennett declares "Linda Tripp should not be believed."
Sept Linda Tripp begins taping conversations with Lewinsky
TAPE EXCERPTS: Lewinsky: "Look, maybe we should just tell the creep. Maybe we should just say, don't ever talk to me again, I (expletive) you over (by telling others about the affair), now you have this information, do whatever you want with it."
Tripp: "Well, if you want to do that, that's what I would do. But I don't know if you're comfortable with that. I think he should know."
Lewinsky: "He won't settle (the Paula Jones case). He's in denial."
Oct Email Tripp to ML "Please give me a break; I can't take this."
Nov 24 Linda Tripp subpoenaed in Jones case
Nov 24 Email Tripp to ML "The information alone is a heavy burden, one I did not ask for"
Dec 23 …(2) TAPE TRANSCRIPT: Just before Christmas, both women sound very scared. They have just been subpoenaed in the case of Jones v. Clinton. The two women know that they may be compelled to testify under oath about the topic that has been, up until now, mere gossip. What was titillating is now deeply threatening. The older woman, Linda Tripp, is urging the younger woman, Monica Lewinsky, to tell all about her relationship with the man they refer to as "the big he" and "the creep." But Lewinsky is resisting, hoping, somewhat plaintively, that she won't get caught. "Nobody saw him give me any of those things and nobody saw anything happen between us," says Lewinsky.
"Are you positive that nobody saw you in the study?" asks Tripp.
"I'm absolutely positive," says Lewinsky.
"How about Betty?" presses Tripp.
"Nobody saw him give me that thing," says Lewinsky.
Tripp pushes Lewinsky on another front: "He knows you're going to lie, you've told him, haven't you?"
"No," Lewinsky replies.
Tripp: I thought that night when he called you, you established that much.
Lewinsky: Well, I don't know.
Tripp: Jesus, well, does he think you're going to tell the truth?
Lewinsky: No... Oh, Jesus.
1998
Jan 9 (Fri) Linda Tripp delivers a copy of ML tapes to her lawyer
Jan 12 (1) Frank Carter (ML's Attorney) verbally tells the Jones lawyers of what ML affidavit says. (2) Linda Tripp ("LT") contacts Ken Starr after her attorney tells her to turn over tapes to WJC's lawyers
Jan 12 (Mon) Linda Tripp's lawyer tells her to turn over the tapes to WJC's lawyer.
Jan 13 (1) Revlon provides WRITTEN job offer to ML. (2) ML meets LT for lunch (LT is wired) at the Ritz Carlton.
Jan 14 (1) ML visits the WH (but not the President) that evening. (2) ML picks up LT in car; during car ride, ML hands Talking Points to LT to coach her on what to tell Jones's lawyers about Lewinsky and Willey.
TALKING POINTS CONTENTS:
[points to make in an affidavit]
I.1 Your first few paragraphs should be about yourself -- what you do now, what you did at the White House and for how many years you were there as a career person and as a political appointee.
I.2 You and Kathleen were friends. At around the time of her husband's death (The President has claimed it was after her husband died. Do you really want to contradict him?), she came to you after she allegedly came out of the oval and looked (however she looked), you don't recall her exact words, but she claimed at the time (whatever she claimed) and was very happy.
I.3 You did not see her go in or see her come out.
l.4 Talk about when you became out of touch with her and maybe why.
I.5 The next you heard of her was when a Newsweek reporter (I wouldn't name him specifically) showed up in your office saying she was naming you as someone who would corroborate that she was sexually harassed. You spoke with her that evening, etc., and she relayed to you a sequence of events that was very dissimilar from what you remembered happening. As a result of your conversation with her and subsequent reports that showed that she had tried to enlist the help of someone else in her lie that the President sexually harassed her, you now do not believe that what she claimed happened really happened. You now find it completely plausible that she herself smeared her lipstick, untucked her blouse, etc.
I.6 You never saw her go into the oval office, or come out of the oval office.
I.7 [You have never observed the President behaving inappropriately with anybody.]
II.1 You are not sure you've been clear about whose side you're on. (Kirby has been saying you should look neutral; better for credibility but you aren't neutral. Neutral makes you look like you're on the other team since you are a political appointee)
II.2 It's important to you that they think you're a team player, after all, you are a political appointee. You believe that they think you're on the other side because you wouldn't meet with them.
II.3 You want to meet with Bennett. You are upset about the comment he made, but you'll take the high road and do what's in your best interest.
II.4 December 18th, you were in a better position to attend an all day or half-day deposition, but now you are into JCOC mode. Your livelihood is dependent on the success of this program. Therefore, you want to provide an affidavit laying out all of the facts in lieu of a deposition.
II.5 You want Bennett's people to see your affidavit before it's signed.
II.6 Your deposition should include enough information to satisfy their questioning.
III.1 By the way, remember how I said there was someone else that I knew about. Well, she turned out to be a huge liar. I found out she left the WH because she was stalking the P or something like that. Well, at least that gets me out of another scandal I know about.
III.2 The first few paragraphs should be about me -- what I do now, what I did at the White House and for how many years I was there as a career person and as a political appointee.
III.3 Kathleen and I were friends. At around the time of her husband's death, she came to me after she allegedly came out of the oval office and looked _____, I don't recall her exact words, but she claimed at the time ______ and was very happy.
III.4 I did not see her go in or see her come out.
III.5 Talk about when I became out of touch with her and maybe why.
III.6 The next time I heard of her was when a Newsweek reporter showed up in my office saying she was naming me as a someone who would corroborate that she was sexually harassed by the President. I spoke with her that evening, etc. and she relayed to me a sequence of events that was very dissimilar from what I remembered happening. As a result of my conversation with her and subsequent reports that showed she had tried to enlist the help of someone else in her lie that the President sexually harassed her, I now do not believe that what she claimed happened really happened. I now find it completely plausible that she herself smeared her lipstick, untucked her blouse, etc. III.7 I never saw her go into the oval office, or come out of the oval office.
III.8 I have never observed the President behave inappropriately with anybody.
Jan 16 (Fri) Linda Tripp meets with Paula Jones lawyers and brief them about the details of the ML tapes.
after Jan 20 Per deposition 6/30/98 of Terry Good, director of White House records management to Judicial Watch, the White House counsel's office asked him to pull "anything and everything that we might have in our files relating to Linda Tripp."
Jan 21 Linda Tripp's affidavit signed for Paula Jones lawyers.
Jan 24 Literary agent Lucianne Goldberg, a longtime Republican supporter and fierce opponent of Mr WJC, announces she persuaded Mrs Tripp to record ML's confidences. Mr WJC hires Mickey Kantor, a close friend and former US trade representative and commerce secretary, to represent him in the scandal.
Jan 30 Just as the scandal seemed to be winding down, Linda Tripp issues a two-page statement saying that she overheard a late-night telephone call between the president and ML and had seen many of the gifts they exchanged.
Jan White House Counsel ' s office asks White House Office of Records Management to pull LT' s personnel file
Feb Harold Ickes speaks " a couple of handful of times " to reporter Jane Mayer at the New Yorker
Mar Jane Mayer calls the Pentagon asking for specific information on one of LT ' s personnel records, which she receives
Mar Jane Mayer publishes a "hit" piece on LT , alleging that she lied on her security clearance application. The text she quotes from the form does not match the text of the Pentagon form
Mar Jane Mayer does a "hit" piece on LT, calls LT' s former stepmother J. Lowe Davis in Florida, who is unaware that LT is her former stepdaughter, remembers little, and asks that she not be used as a source
Apr Defense Secretary Cohen goes on television , blames the illegal release of LT's files on Clifford Bernath but knows that White House appointee Kenneth Bacon is involved
Apr Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch includes Jane Mayer in his Filegate investigation , suspecting that she has illegally received the information on LT from White House files
Apr Jane Mayer is successful in quashing Klayman ' s subpoena
Apr 9 (2) In a terse statement, Tripp said she was firing attorney James Moody, and disavowing all of his comments to the media on her behalf since Feb. 4. Her lead attorney remains Anthony Zaccagnini.
June Jane Mayer writes a second article, naming J. Lowe Davis as the source of information of a 1969 arrest of LT
June J. Lowe Davis in a deposition denies she is the source of information attributed to her , and says that she remembered the arrest as taking place in 1972 but did not remember whether it was in New Jersey , or in New York.
June 10 WJC's former political deputy, Harold Ickes, testified before a Whitewater grand jury investigating the Pentagon's release of information about Linda Tripp. Ickes, former White House deputy chief of staff, declined to comment as he left the courthouse in Alexandria, Va., after testifying. Later, he said in a telephone interview that he was questioned only about Tripp. Now identified only as an informal adviser to the president, Ickes has acknowledged that Tripp's name came up in conversation when he had dinner with Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon before Bacon released information about Tripp, a Pentagon worker. In the interview, Ickes said Tripp was mentioned "very tangentially" in his conversation with Bacon. "I said something about, 'Oh, I understand Linda Tripp is working at the Pentagon in the press shop.' And I think Ken acknowledged she was working in his department. And that's literally all that was said about her," Ickes said. He said he believes the meeting occurred in February, after the ML inquiry became public but before the story about Tripp's arrest record was published. Ickes, who said Tripp was a causal acquaintance he met when they both worked at the White House, said he did not suggest or request Bacon to investigate Tripp's background. Bacon has apologized for confirming to The New Yorker magazine that Tripp denied on her personnel record any past arrests. Tripp was arrested as a teenager and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of loitering.
July 1 Linda Tripp went before the Starr grand jury to tell what she knows about an alleged presidential affair and cover-up and to counter perceptions she manipulated the former White House intern. Tripp was accompanied by three lawyers and her son and daughter as she arrived at the courthouse. Asked if she was nervous, she replied only with a smile. Her lead attorney, Anthony Zaccagnini, said, "Not at all. ... She's doing good. She's real strong." And with that, unaccompanied, Tripp entered the grand jury room for questioning that could stretch over several days. After answering questions for several hours, Tripp had lunch privately in a courthouse room prior to going back for another round.
July 2 Linda Tripp returns to testify at the grand jury (Day #2)
July 7 (1) A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court flatly rejects the 'protective function privilege' (2) Linda Tripp returns to testify at the grand jury (Day #3)
July 10 Linda Tripp returns to testify (Day #4) at the grand jury
July 14 (1) The Justice Department files an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking it to reconsider its July 7th ruling.
(2) Linda Tripp returns to testify at the grand jury (Day #5)
July 17 (1) Chief Justice Rehnquist declines to stay the lower court's ruling.
(2) Starr's team asks Secret Service agents what they saw and heard. Starr subpoenas Clinton.
(3) Linda Tripp returns to testify at the grand jury (Day #6)
July 28 (1) Lawyers for Ms. Lewinsky broker an immunity deal with Mr. Starr in which she promises "full and truthful testimony" in exchange for a sweeping grant of immunity from Federal prosecutors. Her mother, Ms. Lewis, is also given immunity.
(2) Secret Service agent Larry Cockell, head of Clinton's protective detail and the man who walks in lockstep with the president, one or two steps behind, is on the job again after testifying in the Monica Lewinsky investigation.
(3) Linda Tripp returns to testify at the grand jury (Day #7)
July 29 Linda Tripp speaks to the press after completing Day #8 of her testimony. Halting frequently to catch her breath as she broke months of silence, a shaky Tripp portrayed herself Wednesday as an average suburban mom who was vilified for choosing "the path of truth." Tripp held her first news conference in sweltering heat outside the federal courthouse, where she completed her eighth and final day of testimony before a grand jury investigating an alleged presidential affair and cover-up. With her grown son, Ryan, and daughter, Allison, her two lawyers and a press spokesman standing behind her, the former White House employee lashed back at those who questioned her credibility -- including a presidential attorney -- and at entertainers who made fun of her appearance. "Imagine how you would feel if your boss' attorney called you a liar in front of the whole country," she said. "Imagine if that boss was the president," Tripp said. Tripp did not discuss details of her grand jury testimony and took no questions. "The facts will show that, time after time, I urged her to tell the truth right up until the end," she said. She never sought the spotlight that shone on her after she first contacted Starr's office about Lewinsky last Jan. 12, Tripp said. "As a result of simply trying to earn a living, I became aware between 1993 and 1997 of actions by high government officials that may have been against the law," Tripp said. For those five years, she said, she witnessed events that "made me increasingly fearful that this information was dangerous, very dangerous to possess. "On Jan.12, 1998, the day I approached the Office of the Independent Counsel, I decided that fear would no longer be my master. This investigation has never been, quote, 'just about sex.' It has been about telling the truth. The truth matters. "I have been vilified for taking the path of truth," she said. Tripp said she had nothing to do with controversial "talking points" she was given by Lewinsky describing how Tripp could present her testimony in the Paula Jones lawsuit against Clinton. Tripp spoke often about her own ordeal. "Imagine how you would feel if your employer illegally released your confidential records to the media, then demoted you and cast you aside for daring to tell the truth," she said of the Pentagon's release of information on her arrest as a teenager. "Imagine how it would feel to see the pain in your children's eyes when they hear a seemingly endless barrage of lies about their mother, a mother who is not going out to defend herself." She said her enemies, who she did not name, "have enlisted legions of paid prevaricators" to vilify her. "Many in the entertainment industry have chosen to ridicule me as well -- going so far as to even make fun of my appearance in a manner so mean and so cruel that I pray none of you is ever subjected to it," she said.
FROM SECRET POLICE SECTION:
TRIPP/BACON CONNECTION
Judicial Watch, Klayman: "Bacon testified that he told Cohen to correct it after the interview, because it creates the false impression that others, including himself, were not involved. And of course, we know--and Bacon admitted this--it was never corrected by the Defense Department or the Clinton Administration generally. But for Judicial Watch's deposition of Clifford Bernath, the coverup would have continued to this day. This implicates the Secretary of Defense in a coverup of the involvement of political appointees of the Clinton Administration in releasing Privacy Act information to harm Linda Tripp. That's the key point."
From Freeper the Kid about the Jane Mayer report on Linda Tripp ".The simplest explanation is that someone had already done the legwork in uncovering the arrest by relying on the Personal Security Questionnaire (PSQ, a/k/a Form 398) Tripp filled out when she went to work at Ft. Meade in 1987 (and presumably updated either when she went to work at the White House or as required by regulation in 1992 [five-year update]). (Copies of her PSQ would be at Ft. Meade, the White House, and the Pentagon.) The PSQ is a key element because it would have listed all of Tripp's residences, schools, family members, etc., as well as her maiden name. It would therefore have allowed an investigator to search county courthouses in and around previous homes and schools. Moreover, her "no" answer to the PSQ question on arrests would make the search for any incident more compelling for someone who wanted to discredit her. ..Jane Mayer's explanation seems to be that an ex-wife of Tripp's father tipped her off to some brouhaha in the distant past, and that her reporter's instincts and skills enabled her to conduct a search everywhere for the incriminating information. How could Mayer target or focus her search? Does it seem likely that she, as she implies in her April 10, 1998 letter to the editor of the Washington Post, sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the county where Tripp was arrested? How did she determine which county it was? ..That Mayer did not bother with a FOIA to all of these counties, or even to Orange County, seems likely because Mayer did not know the disposition of the case, conviction-guilty of loitering. ..What Mayer or her source did was to visit the courthouse and review the "General Sessions" index, large books that contain one line for each arrest and pleading in chronological order with an entry for the case file-once or twice per month, court personnel type in the cases heard that month. While many counties have current index information on-line, it is unlikely that records from 1969 would be. Getting the disposition records of a case requires that the requester provide some sort of identification, something an investigator surreptitiously collecting information would not want to supply. Of course, a journalist would not mind doing so. Thus, if she in fact used FOIA or reviewed the case file itself, a documentation trail would exist and Mayer would have known what the full story was. Since no documentation trail appears to exist and since her story deals only with the arrest and not the disposition, I argue that some other agent, one that did not want to disclose its identity, was the source of the charge to Mayer.Which brings us to the ex-wife, J. Lowe Davis, the journalist who writes that she remembers so little about Tripp, yet who now turns out to be Mayer's main source for the 30-year- old crime. Except that Davis got hooked up with the dad eight years after the arrest and probably didn't know anything about it. How did Mayer learn about Davis's marriage to Tripp's father, Mr. Carotenuto? What source could have provided Mayer with the information that a woman currently working as a journalist in Pensacola was the other woman who broke up Linda Carotenuto Tripp's parents' marriage thirty years ago? .Perhaps journalists have a secret method for determining what their colleagues have been up to. But a private investigator looking for dirt on Tripp would look into her family too. And with a name like Carotenuto, there could be a gold mine! Again, the PSQ is a valuable starting point.. ."
CLAIMS OF MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
Linda Tripp: James Cabezas, chief investigator in Stephen Montanarelli's office acknowledged there had been letters demanding an inquiry of Linda Tripp for taping conversations with Lewinsky, most prominently by 49 Democratic members of the Maryland General Assembly, which appropriates money for Montanarelli's office.
New York Post 7/14/98 Dick Morris ".Last week, as Linda Tripp testified day after day before the Starr grand jury, Maryland prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli announced that his local grand jury would investigate whether Tripp had committed a crime in taping the infamous phone calls with Monica Lewinsky..Two years ago, Little Rock prosecutor Mark Stodata made an eerily similar announcement. On the very eve of the trial of Arkansas' then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, Stodata announced that Starr's key witness, David Hale, who had already pled guilty to federal criminal charges in the Whitewater case, would be indicted on new state criminal charges of insurance fraud.The pattern is all too obvious."
Washington Times 7/14/98 "Maryland authorities investigating Linda Tripp's secret tape- recordings of Monica Lewinsky said yesterday they have no plans to probe possible crimes by Miss Lewinsky in the state because independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr would handle such wrongdoing."
Washington Times 7/26/98 Editorial ".Mr Montanarelli"s investigation of Mrs Tripp seems even more likely than Mr Stodola's of Hale to "hinder the progress" of Mr Starr's investigation. Bear in mind that what Mr Starr is investigating is whether perjury was suborned from Mrs Tripp, and whether her tapes indicate that Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton were the ones doing the suborning - not to mention committing perjury themselves. And bear in mind that Mr Montanarelli's investigation hinges on the very tapes Mr Starr is using in his investigation. In other words, going after the same evidence Mr Starr is going after will, as Mr Montanarelli's chief investigator put it, require "some legal gymnastics." .Frankly, it is so unusual as to be almost bizarre for a state prosecutor to insitiute legal proceedings against a key witness in an important, ongoing federal case. And yet we have two such proceedings against a key witness in an important, ongoing federal case. And yet we have two such unusual cases brought recently - against people whose testimony could very well do serious harm to Bill Clinton. Interesting coincidence, no?
AP 8/6/98 "A grand jury on Thursday began considering whether charges should be filed against Linda Tripp for secretly taping conversations with Monica Lewinsky, a court clerk said.."
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC INVESTIGATIVE RESOURCES
New York Post Richard Johnson 8/1/98 "PRESIDENT Clinton has never met the private detective who has been shadowing his enemies, and after reading next month's Vanity Fair, he may not want to. Terry Lenzner, whose Investigative Group International is disparagingly known as the White House Secret Police, is a Harvard Law School alumnus who, on Clinton's behalf, has been digging up dirt on Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones, and possibly on Kathleen Willey and Linda Tripp. According to Vanity Fair, IGI has been investigating opponents and potential opponents of Clinton since 1989, when it targeted Tommy Robinson, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arkansas. But it's Lenzner's other escapades that make for uneasy reading. Writer Judy Bachrach claims that among IGI's former operatives is Hillary Rodham Clinton's close friend Brooke Shearer, the wife of Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. Shearer's specialty during her time at IGI was divining information from people's trash, an art known in the spook biz as "dumpster dipping."."
8/2/98 NY Times David Samuels ".Whether Terry Lenzner plays by the rules is the subject of much high-powered speculation in Washington these days. As the private investigator hired by President Clinton's lawyers, Lenzner is a front-line soldier in a new kind of war, in which embarrassing information about political and legal opponents is provided for use as ammunition in today's partisan culture of scandal. Within the past year, Lenzner has testified before a Senate committee about the President's legal-defense fund and, most recently, before the grand jury of the independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, about his activities on behalf of the President's lawyers. Frank Rich referred to him as a "creep" for investigating the tobacco company whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand. "To hire plumbers, to affect the trials of people through adverse publicity, that's wrong," says Ronald Rotunda, a professor of law at the University of Illinois who served with Lenzner on the Senate Watergate committee and is currently a special consultant to Starr. "Assuming that it was all legal, and people weren't bribed somewhere along the way, I still think it is wrong." Citing what he beli eves to be a deliberate tactic of digging up dirt on the President's accusers, like Paula Jones, and then leaking it to the press, he adds, "For Terry to be involved in this is sad and appalling.". Dick Morris, the former Clinton strategist (and no stranger to hyperbole), puts it a different way: he calls Lenzner the head of "the White House secret police." . When it comes to the questions asked by the special prosecutor Jackie Bennett, Lenzner is unusually specific. .What is most surprising is how normal Lenzner makes all this sound. If Terry Lenzner's rise tells us anything about the scandal wars of the 90's, it may be that the power once held by J. Edgar Hoover -- someone who worked behind the scenes, who knew all the secrets and exerted enormous influence on public affairs -- has passed into the hands of private men. "There's something satisfying about walking around with a reserve bank of information that nobody else has, or few people have," Lenzner says. "With an understanding of things that go on inside companies and universities and charities and Governments. But I never would have had that chance if I hadn't become what I have become. And I love that part. I'll be frank with you on that." "
World Net Daily WorldNetDaily.com Sarah Foster ".President Clinton relies so much on private investigators to dig up dirt on political enemies, it's said he has his own private CIA. But an offhand remark by Terry Lenzner -- the super-sleuth most often hired by Clinton's attorneys to do the dirt-digging -- reveals there's more than a little truth to that quip. In a sworn deposition, the former Senate Watergate Committee attorney turned gumshoe admitted at least one significant connection to the Central Intelligence Agency. Lenzner is apparently so well-connected to the CIA that, in an hour of need, the agency turned to him for help in shielding one of its most notorious employees from public scrutiny. On March 13, Lenzner was deposed by Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch in connection with Filegate: the White House confiscation of over 900 FBI files on Bush and Reagan administration employees..On his attorney's advice he neither admitted nor denied if his firm carried out the highly intrusive investigations of Judge Robert Bork and Justice Clarence Thomas after they had been nominated to a place on the Supreme Court. Lenzner also refused to say whether or not he had ordered his gang of snoops to dig up dirt on Linda Tripp, Paula Jones, Pat Robertson, Kenneth Starr and members of his independent counsel team. Nor would he admit to having investigated reporters at Newsweek, the American Spectator and other publications. But when asked if he were currently doing any work for the CIA, he volunteered information beyond the question. "No," said Lenzner. "I think the only work I've ever done with the CIA was, I represented two or three former CIA employees during the Church Senate hearings (in 1975), including the former head of the Technical Services Division, Sidney Gottlieb. And, indeed, I sued the Senate committee to keep his name out of the assassination report on the grounds that it might endanger his life and his family's life." Sidney Gottlieb. There's a name from the past. The fact that Terry Lenzner represented him and actually sued a Senate committee on his behalf speaks volumes. Gottlieb was the CIA's real-life Dr. Strangelove -- a brilliant chemist who headed MK-ULTRA, the agency's most far-reaching drug and mind-control program at the height of the Cold War. . Among the first things the Church Committee looked at were allegations of attempted "executive actions" -- that is, assassinations -- against foreign leaders during the early 1960s. Gottlieb was called out of retirement to explain MK-ULTRA's role in assassination attempts against Patrice Lumumba, prime minister of Zaire (formerly the Belgian Congo), and Cuba's Fidel Castro. The former civil rights attorney Terry Lenzner -- now in private practice -- saw to it that a man who admitted heading projects to terminate two communist leaders could use an assumed name. He testified as Joseph Scheider, but revealed his true name in later hearings on MK-ULTRA.."
New York Post 12/19/98 Dick Morris ".CAN anyone seriously believe that the ''outing'' of incoming House Speaker Robert Livingston's extra-marital affairs is not the work of the White House Secret Police? Consider the record. House Oversight Committee Chairman Dan Burton investigated the White House misuse of FBI files. Then, out came evidence that he had fathered an out-of-wedlock child. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde led the impeachment inquiry against the president. Then, out came the story of his decades-past adulterous relationship. Now, Livingston, who has refused to agree to a censure vote, has found his private life investigated. Coincidence? Maybe, but add to this the fact that during the same time period there have been no revelations about the private lives of any supporter of the president. The contrast is jarring. And this administration's history of smearing its enemies, combined with information about administration knowledge of these stories, leads to the inescapable conclusion that the White House was responsible for all of these leaks. Last night, after the Livingston story broke, ABC's Cokie Roberts reported that several weeks ago she had been told by a source close to the White House of a rumor about a Livingston affair. The White House attacked Roberts for the story, but she stood by her report... Specifically, Drudge reports that this administration employee called Linda Douglas at ABC News to give her the details of the Hyde affair. Again, how did a White House employee get this information and why was a federal employee out to discredit a member of Congress?The White House Secret Police - the private eyes deployed by the Clintons and their agents to dig up dirt to discredit those who get in the president's way - have performed numerous damage-control operations since the 1992 election... Accountable to no one, these operatives work under the supervision of the president's attorneys - David Kendall and Bob Bennett. Their missions are secret, their compensation is hidden and the sources of the payments are obscured...Each time the Secret Police strike, they use a journalistic front to publish the results of the invasions of the privacy of the Clintons' perceived enemies. On some occasions, the actual raw reports of the Secret Police have been provided to friendly editors. Salon magazine, an administration mouthpiece, published the Hyde material. And the relationship between the White House and the supermarket tabloids is surprisingly intimate. The president's unsmiling lawyer, David Kendall, is also counsel to the National Enquirer. Terry Lenzner, one of the favored private eyes who looked into Monica Lewinsky's past, has also worked for the Enquirer. So, it was not a surprise that the paper ran a story trashing Monica right before her grand-jury testimony."
The Washington Times 1/13/99 Bill Sammon ".The investigator who dug up dirt on Republican Reps. Bob Barr and Robert L. Livingston for pornographer Larry Flynt is a Clinton sympathizer who has supplied the president's attorneys with evidence against independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr. Dan Moldea said that while he is no longer in contact with Williams & Connolly, the law firm defending President Clinton against impeachment charges, his "outing" of GOP adulterers is designed to help the president. He made it clear he has uncovered salacious material on more Republicans whose identities will remain secret as long as they refrain from speaking out against Mr. Clinton..."
SECRET POLICE
10/2/98 OIC Supplemental Documents by Freeper Dukeman ".At page 2941, Dick Morris testifies about the bimbo supppression work of Clinton aide, Betsey Wright: Q: Okay. What knowledge do you have of her efforts in what is generally described as the efforts to control the bimbo eruptions? A: Well, the first-- I had two conversations with Betsey about that. One was kind of right after she had been hired, probably-- I'm guessing that it was around March or April-- February, March, April of 1992, and the other after election day. .And I said, "How do you do that?" And she said, "Well, sometimes it's just a question of giving him material and sending over a fact sheet and rebutting it and sometimes it involves trying to persuade women not to talk to reporters." And I said, "How do you do that?" And she said, "Well, most of the women that Clinton's been involved with are pretty savvy types, they're career types, and they've got a lot to lose and they generally don't want to be public and they don't want a lot of attention." .."
New York Post 10/20/98 Dick Morris "… But now the scandal enters a new phase as evidence emerges of a systematic campaign to intimidate, frighten, threaten, discredit and punish innocent Americans whose only misdeed is their desire to tell the truth in public...Since Lenzner was awarded a no-bid contract to train Haitian police at U.S. government expense, how can we be sure public money is not being used to subsidize his dirty little war against America's innocents? Congress should also probe The Washington Post's allegation that Detective Jack Palladino was paid with federal funds during the 1992 campaign to investigate the background of women who were sexual and political threats to Clinton. The hearings should also focus on who is paying for the secret police. To say that Clinton's lawyers are paying is to dodge the question. Clinton's lawyers have basically never been paid. The president and the First Lady have yet to pay them a dime, and the legal-defense fund has largely been consumed by administrative and legal expenses. If the Clinton lawyers are running on empty, you can bet that Lenzner is not. So who is footing the bill?."
New York Post 10/20/98 Dick Morris ".Beginning as early as 1990, Clinton surrounded himself with detectives and negative-research specialists who collectively have become a kind of secret police force to protect his interests. Consider the public evidence of their possible activities: Kathleen Willey reports her cat was stolen and her tires were slashed on her car. Shortly thereafter, while jogging in the park, a man ran up alongside her, asked about her cat - calling it by name. He said that if she wasn't careful, her children would be next. Former Miss America Elizabeth Ward Gracen says she was offered acting jobs through the Hollywood-connected Clinton operative Mickey Kantor in return for denying a sexual encounter with Clinton when she was Miss Arkansas. She also reports that her hotel room was ransacked - and $2,000 left untouched - in what she suspects was an effort to find incriminating tapes. Linda Tripp's confidential personnel file winds up in The New Yorker magazine in an attempt to discredit her. Dolly Kyle Browning, who claims a former longtime relationship with Clinton, relates the details of a long attempt to intimidate her and shut her up. The Washington Post reports in 1992 that the Clinton presidential campaign aintained a staff of detectives to dig up dirt on women to cow them into silence. In a telephone conversation that same year, Betsy Wright, head of the Bimbo Patrol told me much the same thing…. The Washington Post reports detectives in Clinton's employ have spent months digging up dirt on Monica Lewinsky to discredit her.."
Wall Street Journal/via TPDL - e-mail 10/15/98 ".Kings do not say "murder the archbishop." Instead they say, at most, something like "who will rid me of this meddlesome priest." But lo and behold, four of the king's knights accost Thomas Becket in his cathedral and cut him down with swords. Human nature has not changed since 1170, but we have learned a thing or two about restraining it. Even Henry II felt he had to do penance to calm public revulsion at Becket's murder, and 45 years later Henry's son John was forced to issue the Magna Carta.. A little reflection on Becket might help our moralists understand where that road leads. If Presidents get a pass on perjury, the rougher types around them will conclude they too can get away with rougher things.."
Investor's Business Daily 5/20/99 Editorial "...Not long after the 1992 campaign, private investigator Terry Lenzner met with Clinton aide Harold Ickes in the White House. Lenzner runs Investigative Group International, a Washington-based detective agency. Soon after, IGI was doing work for the Clintons' legal defense fund. Later, Clinton's personal lawyer, David Kendall, hired Lenzner's group to dig up dirt on Paula Jones, prosecutors on Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's staff and GOP lawyers Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova, among others, says author Joyce Milton in her new book, ''The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton.'' IGI agents didn't stop there, Milton says. They also reportedly snooped into the backgrounds of Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and Willey...."
Investor's Business Daily 5/20/99 Editorial "... Estranged Clinton campaign guru Dick Morris fingers IGI as ''the White House secret police.'' That's not a stretch, Milton said, ''judging by the revolving door between IGI and the administration.'' Those who jumped from IGI to the administration include: Raymond Kelly, who became Clinton's Secret Service chief. Ricki Seidman, who joined the Justice Department. Brooke Shearer, who joined Hillary's staff and ran a White House intern program before moving to a job at the Interior Department. Even Lenzner's daughter. She became an intern to former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos. Meantime, those who left the administration for IGI include: Former FBI General Counsel Howard Shapiro, who has signed on as Lenzner's lawyer. Shapiro was supposed to get to the bottom of the Filegate scandal. Instead, he did damage control for the White House, sneaking officials a peek at FBI agent Gary Aldrich's manuscript to ''Unlimited Access.'' Former FBI official Larry Potts (of Ruby Ridge fame), who's now an IGI executive...."
Investor's Business Daily 5/20/99 Editorial "...In 1992, Hillary's law partner, Vince Foster, was tasked with hiring private detective Jerry Parks to further probe Clinton's affairs, says British reporter Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in ''The Secret Life of Bill Clinton.'' (Parks was killed in 1993.) What's more, Hillary in 1992 helped enlist a private security agency to snuff a rumor that Clinton had sex with a black prostitute, Milton says. They weren't the only private dicks hired. The Clinton-Gore campaign had two more on retainer to smash ''bimbo eruptions.'' One was Anthony Pellicano of Los Angeles and the other was Jack Palladino of San Francisco. More than likely, bringing Lenzner into the White House fold was also Hillary's idea. She and Lenzner go way back. They worked on the Watergate hearings. They also served on the board of Legal Services Corp. and have a mutual friend in Mickey Kantor, another Legal Services veteran...."
Investor's Business Daily 5/20/99 Editorial "...But Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton points out that Lenzner had no problem naming other clients. What's more, Hillary's friend Brooke Shearer left IGI, where she worked as one of Lenzner's operatives, to join Hillary's staff. Shearer is married to Strobe Talbott, Clinton's old Oxford roommate, an ex-Time magazine writer and now the State Department's top official dealing with Russia...."
FROM POLITICAL FIRINGS, DEMOTIONS, RESIGNATIONS SECTION:
Judicial Watch Press Release 1/15/99 Larry Klayman ".Linda Tripp testified Tuesday that she saw a document which proves conclusively that Hillary Rodham Clinton ordered the Travel Office firings. The revelation came during hostile questioning by an attorney for Williams & Connolly, the firm representing Mrs. Clinton in the $90 million Filegate civil lawsuit brought against her, the Clinton White House, the FBI, and others by Judicial Watch on behalf of those former Reagan and Bush staffers and others whose FBI files were illegally obtained and misused by the Clinton White House. Tripp testified that the "order" to fire the Travel Office staff was seen "in handwriting on a memo in Mrs. Clinton's hand signed HRC, which said, we need our people out, out underlined -- we need these people out, out underlined, we need our people in, in underlined, HRC." Ms. Tripp testified that the writing was on the upper-right hand corner of memo that had the names of the late Vince Foster and former White House Associate Counsel William Kennedy..."
Progressive Review 1/15/99 Sam Smith from Linda Tripp Deposition ".Q. My question is whether you recall any specific orders that Mrs. Clinton gave either of those two individuals? A I remember an order having to do with the firing of the Travel Office from Mrs. Clinton to Mr. Foster, yes. Q What was that order? A In handwriting on a memo in Mrs. Clinton's hand signed HRC, which said, we need our people out, out underlined -- we need these people out, out underlined, we need our people in, in underlined, HRC."
Wall Street Journal 3/25/99 "...It's no secret that the Clinton defense squads play hardball with their political opponents. But at least they get publicized. Less well attended to is the Administration's practice of trying to smother or smear internal government whistleblowers critical of its policies.... Everyone now knows about the Chinese espionage at the Los Alamos nuclear lab. Not nearly so widely known is that Notra Trulock, the Energy Department investigator who uncovered the espionage, says he was ordered not to tell Congress of his findings. Colleagues say he was also harassed and intimidated by superiors. Meanwhile, FBI officials tell us of agents who tried to warn the White House that some of the President's Arkansas buddies were engaged in shady business deals in China, then saw their careers derailed or sidelined. Of course, the most famous whistleblower of the Clinton era may be Jean Lewis, the investigator for the Resolution Trust Corp. who told Congress there was "a concerted effort to obstruct, hamper and manipulate" her probe of Madison Savings, the Arkansas S&L with links to the Clinton family. Her superiors removed her from the probe and placed her on administrative leave. A letter was pulled from her computer and leaked to smear her motives. And of course there are the Privacy Act violations against Kathleen Willey and Linda Tripp, both government employees...Senate Finance Chairman William Roth claims that several IRS employees who testified about abuses before his committee suffered reprisals. The Environmental Protection Agency has disciplined employees who speak out against its use of junk science....Last year, an administrative law judge ordered the EPA to pay one of its scientists, David Lewis, more than $100,000 after it falsely accused him of ethics violations over articles he had written criticizing the agency. This past September, a second judge found that the EPA had discriminated against him in denying him a promotion...... In 1996, the Immigration and Naturalization Service allowed Vice President Gore's office to pressure it into allowing 180,000 immigrants to become citizens before that year's election without having their criminal records checked. Some 11,000 of them had felony arrest records. Much of this could have been avoided if the Administration had heeded warnings from Neil Jacobs, an assistant director in the INS's Dallas office. Subpoenaed to testify before Congress, he reported in late 1996 that not one out of 10,000 people who became citizens in the Dallas area were referred to his office for a review of their criminal records. After his testimony, the INS tried to fire him for denying merit raises for three Hispanic agents and instead giving them $1,000 cash awards. It suspended him and moved him from his supervisory position, never mind that he had received a personal award from Vice President Gore for government efficiency. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board last month ordered the INS to reinstate Mr. Jacobs, saying an ongoing investigation "revealed reasonable grounds" that his whistleblowing had led to the decision to punish him..... "
FROM INTIMIDATIONS: CHARACTER ASSAULTS
Ken Starr and prosecutorial staff - press materials, Carville declared "war," and White House officials "our continuing campaign to destroy Ken Starr" and "stand up to Starr" campaign.
Gary Aldrich
Matt Drudge - $30m Sid Blumenthal suit
Linda Tripp - death threats, Pentagon information to New Yorker
David Hale - David Pryor
Rep. Barr & Judicial Committee Members - Mulholland
Billy Dale (Travel Office)
State Troopers via Buddy Young (Clinton) - (testified to procuring women)
Three state troopers testified that they or their families were threatened if they talked.
Dolly Kyle Browning testified her brother, a 1992 Clinton campaign worker, warned "we will destroy you" if she talked.
Kathleen Willey - Nathan Landow flew her to his estate, conversation and Michael Viner
Jim Robinson - lawsuit threats
Bruce Bates
Jeff Evans
Margie Gray
Patricia and Glenn Mendoza (shouted remark at president)
William E. Kelly (Chicago)
Kent Masterson Brown
Walter Gazecki
Shelly Davis
Chief Petty Officer Kathleen Janoski
Lt. Col Steve Cogswell
Lt. Col David Hause
Maj. Thomas Parsons
John Deutch
R. James Woolsey
Gordon Oehler
Frederick Whitehurst
Dennis Patrick
Jean Duffey
Richard Jewell
Jack Wickman
Education and Information Project: Judicial Watch has subpoenaed from James Carville 38,698 pages of documents and 5,000 pages of computer diskettes, which reveal a well organized and financed opposition research effort. Records include voting and driving records, court documents, mortgages, deeds, rumor information. Some documents were faxed to Carville from Kendall, Blumenthal and Begala. The following names are on the list:
1 Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr
2 Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN)
3 Independent Counsel Donald Smaltz
4 Senator Lauch Faircloth (R-NC)
5 House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
6 Pat Robertson
7 Congressman Henry Hyde (R-IL)
8 David Brock
9 Philanthropist Richard Mellon Scaife
10 Floyd Brown
11 Olin Foundation
12 Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
13 Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA)
14 Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN)
15 L. Brent Bozell III
16 David Bossie
17 Common Cause
18 Kathleen Willey
19 Susan Carpenter McMillan
20 Jacob Stein
21 Gil Davis
22 Judge David Sentelle
23 David Hale
24 Jim Guy Tucker
25 Dick Morris
26 Paula Jones
27 Richard DeVos
28 Citizens for Honest Government
29 Lamar Alexander
30 Bradley Foundation
31 Bill Bennett
32 Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC)
33 Landmark Legal Foundation
34 Congressman Bob Barr
35 Concord Coalition
36 Joe DiGenova
In a 6/29/98 Washington Weekly exclusive by Wesley Phelan: "Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch on Friday, June 26, deposed J. Lowe Davis, to whom New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer attributed information about a 1969 arrest of Linda Tripp. J. Lowe Davis admits telling Mayer that her former husband and Linda Tripp's father, Albert Caretenuto, had once bailed Linda Tripp out of jail. But Davis claims not to be the source of other quotes attributed to her by Mayer. " Also in the interview, Klayman said that the documents obtained from Carville (Education and Information Project) indicate that the information comes from many sources and that if the information sent to him from the White House comes from identifiable files of the White House, it may constitute a violation of the Privacy Act which may have both civil and criminal remedies. Klayman also said that the smear campaign used a Washington Post editor William Hamilton who is the husband of Jane Mayer who is a former colleague of Sidney Blumenthal. In deposition, Ms Davis remembered little more than her former husband and Tripp's father once bailed Linda out of jail. Many of the quotes in Mayer's second article did not come from Davis. And, the Tony Snow article raised the question of whether the source of the form: Pentagon or White House.
7/6/98 Washington Weekly Marvin Lee "Terry Good, head of the White House Office of Records Management last week admitted that he had been ordered by the White House Counsel to pull the file of Linda Tripp after the Lewinsky story broke in January. The admission was made under oath during a deposition by Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch. "There appears to be a concerted effort by the Clinton administration to use government files to harm and intimidate perceived grand jury witnesses," stated Larry Klayman. The files of Kathleen Willey and Monica Lewinsky were pulled as well."
6/29/98 The Weekly Standard Tucker Carlson ".Destroying a person's reputation is messy work, and not everyone in the White House enjoyed it. "Whenever I went off the facts and into attacks on Starr, I felt very uncomfortable," says Lanny Davis, who must have spent much of his tenure as special counsel to the president feeling uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the strategy worked. By the time Monica Lewinsky became famous, Starr's approval ratings were below even D'Amato's.. Davis says, suddenly sounding quite sober, even repentant, on the subject. "I think the temptation, which I have shared in, is to characterize the report ahead of time as a political document. The facts ultimately are going to determine the outcome here, and we ought to focus on those facts once the report is issued." ."
7/7/98 Landmark Legal Foundation president, Mark R. Levin: ".The point is, if Maryland courts are not willing to recognize a violation of this law in a civil case without a showing of actual intent, they certainly won't recognize it in a criminal case where the standard is far more stringent. Levin added, "This raises serious questions about the timing and motives behind Mr. Montanarelli's actions - on the same day Tripp is testifying before a federal grand jury. Federal investigators need to determine if Mr. Montanarelli's announcement today is intended to influence or intimidate Tripp. "
7/8/98 The Dodge County News Ken Carroll "Jane Mayer's story on Linda Tripp has fallen apart. The timing was far too convenient and it was never well-constructed anyway. .So, how did Ms. Mayer get the scoop on this long forgotten incident? Good question. In fact, it's such a good question, there are two answers! Ms. Mayer's original statement was that Tripp's former step-mother contacted her with the information. Mayer claims she then checked it out and used it in her story. Ah, but not so, says Tripp's former step-mother, a liberal newspaper columnist based in Pensacola, Florida. She says Mayer called her up and asked her comment on the arrest story. Mayer also claimed to have gotten other information in her story from Tripp's personnel records Yet the language in one doesn't square in the other. So, there are two important questions here if we think for ourselves: 1) Where DID the story idea come from, and 2) Why did Mayer lie about the origin of her information? .it seems the information may have come straight out of Bill Clinton's Office of the White House Counsel. .in another story, reported in The Washington Weekly.Terry Good, the head of the White House Office of Records Management has admitted under oath that he complied with orders from the office of the White House counsel and pulled Linda Tripp's personnel file.Larry Klayman, of Judicial Watch, was quoted by The Washington Weekly as stating, "There appears to be a concerted effort by the Clinton Administration to use government files to harm and intimidate perceived grand jury witnesses." Files on Monica Lewinski and Kathleen Willey were also pulled. ."
Time Daily 7/10/98 Frank Pellegrini "Linda Tripp certainly looks as if she's under siege. According to CNN.Michael Weisskopf says that Special Prosecutor Ken Starr's interest in Tripp will probably trump any state investigation. "It's more than likely the grand jury in Maryland will not get hold of any tapes because Starr's is a federal investigation," Weisskopf says. And Montanarelli's chances for reeling in Tripp herself aren't much better. "Tripp received immunity when she agreed to cooperate with Starr. That immunity would likely be relevant to state as well as federal investigations."."
Maryland State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli opened a grand jury probe into whether Tripp broke Maryland law barring taped phone calls unless both parties consent. But his job description is to root out corruption by public officials. Tripp is not a Maryland public official.
7/11/98 Washington Post Bill Miller "A federal judge yesterday ordered the Defense Department to seize and examine the computer of a Pentagon official who has admitted releasing sensitive information contained on Linda R. Tripp's security clearance form. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said he acted because the official, Clifford Bernath, deleted numerous documents from his computer in the weeks after his release of information to the New Yorker magazine."
7/17/98 Washington Times Bill Sammon "White House officials searched their files for "anything and everything" on Linda R. Tripp after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, but President Clinton refused to reveal that search to Congress, The Washington Times has learned. Thursday, the chairman of the House Rules Committee referred "this potential obstruction of a Congressional investigation" to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr. Rep. Gerald B.H. Solomon suspects the White House, after searching its files on Mrs. Tripp, tipped off the New Yorker magazine to damaging information in Mrs. Tripp's personnel file at the Pentagon. "In the Linda Tripp matter, we may be previewing the extent of damage the president's political team is capable of, and apparently intent upon, inflicting," Mr. Solomon wrote to Mr. Starr, adding that it amounted to "intimidation of a federal witness." Days after the New Yorker published sensitive information from Mrs. Tripp's security clearance form in March, Mr. Solomon -- in an attempt to determine if the Tripp leak violated federal law -- asked Mr. Clinton in a letter whether anyone had pulled Mrs. Tripp's White House file, which he said would have contained her security clearance information.. "Because of the seriousness of this unfortunate and illegal occurrence, I look forward to the courtesy of a rapid response," the New York Republican wrote in the letter, dated March 18. According to a Solomon spokesman, Mr. Clinton did not respond. But the answer was revealed June 30 by Terry W. Good, director of White House records management. In a deposition to Judicial Watch.
7/24/98 AP "Paula Jones said Friday that letters written to her by her previous lawyers should not have been made public in her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton. The letters were released last month when U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright, who dissed the lawsuit, entered them into the public record. Mrs. Jones asked Wright to vacate her order that made the letters public, saying the letters were addressed to her, dealt with legal issues and included advice in the lawsuit. ``Therefore, on their face, these are attorney-client privileged communications,'' her motion said. ``Why these letters were in the possession of the court is unknown to Mrs. Jones.'' "
The Washington Times 7/21/98 John McCaslin "Every news report that James A. Ross reads leaves him with the impression that taping telephone calls in Maryland is legal only if all parties consent; and therefore, Linda R. Tripp broke the law when she recorded her telephone conversations with Monica Lewinsky."I wonder who does legal analyses for all those people," asks the director of the Ross Group, a privacy and security outfit based in Washington. "Yes, Linda Tripp was recording calls while in her Maryland home; and yes, Maryland law requires all-party consent," Mr. Ross agrees."However, the calls were not made within the state of Maryland. They were interstate calls made between [Washington D.C. and Maryland, and therefore the federal law applies, not state law. And federal law allows taping when one party consents."."
8/1/98 The New York Post Brian Blomquist and Marilyn Rauber "Linda Tripp has testified a top Clinton aide threatened to "destroy" her and that Monica Lewinsky passed along veiled threats from the president himself, a source close to Tripp said yesterday. Tripp also told the Sexgate grand jury Lewinsky ominously warned her the president "was aware" of Tripp after she surfaced in last summer's bombshell Newsweek article on Willey, the source said."
7/31/98 Creator's Syndicate Inc. Tony Snow "Linda Tripp bid farewell last Wednesday to the grand jury impaneled by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. She delivered a few remarks to the jurors and then made her way outside to a waiting horde of reporters.. By the time Tripp reached the microphone and began to address reporters, she was trembling like a leaf. Most Americans can identify with this kind of fear. We find only one thing more frightening than speaking to strangers, and that's death. So when Tripp trembled, she offered a glimpse of something we have seen seldom in L'Affaire Lewinsky: authentic human emotion. A bit of serendipity helped her through her six-minute oration. Just beyond the reporters stood a patriotic scultpure bearing quotations from the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the 14th Amendment. Tripp's eyes sighted on the first engraved phrase: "We hold these truths to be self-evident. ..." "I was mesmerized by it," she recalls. "I almost threw my notes away." And at the end, she did. She closed by speaking from the heart: "I believe in our country. As I said, I'm no different than any of you. I believe you have the right to tell the truth under oath, and I believe you have the right to do so without fear of retribution or worse. ... It is a right all of us should be fighting for." Tripp's performance was a far cry from the slick and practiced statements delivered by the likes of Vernon Jordan. It bore no resemblance to the rehearsed assaults on her, Kenneth Starr or anybody else who has dared question the probity of a patently corrupt president. Yet it also featured a fair share of zingers, including the following passage: "I became aware between 1993 and 1997 of actions by high government officials that may have been against the law. "For that period of nearly five years, the things I witnessed concerning several different subjects made me increasingly fearful that this information was dangerous -- very dangerous -- to possess." She identified the two enduring features of the Clinton scandals: brazen lawlessness and witness intimidation. And now, she feels free to recount some of the things she has seen. She says she was shaken by White House dishonesty during investigations of Vince Foster's death, Filegate, Travelgate and reports of drug abuse among administration employees. "It's chilling," she says, "to watch high government officials lie under oath." She says a political operative recently approached her attorney, Anthony Zaccagnini, and relayed stunning news. The man said the White House legal team had asked him to root through Tripp's trash and perform a back audit on all her tax returns. "Tell her to watch what she puts in the garbage," he warned, noting that he had turned down the commission from Team Clinton. Tripp doesn't consider that unusual. It turns out Monica Lewinsky gave her much more than talking points. The intern also relayed threats from the president during the Kathleen Willey controversy. Tripp had alerted her White House superiors that Michael Isikoff of Newsweek was about to print Willey's claim that the president assailed her sexually. The administration wanted Tripp to observe the old rule of omierta. So the messages came: "(Talking to Isikoff) is a dangerous thing to do." "Team players don't do this. You need to be a team player." "You have two children to think about." "This is not a good career move." She says presidential fixer Bruce Lindsey told her she would be "destroyed" if she went public with anything she had seen . For a while, the threats worked. "Fear is a magnificent motivator," she says. "There is none quite like it. But you do get to a point where you say either, 'I'm going to continue this way and do what I need to keep my health and my job', or, 'I'm mad, and I'm not gonna take it anymore. Tripp made her choice. "There are no standards in that White House," she says, "and I'm not going to be a part of it. I'm going to expose it." ."
7/30/98 US Information Agency - Washington File Pentagon Briefing 7/30/98 Deputy Defense Department Spokesman Captain Mike Doubleday briefed. Following is the Pentagon transcript: Q: Do you have a response of Linda Tripp's statement that she's been demoted and cast aside by the Pentagon? A: I have just a few things that I can pass along to you on that subject. First of all, she has not been demoted. Linda Tripp continues as an employee of the department. At her request, we made special arrangements for her to work at home, and those arrangements will be reviewed at some appropriate time. Q: Can you say how many hours a week she puts in at her job? And does the pay scale reflect... A: No, what I've just gone through for you right now is the extent of what I can give you today. Yes. Q: Can you go a little deeper into some appropriate time? My recollection is that this arrangement allowed her to prepare for her testimony, which is over. So is there going to be a review very shortly to find some other arrangement? A: I can't forecast for you any kind of a time table. As soon as I have any information, I'll be glad to pass it along. Q: During all this time has she produced some work product?A: I think I've indicated what I've given you here is the extent of what I can provide for you. Q: Is Ken Bacon the one who has to make the decisions on her future or is it someone else? A: I can't answer that question for you. But when I can I'll certainly do so. ."
Wall Street Journal 9/2/98 Op Ed "The vast power prosecutors wield--from Kenneth Starr on down--indeed merits scrutiny, so how is it that Stephen Montanarelli, the Maryland state prosecutor who seems bent on indicting Linda Tripp, has been virtually ignored? Mr. Montanarelli runs an independent office charged with prosecuting public officials, a role similar to Judge Starr's. It's his job to see if Linda Tripp violated Maryland's law against taping without consent.Mr. Montanarelli denies that he's under political pressure, but acknowledges his timing on calling a grand jury was inappropriate. GOP State Rep. Robert Flanigan says the move "certainly created the impression he was trying to intimidate her." Mr. Flanigan says there has been a "comprehensive effort" to urge a prosecution, including a January letter signed by 49 Democratic members of the Maryland House.Obviously Mr. Montanarelli must follow the law. But his track record doesn't inspire confidence. In 1995, he refused to prosecute a county election commissioner for nepotism because he ruled the person wasn't a "public official." Somehow, Ms. Tripp, a Pentagon employee, qualifies as one. Should Mr. Montanarelli proceed with a dubious prosecution, his own clear standing as a public official should qualify him, as it does Judge Starr, for a measure of scrutiny."
NY Times 9/28/98 James Bennett Jill Abramson "Broadening its counterattack against possible impeachment proceedings, the White House has coordinated a strategy with congressional Democrats to turn the tables and investigate the investigators by examining how Kenneth Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel, came to look into the Lewinsky matter, Clinton advisers said Sunday. With help from Democrats in the House and Senate, the White House is trying to obtain from Starr an accounting of how he persuaded the Department of Justice in January to authorize him to broaden his inquiry to include President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky. A Democratic effort to do just that failed in a strict party-line vote in the House Judiciary Committee on Friday. "That was defeated, but it's going to come back in many different ways," one senior Clinton strategist said Sunday, speaking on condition of not being named. "This is a coordinated, strategic approach." ..The president's strategists and congressional allies plan to portray Mrs. Tripp as a tainted witness who broke the law to tape the conversations and manipulated Ms. Lewinsky -- and perhaps Starr -- in an effort to entrap the president. The new Democratic assault on Mrs. Tripp is based on documents released last week, including testimony from Ms. Lewinsky stating that it was Mrs. Tripp who pushed her into actions that subsequently damaged Clinton. Ms. Lewinsky said that Mrs. Tripp urged her to save the dress stained in a sexual encounter with the president, suggested that she seek help from Washington lawyer Vernon Jordan Jr. to get a job in New York, and urged her to delay signing her affidavit in the Jones case until the job came through.."
9/29/98 Drudge Report ".A White House switchboard operator received the first reprimand of his career after he "declined suggestions from the White House counsel's office that he hire a lawyer from a recommended list before testifying" before the Lewinsky grand jury, according to Wednesday's NEW YORK TIMES. President Clinton's former political consultant Dick Morris told the grand jury that "the White House maintains an operation to intimidate women who have had affairs with the president." Morris identified them as private investigators Terry Lenzner and Jack Palladino and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Lindsey, reports Wednesday's CHICAGO TRIBUNE. "Morris also told the grand jury that he knew of two instances, one involving himself, in which the White House had leaked damaging information. Morris said that two or three personally embarrassing stories that he told White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles ended up in the NATIONAL ENQUIRER. Morris noted that Clinton's private lawyer, David Kendall, also represents the ENQUIRER." Morris also said that the White House improperly leaked damaging information about GOP consultant Ed Rollins.."
Washington Weekly 4/6/98 "The Washington Post last month sent a cease-and-desist letter to a small
Freeper report 9/26/98 on deardolly.com/lawsuit.htm ".51. For example, as part of this effort to prevent publication of Mrs. Browning's manuscript, Jane Mayer, on information and belief, at Mr. Clinton's or his agents' direction and/or request, published an article in the May 26, 1997 edition of The New Yorker magazine that attributed false, misleading, and disparaging statements about her manuscript, "Purposes of the Heart," to Alfred S. Regnery, President of Regnery Publishing Company. According to Ms. Mayer's article: Alfred S. Regnery, the heir to a small and influential publishing firm, had recently launched several controversial best-sellers . . . and now had another hot prospect to consider: a typed manuscript purporting to be a memoir disguised as fiction, by a Texas lawyer who claimed to have had a two-decade- long affair with Bill Clinton. The manuscript, which had already been rejected by a great many major publishing houses in New York, had finally reached the more specialized quarters of Regnery Publishing, an independent firm that ever since its founding, in 1947, has been associated with the political right. * * * It seemed plausible, then, that a memoir by a putative Presidential mistress would find a home at Regnery [Publishing Co.]. But this time the company's namesake and president was taking the high road. "Are we going to publish a book that just talks about whom Clinton slept with?" [Alfred S.] Regnery asked, casually spreading the calumny as he chatted. "I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole." One reason is that, given the accounts of Clinton's private life that this company and others have already published, a novel by a self- proclaimed mistress, he explained, "isn't particularly newsworthy." Besides, he added, "it's far below our standards." 52. Contrary to the statement in The New Yorker that "the manuscript . . . had finally reached the more specialized quarters of Regnery Publishing," Mrs. Browning never sent Mr. Regnery a copy of her manuscript. 53. In fact, Mr. Regnery never saw a copy of Mrs. Browning's manuscript and did not make the false, misleading, and disparaging statements about the manuscript that Ms. Mayer attributed to him.."
Investor's Business Daily 10/2/98 Editorial "Just the phrase ''secret police'' calls up images of the Gestapo or KGB. Now, says President Clinton's former adviser, Dick Morris, it turns out White House allies have used private detectives to threaten women who dallied with the president. Buried in the next document dump from Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation is testimony from Morris before the grand jury that friends of Bill had mounted a ''secret police operation to go around and intimidate women.'' Morris says he didn't have firsthand knowledge of the operation, but that he based his testimony on affidavits and published reports. Incredible. And frightening. We already know that the Clinton camp used the services of Terry Lenzner, a private detective, to investigate the ''bimbo eruptions'' in the '92 campaign. We know that the White House had more than 1,000 raw FBI files, mostly of Republicans. Clinton officials said it was ''a bureaucratic snafu,'' but only after unjustly blaming the Secret Service. And Linda Tripp has told the conservative Judicial Watch group, which is suing the administration over the files, that she saw staffers in the White House entering the data from the files into computers. And speaking of Tripp, we know that when she became a central figure in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Kenneth Bacon of the Defense Department authorized the release of her background investigation to the media - a violation of privacy laws - to undermine her credibility. Also buried in the document dump, according to sources who have seen it, is a tape-recorded statement from Lewinsky to Tripp: ''I wouldn't cross these people for fear of my life.''."
AP 10/19/98 James Jefferson ".In a filing in January, Clinton's lawyers told the court they had testimony from a man who alleged he had sex with Mrs. Jones in his car in a bar parking lot on their first encounter. A few weeks later, Mrs. Jones initiated oral sex with the man, the president's lawyers alleged. The two encounters, the lawyers said, occurred just months before the episode in which Mrs. Jones alleged she was emotionally distressed when Clinton propositioned her for a similar sex act at an Arkansas hotel in May 1991... But Clinton's lawyers argued in their court filing it was relevant as rebuttal evidence if Mrs. Jones "should assert at any trial that she was an innocent minister's daughter" or was "emotionally traumatized" by a suggestion she perform a sex act.."
Capitol Hill Blue 10/20/98 ".At a later meeting, the man is supposed to have told the lawyers, Paula went down on him. It was, he said, her idea. This portrait of young Paula as a wanton slut willing to spread her legs or open her mouth for the cost of a free beer came from somebody named Michael King, but reporters called the two Michael Kings in the Little Rock phone book Monday and both said they had never met, let alone gotten it on with, anybody named Paula Corbin...But the filings in the Paula Jones case joins an ever-growing mountain of evidence that shows Bill Clinton, between blow jobs, used the power of his office to destroy people. That, by anybody's definition, is abuse of power and abuse of power is a "high crime and misdemeanor" against the constitution of the United States. Which is more than reason enough to throw the lowlife son-of-a-bitch out of office. "
THE INDICTMENT OF LINDA TRIPP:
Associated Press 7/30/99 Greg Toppo "...Mrs. Tripp, whose tapes led to impeachment of the president, becomes the only central figure in the Lewinsky scandal to face criminal charges. State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli said the grand jury indicted Mrs. Tripp on one count of illegal interception of a phone conversation on Dec. 22, 1997, after she allegedly had been told by her lawyer that the taping was illegal. The other count was for allegedly disclosing the contents of that conversation to Newsweek magazine...."
Judicial Watch 7/30/99 Larry Klayman "...Yesterday, Judge Susan Webber Wright continued her amazing deference toward the President, giving Bill Clinton a virtually meaningless slap on the wrist in fining him a paltry $90 thousand dollars pursuant to a mere civil contempt citation.... However, in amazing irony, it has been reported today in The Washington Post that Linda Tripp will be indicted today by a Maryland State Prosecutor, Stephen Montanarelli, who the evidence suggests was on orders from the Democrats and most likely The White House to not only obstruct Kenneth Starr's investigation, but also tamper with Judicial Watch's on-going Filegate class action lawsuit. Tripp is a material witness in both, and in Filegate she has linked Hillary Clinton to the misuse of FBI files in The White House. Judicial Watch has been investigating the political influence which Democrats brought to bear in having Montanarelli start a criminal proceeding against Tripp, just as she was supposed to testify before Starr and Judicial Watch. In response to document requests, the prosecutor submitted false or misleading affidavits to the Court. While the Court action initiated by Judicial Watch is still in progress, the lower tribunal having ruled in Judicial Watch's favor, the public interest watchdog will today file a complaint against Mr. Montanarelli before appropriate legal authorities for his dishonest conduct....."
Salon Magazine 7/30/99 Jeff Stein "...On the day that Linda Tripp was finally indicted in Maryland for illegally taping Monica Lewinsky's tales of her up-and-down relationship with President Clinton, nobody could say what happened to the original evidence in the case -- the tapes themselves....Tripp's lawyers are expected to vigorously challenge the Maryland prosecutor's use of any evidence obtained by Starr from Tripp under the immunity agreement as inadmissible. But Halpert, the investigator, indicated that independent evidence, apart from the tapes, had been gathered by his office. "It's not necessary to have tapes," he said. "The case can be put together from circumstantial evidence," but he declined to elaborate....Despite Friday's indictment, no one expects Tripp to be seen in a courtroom soon. Her lawyers are expected to file a flurry of motions on her immunity agreement with Starr and arguing the supremacy of federal law as far back as the 1803 case of Marbury vs. Madison, which also happened to be heard in Maryland.... Maryland's wiretap statute, which forbids one person to tape another without notification, is routinely violated and rarely prosecuted, experts agree. That has prompted Tripp's defenders to charge that the prosecutors are politically motivated...."
NYPost (Print Edition ONLY) via lucianne.com 8/1/99 Brian Blomquist (Edited by Lucianne Goldberg) Freeper harpu "...Linda Tripp believes her wiretapping indictment is "rediculous" and "outrageous" and is looking to sue high state officials in Maryland who could have prevented it, her lawyers said yesterday. Tripp's targets could be top state officials, such as Gov. Parris Glendening or Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who had the power to stop the state prosecutor from investigating Tripp, her lawyers said. "What the state is doing is illegal," Steve Kohn, a Tripp lawyer whose expertise is whistleblower cases, told The Post yesterday. Kohn said the Federal Civil Rights Act of l871, which was designed to protect the rights of ex-slaves during Reconstruction, prohibits states from enforcing laws in a way that interferes with a federal witness....."
MSNBC.com 8/2/99 Jeannette Walls "...Linda Tripp isn't the only one who should be upset by her recent double indictment. If there's a trial and everything Tripp knows comes out, Monica Lewinsky's mother, Marcia Lewis, could end up looking terrible, says Lucianne Goldberg. "I DON'T THINK the public has any idea how great a role Monica's mother played in encouraging her daughter to have an affair with Clinton," says Goldberg. "She was always paying for special clothes and professional makeup artists to make sure that Monica caught Clinton's attention." Goldberg should know:..."
The Progressive Review 8/2/99 Sam Smith "... The malicious indictment of Clinton scandal whistleblower Linda Tripp may not work out quite like its perpetrators have planned. Here are a few things to keep in mind: -- The indictment could be found to be illegal for two reasons: (1) Tripp had been granted immunity by Kenneth Starr and (2) the Federal Civil Rights Act of l871 prohibits states from enforcing laws in a way that interferes with a federal witness. -- Jeff Stein of Salon points out that Maryland's wiretap statute is routinely violated and rarely prosecuted. -- Tripp's lawyers are considering filing suit against Maryland officials who helped the Clinton machine in its jihad against those who attempt to tell the truth about it. -- Tripp's life was considered in enough danger at one point that the FBI put her in a safe house. -- Tripp claims she taped Lewinsky to protect herself allegedly after Bruce Lindsey threatened to "destroy" her and after Lewinsky transmitted veiled threats. -- Arriving at her White House desk one day, Tripp found that someone had left her a list of those around Clinton who had died in an unexplained or violent manner. A cover note suggested she would be interested in the information. -- A number of women could be called to testify that they too had received threats or harassment because of their involvement with Clinton. -- During a Tripp trial, White House officials, including Clinton, could be called to testify by the defense reviving public interest in aspects of the scandal the Clintonistas thought were buried. Potential other witnesses include Vernon Jordan, Monica Lewinsky, and Sidney Blumenthal. -- Tripp has testified under oath that she caw confidential FBI files piled on tables and floors in the offices of Vince Foster, Bernard Nussbaum, Williams Kennedy and Craig Livingstone. -- While working at the White House, Tripp received a phone call from someone who mentioned the "tainted blood issue."..."
Capitol Hill Blue 8/2/99 Doug Thompson "...Figure this out: The President of the United States gets it on with a White House intern, lies about under oath, obstructs justice when investigators close in, lies about it again under oath and pulls God-knows-what else and it's the person who blew the whistle on him who gets indicted? The worst Clinton got was fined for contempt of court. Tripp is indicted for breaking an arcane Maryland wiretap law and faces jail. If anybody thinks this is justice, they need a serious reality check...."
Washington Times 8/2/99 "... On August 1997 President Clinton's attorney called her a liar. "Linda Tripp," Robert Bennett told Newsweek magazine, "is not to be believed." She had told the magazine Kathleen Willey said the president made a sexual advance toward her. Given that she faced the prospect of having to testify under oath against her boss, Mr. Clinton, who could blame Mrs. Tripp for taking steps to show that she, not Mr. Bennett's famous client, was telling the truth? Mr. Clinton's fellow Democrat Stephen Montanarelli could.... Maryland law requires that both parties consent to the taping of phone conversations. Mrs. Tripp has acknowledged she taped some of the conversations without Miss Lewinsky's consent despite warnings from a lawyer that it might be illegal. She did it to document her story and to protect herself, she said....Mr. Montanarelli, who has never had the pleasure of finding himself in the crosshairs of presidential attack man James Carville and Mr. Bennett and never will as long as he keeps up the good work, decided mere self-preservation was no excuse for the taping. Nor did it matter to him that those tapes were a key part of a court-sanctioned federal investigation into presidential misconduct by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Egged on by his fellow Democrats in the Maryland state house, Mr. Montanarelli decided to prosecute Mrs. Tripp anyway. What makes it all the more legally awkward is how selective the prosecution is. Howard County State's Attorney Marna McLendon, a Republican who first declined to prosecute the case and then bowed to Democratic arm-twisting by bringing in Mr. Montanarelli, said prosecutions under the wiretap laws are rare. "This is a very extraordinary case obviously," she said Friday. So law enforcement in this country now means no prosecutions of Mr. Clinton, who lied under oath, or of Miss Lewinsky, who tried to bribe Mrs. Tripp into doing the same thing by denying any knowledge of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. Meanwhile, the one who told the truth, Mrs. Tripp, finds herself in the dock...."
The New Australian No 128 8/2-8/99 Larry Boeske "... Klayman believes that the Clintons were behind Tripp's indictment. One strong reason he gives is that the Jones lawsuit appears to be behind them once and for all (apparently after Susan Webber Wright slapped the $90,000 fine on Clinton.) "This is no accident that she was indicted today." (Just one day after the suit appears to be behind them*). One day after one thing is followed by another thing very closely related - Tripp's indictment. Coincidence? Klayman doesn't think so. He believes that the 'conclusion' of the Jones suit triggered the indictment. And Klayman isn't alone in questioning Maryland's legal attack on Tripp. So does a Federal judge. Klayman's Judicial Watch organisation had convinced a lower court judge that Maryland's indictment might have been coerced by the White House. The judge demanded that Maryland release certain documents that might prove orchestration between the White House and Maryland over Tripp, but the matter is currently under appeal. It is Klayman's opinion that Tripp was indicted to discredit her as a material witness over filegate and other White House scandals, as well as an attempt to intimidate her into signing a confession that would further discredit her. In his opinion, it was a political indictment and witness tampering. As he told a judge, if her indictment stands, then the state of Maryland becomes a banana republic..... Note: One of the first acts of the Clintons was to ask all US Attorneys to resign. An unprecedented and dictatorial action that gave the Clintons control over the prosecutorial machinery of the federal government in every judicial district in the country...."
NewsMax.com 8/1/99 "...The indictment of Sexgate taper Linda Tripp could backfire on the White House should the case go to trial, legal experts tell Inside Cover. And a source close to Tripp agrees. "This indictment cuts both ways, you know. Both sides have the right to discovery," said Landmark Legal Foundation's Mark Levin just hours before Maryland prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli announced that Tripp would be charged under the state's wiretapping statute. ..... Levin noted that the witness list could include Monica Lewinsky as well as other Jane Does unearthed in the Paula Jones suit. Tripp has said she taped Lewinsky to protect herself, alleging that longtime Clinton damage controller Bruce Lindsey threatened to "destroy" her if she didn't lie for the president. She also claims that Lewinsky passed on veiled threats of physical danger to her and her children. Tripp has said she believes those threats originated in the Oval Office. Witnesses with stories bolstering Tripp's account could be drawn from a list women who claimed they have been pressured to stay silent about their relationships with Clinton. That list would include Gennifer Flowers, Sally Perdue, Kathleen Willey, Dolly Kyle Browning, Elizabeth Ward Gracen, Cristy Zercher and perhaps even Juanita Broaddrick, who told Inside Cover exclusively in May that her house was broken into and a telephone answering machine tape stolen as she was considering going public with her rape charge against Clinton..... And how does Independent Counsel Ken Starr feel about all this? His office has been silent since the Tripp indictment was announced. But former Paula Jones attorney Gil Davis told Fox News Channel's Kathy Wolf on Saturday that the Tripp indictment stretched the boundaries of legal discretion, and could prompt Starr to reconsider indicting the president himself..."
The New Australian No 128 8/2-8/99 "...One of the first acts of the Clintons on entering the White House was to ask all US Attorneys to resign. This was unprecedented action that struck at the heart of the country's judicial system by giving the Clintons control over the prosecutorial machinery of the federal government in every judicial district in the country. Well their media-supported audacity has paid off once again. There is absolutely no doubt in political, judicial and media circles that Tripp's double indictment of breaching the state's law against recording telephone without the consent of all parties came from the Oval Office. Despite being granted immunity by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, state prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli, a Democratic appointee, still laid charges against Tripp. Montanarelli presented the case to the grand jury and will handle the prosecution. As expected, Maryland Democrats (whose respect for the rule of law is on par with Clinton's) have shamelessly given their full support to Montanarelli's legalized witness tampering tactics. ....That Montanarelli's pursuit of Tripp is politically motivated was made clear by his contempt for Tripp's immunity arrangements and his total disregard for the consequences of violating them. What criminal, for example, will now trust any justice department to guarantee him immunity now that Montanarelli has set the dangerous precedent of breaking such arrangements? ..."
Linda Tripp's attorney from Freeper jimbo123 7/30/99 "...STEPHEN M. KOHN, a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto, P.C., and the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the National Whistleblowers Center, has extensive experience in First Amendment Law..... Stephen M. Kohn is one of the nation's foremost experts on whistleblower law. Mr. Kohn wrote the first legal treatise on whistleblowing and has successfully litigated many of the nation's landmark whistleblower cases. Mr. Kohn played an integral role in obtaining whistleblower protection for FBI employees. As co-counsel to Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, Mr. Kohn initiated a lawsuit and other proceedings against the DOJ, the FBI and the President to request regulations be implemented to enforce existing whistleblower legislation protecting FBI employees and to force the FBI to obtain accredidation and other reforms for the FBI crime lab. As a result, President Clinton issued a historic directive ordering the Attorney General to implement regulations protecting FBI employee whistleblowers...."
www.judicialwatch.org 7/29/99 98-1991 (WBB) Browning v Clinton Motion "...Plaintiffs seek to question Ms. Tripp about the threats she stated she received from the White House via Monica Lewinsky just prior to her testimony in the Jones case, and via Bruce Lindsey after she raised concerns with him about certain activities in the White House Counsel's Office. Ms. Tripp was an employee in the White House Counsel's Office before being removed by the Clinton Administration to the Pentagon. Ms. Tripp told NBC's Today Show's Jamie Gangel that her fear of Clinton stems from a meeting she heard Clinton had about her in July 1997. She also said that Clinton called Lewinsky the night of July 14, 1997 to ensure that Tripp had become "a team player," and would lie for him in the Jones case. Tripp stated that she was afraid for her livelihood, and because of threats that had been made to her life and the lives of her children. Gangel asked if she believed Clinton was threatening her life, and Tripp replied: I believe that that was the message I was supposed to receive. Be a team player or else. . . . If you don't lie, you are being set up for perjury and jail. And who will believe you? You will lose your job and worse. That's what I was facing." Further, Ms. Tripp recently testified in a proceeding before this Court that Monica Lewinsky twice left on her office chair a list of people around Clinton who had died mysteriously. She stated under oath that both times she believed it was an attempt by Clinton to influence her testimony with regard to Kathleen Willey, and she took it as a serious threat. Importantly, Tripp also testified about a threat she received directly from Lindsey when she told him of her concern "that enemies [of the Clinton Administration], real or perceived, were in danger of information coming out [on them] in one way or another by the [A]dministration. Tripp testified that at the end of the conversation Lindsey said to her "talk like that will get you destroyed. You will be destroyed. He said it with a smile." Tripp stated that this scared her and she feared that "perhaps an accident would befall [her]."..."
NewsMax.com-Inside Cover 7/30/99 Cal Limbacher "....It's a country where witnesses like Linda Tripp who tell the truth about Bill Clinton and his presidency are routinely punished with demotions, dismissals; even prosecution or worse...David Hale, on the other hand, is still alive, though just barely -- after having gone through a trumped up state prosecution not unlike that which Linda Tripp now faces. For Hale, a three-time heart attack victim, the ordeal was so draining his lawyer David Bowden feared it would kill him. Like Tripp, Hale had been promised immunity by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. But Pulaski County D.A. Mark Stodola just didn't play by Starr's Marquis deQueensberry rules and refused to defer to the federales. As with Tripp's tapes and Monicagate; Hale's cooperation was indispensable to Whitewater's most successful prosecutions, leading to the convictions of Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and the McDougals. Hale also knew the full extent of the evidence Starr had against the First Lady and confidently predicted her indictment in an Oct. 1996 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece. Two years later, with no Hillary indictment in sight and state prosecutors trying to drag Hale from his hospital bed to the courtroom, Hale's lawyer told me that if he had to do it all over again, he would tell Starr's star witness to stonewall investigators -- just like Susan McDougal. Now it's Linda Tripp's turn. She trusted Ken Starr with evidence that put an impeachment case on a silver platter. Tripp's tapes were smoking gun evidence of presidential perjury and obstruction. And no one who read the "Talking Points" memo believed that little Monica had put that document together all by her lonesome.
But to win Lewinsky's cooperation, Starr accepted Monica's claim that she wrote the memo, along with her bizarre assertion that she was kidding in some of the recordings most damaging to the White House. To add insult to injury, the FBI Lab claimed that some of Tripp's tapes had been copied and edited. Rather than conduct a discreet, behind the scenes investigation of the role his most important witness may have had in this, Starr added a footnote to his report naming Tripp as a prime suspect in evidence tampering. For the second time in a row, Starr has been outmanuevered by a local D.A. with White House backing, who managed to convince presiding Monicagate Judge Norma Holloway Johnson that the tapes -- along with Linda Tripp's fate -- should be placed in the hands of Democrat prosecutors...."
Associated Press 7/30/99 Greg Toppo "...Mrs. Tripp, whose tapes led to impeachment of the president, becomes the only central figure in the Lewinsky scandal to face criminal charges. State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli said the grand jury indicted Mrs. Tripp on one count of illegal interception of a phone conversation on Dec. 22, 1997, after she allegedly had been told by her lawyer that the taping was illegal. The other count was for allegedly disclosing the contents of that conversation to Newsweek magazine...."
Judicial Watch 7/30/99 Larry Klayman "...Yesterday, Judge Susan Webber Wright continued her amazing deference toward the President, giving Bill Clinton a virtually meaningless slap on the wrist in fining him a paltry $90 thousand dollars pursuant to a mere civil contempt citation.... However, in amazing irony, it has been reported today in The Washington Post that Linda Tripp will be indicted today by a Maryland State Prosecutor, Stephen Montanarelli, who the evidence suggests was on orders from the Democrats and most likely The White House to not only obstruct Kenneth Starr's investigation, but also tamper with Judicial Watch's on-going Filegate class action lawsuit. Tripp is a material witness in both, and in Filegate she has linked Hillary Clinton to the misuse of FBI files in The White House. Judicial Watch has been investigating the political influence which Democrats brought to bear in having Montanarelli start a criminal proceeding against Tripp, just as she was supposed to testify before Starr and Judicial Watch. In response to document requests, the prosecutor submitted false or misleading affidavits to the Court. While the Court action initiated by Judicial Watch is still in progress, the lower tribunal having ruled in Judicial Watch's favor, the public interest watchdog will today file a complaint against Mr. Montanarelli before appropriate legal authorities for his dishonest conduct....."
Salon Magazine 7/30/99 Jeff Stein "...On the day that Linda Tripp was finally indicted in Maryland for illegally taping Monica Lewinsky's tales of her up-and-down relationship with President Clinton, nobody could say what happened to the original evidence in the case -- the tapes themselves....Tripp's lawyers are expected to vigorously challenge the Maryland prosecutor's use of any evidence obtained by Starr from Tripp under the immunity agreement as inadmissible. But Halpert, the investigator, indicated that independent evidence, apart from the tapes, had been gathered by his office. "It's not necessary to have tapes," he said. "The case can be put together from circumstantial evidence," but he declined to elaborate....Despite Friday's indictment, no one expects Tripp to be seen in a courtroom soon. Her lawyers are expected to file a flurry of motions on her immunity agreement with Starr and arguing the supremacy of federal law as far back as the 1803 case of Marbury vs. Madison, which also happened to be heard in Maryland.... Maryland's wiretap statute, which forbids one person to tape another without notification, is routinely violated and rarely prosecuted, experts agree. That has prompted Tripp's defenders to charge that the prosecutors are politically motivated...."
NYPost (Print Edition ONLY) via lucianne.com 8/1/99 Brian Blomquist (Edited by Lucianne Goldberg) Freeper harpu "...Linda Tripp believes her wiretapping indictment is "rediculous" and "outrageous" and is looking to sue high state officials in Maryland who could have prevented it, her lawyers said yesterday. Tripp's targets could be top state officials, such as Gov. Parris Glendening or Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who had the power to stop the state prosecutor from investigating Tripp, her lawyers said. "What the state is doing is illegal," Steve Kohn, a Tripp lawyer whose expertise is whistleblower cases, told The Post yesterday. Kohn said the Federal Civil Rights Act of l871, which was designed to protect the rights of ex-slaves during Reconstruction, prohibits states from enforcing laws in a way that interferes with a federal witness....."
MSNBC.com 8/2/99 Jeannette Walls "...Linda Tripp isn't the only one who should be upset by her recent double indictment. If there's a trial and everything Tripp knows comes out, Monica Lewinsky's mother, Marcia Lewis, could end up looking terrible, says Lucianne Goldberg. "I DON'T THINK the public has any idea how great a role Monica's mother played in encouraging her daughter to have an affair with Clinton," says Goldberg. "She was always paying for special clothes and professional makeup artists to make sure that Monica caught Clinton's attention." Goldberg should know:..."
The Progressive Review 8/2/99 Sam Smith "... The malicious indictment of Clinton scandal whistleblower Linda Tripp may not work out quite like its perpetrators have planned. Here are a few things to keep in mind: -- The indictment could be found to be illegal for two reasons: (1) Tripp had been granted immunity by Kenneth Starr and (2) the Federal Civil Rights Act of l871 prohibits states from enforcing laws in a way that interferes with a federal witness. -- Jeff Stein of Salon points out that Maryland's wiretap statute is routinely violated and rarely prosecuted. -- Tripp's lawyers are considering filing suit against Maryland officials who helped the Clinton machine in its jihad against those who attempt to tell the truth about it. -- Tripp's life was considered in enough danger at one point that the FBI put her in a safe house. -- Tripp claims she taped Lewinsky to protect herself allegedly after Bruce Lindsey threatened to "destroy" her and after Lewinsky transmitted veiled threats. -- Arriving at her White House desk one day, Tripp found that someone had left her a list of those around Clinton who had died in an unexplained or violent manner. A cover note suggested she would be interested in the information. -- A number of women could be called to testify that they too had received threats or harassment because of their involvement with Clinton. -- During a Tripp trial, White House officials, including Clinton, could be called to testify by the defense reviving public interest in aspects of the scandal the Clintonistas thought were buried. Potential other witnesses include Vernon Jordan, Monica Lewinsky, and Sidney Blumenthal. -- Tripp has testified under oath that she caw confidential FBI files piled on tables and floors in the offices of Vince Foster, Bernard Nussbaum, Williams Kennedy and Craig Livingstone. -- While working at the White House, Tripp received a phone call from someone who mentioned the "tainted blood issue."..."
Capitol Hill Blue 8/2/99 Doug Thompson "...Figure this out: The President of the United States gets it on with a White House intern, lies about under oath, obstructs justice when investigators close in, lies about it again under oath and pulls God-knows-what else and it's the person who blew the whistle on him who gets indicted? The worst Clinton got was fined for contempt of court. Tripp is indicted for breaking an arcane Maryland wiretap law and faces jail. If anybody thinks this is justice, they need a serious reality check...."
Washington Times 8/2/99 "... On August 1997 President Clinton's attorney called her a liar. "Linda Tripp," Robert Bennett told Newsweek magazine, "is not to be believed." She had told the magazine Kathleen Willey said the president made a sexual advance toward her. Given that she faced the prospect of having to testify under oath against her boss, Mr. Clinton, who could blame Mrs. Tripp for taking steps to show that she, not Mr. Bennett's famous client, was telling the truth? Mr. Clinton's fellow Democrat Stephen Montanarelli could.... Maryland law requires that both parties consent to the taping of phone conversations. Mrs. Tripp has acknowledged she taped some of the conversations without Miss Lewinsky's consent despite warnings from a lawyer that it might be illegal. She did it to document her story and to protect herself, she said....Mr. Montanarelli, who has never had the pleasure of finding himself in the crosshairs of presidential attack man James Carville and Mr. Bennett and never will as long as he keeps up the good work, decided mere self-preservation was no excuse for the taping. Nor did it matter to him that those tapes were a key part of a court-sanctioned federal investigation into presidential misconduct by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Egged on by his fellow Democrats in the Maryland state house, Mr. Montanarelli decided to prosecute Mrs. Tripp anyway. What makes it all the more legally awkward is how selective the prosecution is. Howard County State's Attorney Marna McLendon, a Republican who first declined to prosecute the case and then bowed to Democratic arm-twisting by bringing in Mr. Montanarelli, said prosecutions under the wiretap laws are rare. "This is a very extraordinary case obviously," she said Friday. So law enforcement in this country now means no prosecutions of Mr. Clinton, who lied under oath, or of Miss Lewinsky, who tried to bribe Mrs. Tripp into doing the same thing by denying any knowledge of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. Meanwhile, the one who told the truth, Mrs. Tripp, finds herself in the dock...."
The New Australian No 128 8/2-8/99 Larry Boeske "... Klayman believes that the Clintons were behind Tripp's indictment. One strong reason he gives is that the Jones lawsuit appears to be behind them once and for all (apparently after Susan Webber Wright slapped the $90,000 fine on Clinton.) "This is no accident that she was indicted today." (Just one day after the suit appears to be behind them*). One day after one thing is followed by another thing very closely related - Tripp's indictment. Coincidence? Klayman doesn't think so. He believes that the 'conclusion' of the Jones suit triggered the indictment. And Klayman isn't alone in questioning Maryland's legal attack on Tripp. So does a Federal judge. Klayman's Judicial Watch organisation had convinced a lower court judge that Maryland's indictment might have been coerced by the White House. The judge demanded that Maryland release certain documents that might prove orchestration between the White House and Maryland over Tripp, but the matter is currently under appeal. It is Klayman's opinion that Tripp was indicted to discredit her as a material witness over filegate and other White House scandals, as well as an attempt to intimidate her into signing a confession that would further discredit her. In his opinion, it was a political indictment and witness tampering. As he told a judge, if her indictment stands, then the state of Maryland becomes a banana republic..... Note: One of the first acts of the Clintons was to ask all US Attorneys to resign. An unprecedented and dictatorial action that gave the Clintons control over the prosecutorial machinery of the federal government in every judicial district in the country...."
NewsMax.com 8/1/99 "...The indictment of Sexgate taper Linda Tripp could backfire on the White House should the case go to trial, legal experts tell Inside Cover. And a source close to Tripp agrees. "This indictment cuts both ways, you know. Both sides have the right to discovery," said Landmark Legal Foundation's Mark Levin just hours before Maryland prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli announced that Tripp would be charged under the state's wiretapping statute. ..... Levin noted that the witness list could include Monica Lewinsky as well as other Jane Does unearthed in the Paula Jones suit. Tripp has said she taped Lewinsky to protect herself, alleging that longtime Clinton damage controller Bruce Lindsey threatened to "destroy" her if she didn't lie for the president. She also claims that Lewinsky passed on veiled threats of physical danger to her and her children. Tripp has said she believes those threats originated in the Oval Office. Witnesses with stories bolstering Tripp's account could be drawn from a list women who claimed they have been pressured to stay silent about their relationships with Clinton. That list would include Gennifer Flowers, Sally Perdue, Kathleen Willey, Dolly Kyle Browning, Elizabeth Ward Gracen, Cristy Zercher and perhaps even Juanita Broaddrick, who told Inside Cover exclusively in May that her house was broken into and a telephone answering machine tape stolen as she was considering going public with her rape charge against Clinton..... And how does Independent Counsel Ken Starr feel about all this? His office has been silent since the Tripp indictment was announced. But former Paula Jones attorney Gil Davis told Fox News Channel's Kathy Wolf on Saturday that the Tripp indictment stretched the boundaries of legal discretion, and could prompt Starr to reconsider indicting the president himself..."
The New Australian No 128 8/2-8/99 "...One of the first acts of the Clintons on entering the White House was to ask all US Attorneys to resign. This was unprecedented action that struck at the heart of the country's judicial system by giving the Clintons control over the prosecutorial machinery of the federal government in every judicial district in the country. Well their media-supported audacity has paid off once again. There is absolutely no doubt in political, judicial and media circles that Tripp's double indictment of breaching the state's law against recording telephone without the consent of all parties came from the Oval Office. Despite being granted immunity by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, state prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli, a Democratic appointee, still laid charges against Tripp. Montanarelli presented the case to the grand jury and will handle the prosecution. As expected, Maryland Democrats (whose respect for the rule of law is on par with Clinton's) have shamelessly given their full support to Montanarelli's legalized witness tampering tactics. ....That Montanarelli's pursuit of Tripp is politically motivated was made clear by his contempt for Tripp's immunity arrangements and his total disregard for the consequences of violating them. What criminal, for example, will now trust any justice department to guarantee him immunity now that Montanarelli has set the dangerous precedent of breaking such arrangements? ..."
NewsMax.com-Inside Cover 7/30/99 Cal Limbacher "....It's a country where witnesses like Linda Tripp who tell the truth about Bill Clinton and his presidency are routinely punished with demotions, dismissals; even prosecution or worse...David Hale, on the other hand, is still alive, though just barely -- after having gone through a trumped up state prosecution not unlike that which Linda Tripp now faces. For Hale, a three-time heart attack victim, the ordeal was so draining his lawyer David Bowden feared it would kill him. Like Tripp, Hale had been promised immunity by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. But Pulaski County D.A. Mark Stodola just didn't play by Starr's Marquis deQueensberry rules and refused to defer to the federales. As with Tripp's tapes and Monicagate; Hale's cooperation was indispensable to Whitewater's most successful prosecutions, leading to the convictions of Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and the McDougals. Hale also knew the full extent of the evidence Starr had against the First Lady and confidently predicted her indictment in an Oct. 1996 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece. Two years later, with no Hillary indictment in sight and state prosecutors trying to drag Hale from his hospital bed to the courtroom, Hale's lawyer told me that if he had to do it all over again, he would tell Starr's star witness to stonewall investigators -- just like Susan McDougal. Now it's Linda Tripp's turn. She trusted Ken Starr with evidence that put an impeachment case on a silver platter. Tripp's tapes were smoking gun evidence of presidential perjury and obstruction. And no one who read the "Talking Points" memo believed that little Monica had put that document together all by her lonesome. But to win Lewinsky's cooperation, Starr accepted Monica's claim that she wrote the memo, along with her bizarre assertion that she was kidding in some of the recordings most damaging to the White House. To add insult to injury, the FBI Lab claimed that some of Tripp's tapes had been copied and edited. Rather than conduct a discreet, behind the scenes investigation of the role his most important witness may have had in this, Starr added a footnote to his report naming Tripp as a prime suspect in evidence tampering. For the second time in a row, Starr has been outmanuevered by a local D.A. with White House backing, who managed to convince presiding Monicagate Judge Norma Holloway Johnson that the tapes -- along with Linda Tripp's fate -- should be placed in the hands of Democrat prosecutors...."
NewsMax.com 8/2/99 Christopher Ruddy "...there are two very good reasons why we should all care about what happens to Linda Tripp: #1: Her indictment is one more warning signal about the dangerous, dictatorial direction in which this country is going under the Clintons. #2: What Linda knows - but hasn't said - could be the key to breaking the real Clinton scandals, including the homicide investigation of Vince Foster..... So, it should be no surprise that a twerp prosecutor from Maryland interfered in Starr's case by going after his federal witness, Linda Tripp. In fact, Starr allowed the same thing to happen when another prosecutor from Arkansas sought to indict David Hale - Starr's chief Whitewater witness - on state charges. Legal experts have told me that such interference by a state prosecutor is unheard of. Furthermore, Starr had personally promised Hale that he wouldn't spend one day in state jail. If Starr had had any gumption whatsoever, he would have indicted the Arkansas prosecutor. But of course, he didn't and eventually David Hale was tried and convicted on state charges. He is now set to serve 21 days in an Arkansas state prison. Linda should have seen the writing on the wall. When Starr refused to prosecute Defense Department spokesman Ken Bacon and other Pentagon officials for the illegal release of information from her confidential personnel files, it was clear Starr was not going to do his job in prosecuting his case against the White House or protecting his witness, Tripp..... "
NewsMax.com 8/2/99 Christopher Ruddy "...After years of closely watching the Clintons, I have concluded they are thugs. As I warned Linda in my letter of October 8th, if the Clintons decide that you're an enemy, they become absolutely vicious. I wrote: "Using mob rules (and with the Clintons, mob rules apply), they must make you pay a heavy price. The White House can be creative and patient in getting their payment." "Again, the Clintons' payback is not simply done for revenge. It's the foundation of their power. It sends a message. There is so much other corruption they are hiding. If it appears you have succeeded in any way, it could open the floodgates. If those gates were to open, they would not only be forced from office, but possibly be put in prison." .... When I wrote my letter to Linda, I was also convinced that the best way she could protect herself and help stop the White House from laying the groundwork for a dictatorship would be by telling all she knew. Linda, obviously, didn't heed my advice. Now there is a very real possibility she'll go to jail. And even if she avoids prison, the time, stress and money spent on her legal defense will be absolutely debilitating for her and her family..... The best approach with the Clintons is to go on the offensive against them and to be as aggressive with them as possible. Paula Jones had a much more aggressive approach, and the Clintons had to finally pay money to shut her up. Linda Tripp could start her offensive by telling the whole truth about the Clintons and Vince Foster. It may be too late for full disclosure to save her. But it's the right thing to do...."
The Wall Street Journal Editorial 8/4/99 "...With something of a post-impeachment reassessment going on, we are learning more about how the legal system has favored the Clinton team. Suddenly, we have the case of Norma Holloway Johnson, chief judge of the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia.... It should be said that Judge Johnson cast a skeptical eye on some Clinton claims when she heard the assertions of special privileges for Secret Service agents. But it now turns out that Judge Johnson was also instrumental in the Linda Tripp indictment. The Maryland prosecutors could not proceed without the evidence of the Tripp tapes, and in receiving them Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr had granted her immunity that would have protected them from both federal and state prosecutors. But Judge Johnson intervened and decided to transmit the tapes to the Maryland prosecutors office....."
ABCNews.com 7/7/98 Gayle Tzemach "...Ever since the Lewinsky case came to light, Maryland authorities have been under pressure from state Democrats to initiate charges against the former White House aide, reports ABCNEWS Correspondent Bill Greenwood. Howard County State's Attorney Marna McLendon, who had primary jurisdiction over the matter, said she had received a number of "extraordinary" requests-from the Maryland General Assembly and the Columbia Democratic Club -for action. "It clearly was playing out on political lines, and that's not healthy for any investigation," McLendon said. On Tuesday, McLendon issued a statement saying she would have preferred to keep the case in her office, but sent it to Maryland state prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli to "ensure public confidence and remove political motivation" from the case....."
Rivera Live 8/2/99 Herrendo Revolver "...Tonite on "Rivera Live", the Official Babe of the VRWC confronted Geraldo about his own "Linda Tripp Moment". All Geraldo could do when confronted with the information that he admitted in his autobiography to illegally taping someone was to sputter, "I deny it!" ...From "Exposing Myself" by Geraldo Rivera (pg. 378) Bantam Books, October 1991 - ISBN 0-533-07642-6 "...One of my first stories of 1980, in February, was an Emmy Award-winning piece called "Arson For Profit," produced by Peter Lance with the cooperation of the Better Government Association....The businessmen blindsided us with a lawsuit. Even then, I thought we had these guys nailed, but flaws began to appear in our case after a well-funded and stubborn counterattack by several of those named. One problem: We had used a hidden camera to obtain damning audio and video evidence against the businessmen. That is a fine tactic in most jurisdictions, but illegal in Illinois. We finally settled the lawsuits, but the hassle set the frustrating tone for the entire year. ..."
The Washington Times 8/3/99 Mark Levin, Landmark Legal Foundation "...When Maryland State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli, a Democrat, announced last week the indictment of Linda R. Tripp for violating the state wiretap statute, he stated that the federal grant of "immunity will be a problem, but we will face it in the future." This is a breathtakingly irresponsible statement from a prosecutor who has obviously abandoned his professional obligation in favor of settling a political score for Bill Clinton and the Democrats. Lest we forget, Mr. Montanarelli sought this indictment after 49 Democrat state assemblymen urged him to charge Mrs. Tripp. Mrs. Tripp should never have been indicted if Mr. Montanarelli believed that her federal grant of immunity would stand in the way of a conviction - and there's every reason to believe that it does. When Oliver North and John Poindexter were prosecuted for alleged offenses by Iran-Contra Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh, Mr. Walsh did so in spite of the fact that immunity had been conferred on both men in order to compel their testimony before Congress. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, in part, that "no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." Therefore, the only way to force the testimony of a potential criminal defendant is to ensure that nothing said by that person under compulsion would be used, directly or indirectly, against him to secure his criminal conviction. Dissatisfied with the immunity conferred on Mr. North and Mr. Poindexter, Mr. Walsh pursued them anyway, claiming that the prosecution could proceed independently from the immunized congressional testimony. In United States vs. North (1991), the federal appeals court in Washington rejected Mr. Walsh's position and over-turned the convictions...."
Worldnet Daily 8/3/99 David Limbaugh "... Will there be no end to the injustices visited upon us during the Clinton era? How much more of this upside down world can we tolerate? Good guys have been tarnished and bad guys varnished. Heroes are hated while villains have skated. Any government that would indict Linda Tripp because she secretly taped conversations to protect herself from the chief law enforcement officer of that government is a government we should fear. This is the very type of government our founders sought to protect against when they incorporated the right to bear arms into the Constitution. Hold on, you might say. You are talking about two different governments here: the federal government and the State of Maryland. True, but political pressure was brought to bear on the State's Attorney's office in Howard County, Md., to make sure this monumental act of whistle-blowing did not go unpunished. Maryland legislator Robert L. Flanagan, called the indictment "an extension of the White House apparatus trying to destroy Linda Tripp." Prosecutors said that prosecution was imperative when there was an alleged violation of Maryland law in such a high-profile incident. "It would be a terrible message to send to the public." So a bad precedent would have been set if Maryland had declined to prosecute a lowly White House staff employee for committing an act that is legal in 38 states, the District of Columbia and under federal law? Yes, that should certainly teach the next White House employee the president is trying to pressure into committing a felony to obediently comply. But allowing perjury, subornation of perjury, and obstruction of justice by the Chief Executive to go unpunished sets a commendable precedent?..."
The Washington Times 8/3/99 Mark Levin, Landmark Legal Foundation "...Mr. Montanarelli faces a similar, impossible burden. Under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, the acts of a state cannot interfere with the exercise of the federal government's powers. Consequently, in order to protect Mrs. Tripp's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, which is as applicable to the State of Maryland as to the United States, and to ensure the integrity of the federal grant of immunity, the Maryland court must hold an evidentiary hearing required by the ruling in United States vs. North, known as a "Kastigar" hearing as a result of the United States Supreme Court ruling, Kastigar vs. United States, 406 U.S. 441 (1972)... Moreover, if Mr. Montanarelli has any hope of overcoming the Kastigar burden, he must have the full cooperation of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Only Mr. Starr can sort out for Mr. Montanarelli what evidence was immunized or influenced by immunized testimony. Mr. Starr has a moral and legal obligation to assist not Mr. Montanarelli, but his immunized witness - Mrs. Tripp. Mr. Montanarelli commenced his state criminal investigation when its most realistic impact would be to chill Mrs. Tripp's cooperation with Mr. Starr at a critical stage of the federal investigation. And Mr. Starr is in no way obligated to abandon his prosecutorial ethics to assist Mr. Montanarelli. After all, Mr. Montanarelli's conduct has far-reaching adverse consequences for law enforcement. For example, immunization is used frequently as part of a package of inducements to garner full cooperation from a witness. If a witness suspects that he will face prosecution by a different sovereign at a later time, it will become far more difficult to secure a deal..."
UPI 8/3/99 "...The telephone has been ringing off the hook at prosecutors' offices in the wake of last Friday's indictment of Linda Tripp by a Howard County grand jury. A spokesman for state prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli says staffers fielded some 40 calls yesterday from people complaining about the indictment. Tripp was indicted on two counts of violating Maryland's wiretap law for taping conversations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky without permission. The Howard County prosecutors' office, meanwhile, reports about 30 phone calls yesterday - most complaining about the prosecutor's year- long investigation of Tripp...."
Baltimore Press 8/3/99 Les Kinsolving "...Since a Maryland appellate court has already ruled that ignorance of Maryland's bizarre law IS and excuse, will Tripp's conviction for taping phone conversations - that were clearly intended for her - survive the scrutiny of judiciary appeal? Since Presidents of the United States, from John F. Kennedy on, have tape-recorded their conversations with visitors to the Oval Office - without their knowledge or consent - how can any imprisonment of Linda Tripp be allowed by appellate courts, under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, or under the ideal of Equal Justice Under Law?..."
Baltimore Press 8/3/99 Les Kinsolving "...Can there be either Equal Protection, or Equal Justice Under Law, if Linda Tripp is imprisoned, but the President, who was found guilty of lying under oath and obstruction of justice - by the House of Representatives and by Federal Judge Susan Webber Wright - receives no such imprisonment, and only a $90,000 fine - which he himself does not have to pay? ...When Vice-President Gore engaged in campaign fund raising from the White House, he contended that the persons receiving his calls were not in a government building. How can Linda Tripp be punished if Al Gore was not? ..."
Baltimore Press 8/3/99 Les Kinsolving "...What will happen to the whistle blowers who are so important in rooting out corruption, if the Federal Government's guarantee of immunity can be subverted by a country grand jury? U.S. Representative James McDermott, Democrat of Washington State, received clearly illegal wiretappings of House Speaker Gingrich and other Republicans, taken by Democratic Party officials in Florida, neither of whom were the intended recipients of such conversations..... If Linda Tripp is imprisoned for tape recording a conversation clearly intended for her, how can there be Equal Justice Under Law?..."
Baltimore Press 8/3/99 Les Kinsolving "... Consider the letter signed by forty Democrats who are members of the Maryland State Legislature, which pressured State Prosecutor Steven Montanarelli to act against Tripp.
"What does it say that the only person still facing legal jeopardy is the only one telling the truth?".... She has said she believed that Mr. Clinton was communicating through Miss Lewinsky "threats to my life and threats to the lives of my children." Consider the trial of Linda Tripp, with the inevitable witness stand cross-examination of Monica Lewinsky and very probably other targets of Bill Clinton's unbridled lust. ...Is not this Maryland state law an unconstitutional deprivation of the right to document wrongdoing? ...."
Rivera Live 8/3/99 "...ANN - No. And, in fact, I'm glad Jonah mentioned the importance to journalists of sometimes illegal taping to expose crimes, Geraldo, because in your autobiography... GERALDO - Well, listen, if--if I got na...
ANN - Yeah. GERALDO - If I got nabbed, let them nab me, indict me. ANN - They did nab you. You were--you were--were in a lawsuit over it, according to your own biography, arson for profit. GERALDO - Which--over what?
ANN - You were illegally taping in Illinois, and it was against the law. And I th--I--and I think... GERALDO - I--I deny that. ANN - ...that was a great thing to do. GERALDO - I deny that. ANN - You say it right in your biography.... GERALDO - I--in my autobiography? ANN - Yeah. "Exposing Myself"--isn't that your autobiography? ..."
The Wall Street Journal Editorial 8/4/99 "...So Linda Tripp is to be prosecuted for protecting herself from the Clinton tong's penchant for punishing its opposition. Before getting into the legalities, let's see if we understand correctly just what the Bill Clinton Amen Chorus thinks Linda Tripp should have done. When Monica asked her to lie to the Paula Jones grand jury to help the President, they apparently think that Linda should have said, "Sure, I'd be happy to get selective memory, just like all those White House and Treasury big shots who couldn't remember anything important in front of the D'Amato Whitewater hearings. If they can get away with lying, maybe I can too. But Monica, could you ask Bruce Lindsey if I'll get a better deal than Susan McDougal. But yeah, any dame would be happy to lie to protect Bill."
... She did not wiretap, but merely recorded her own conversations, which is entirely legal in many states, even without the consent of other parties. The Maryland law has so seldom been applied that no judicial decisions applying can be found in a standard legal data base. Marna McLendon, one of the Maryland prosecutors involved, declared "the public is watching." Somehow the same standard is not applied to, say, the release of information from Ms. Tripp's Pentagon files....."
Original Sources 8/4/99 Mary Mostert "...The talk shows in the last few days have had great fun speculating whether or not Linda Tripp will be sent to prison for her "felony" - in which she recorded her taped her OWN telephone - not someone else's. Her own. Let's compare that with a what happened in a couple of other high profile wiretapping cases, which involved members of the House of Representatives. Does anyone remember, back in the dim and distant historical past of January 1997 when a Democrat operative in Florida illegally taped a telephone conversation of Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich with other Republicans, gave the tape to Rep. Jim McDemott, then ranking member of the Ethics Committee, who then secretly gave it to the New York Times for publication, in blatant violation of UNITED STATES CODE TITLE 47 which says: "no person receiving, assisting in receiving, transmitting, or assisting in transmitting, any interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio shall divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning thereof, except through authorized channels of transmission or reception . . . . No person not being authorized by the sender shall intercept any radio communication and divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such intercepted communication to any person . . ." Title 47 also provides for a fine of $50,000 and 2 year in prison if the perpetrator use the taped conversation for financial gain. If no financial gain was involved, the fine was only $2,000 and 6 months in prison. Since it was an interstate phone call, federal law would apply. Remember what happened when the wire-tappers were Democrats? That's right. Nothing. Jim McDermott is not in prison. He's still in the House of Representatives. Blitzer observes in his Tripp article, "Wiretapping is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each offense. Tripp, 49, said she recorded conversations with Lewinsky because she was being pressured by Lewinsky to lie in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case against Clinton." Well, not, technically speaking, Linda Tripp did not wiretap. She recorded a conversation in her own home on her own telephone. Wiretapping is what the Democrat operative did in taping Newt Gingrich's conversation with other Republicans, none of whom knew the operative was listening and taping. Monica Lewinsky knew full well that Linda was listening. After all, SHE called Linda...."
New York Times 8/10/99 Ian Ayres "...Some lawyers have argued that state laws against the secret recording of conversations -- like the Maryland statute under which Linda Tripp was indicted for taping Monica Lewinsky -- are necessary to protect privacy. But exactly what aspect of privacy is being protected? Ms. Tripp could have gone on "Hard Copy" and told the world what Monica Lewinsky said in their phone conversations, and it would not have been a crime. In fact, she could have hired a court stenographer to listen in on her phone conversations with Ms. Lewinsky and had them transcribed verbatim. That, too, would not have been a crime. As a handful of state wiretapping laws are now written, the crime is creating an unimpeachable record of a conversation. The laws certainly don't protect anyone's privacy, since the substance of the late-night Lewinsky-Tripp chat sessions could have been divulged. If you think about it, the only thing the law protected was Ms. Lewinsky's option of misrepresenting what she said....There is precedent for this disclosure: the venerable exclusionary rule allows prosecutors to use illegally obtained evidence to rebut a defendant's false denials. If a criminal defendant testifies that he has never seen the murder weapon, the prosecution can admit as evidence a gun bearing his fingerprints to show that the defendant's testimony is false. This is allowed even if the gun was obtained by an illegal search and would otherwise be inadmissible as evidence. What the indictment of Ms. Tripp reflects is our conflicted moral response to whistleblowers. Ms. Tripp was castigated for taping conversations about an affair. But a few years ago, a man who surreptitiously recorded racially insensitive remarks by executives of Texaco was hailed as a hero...."
www.rightgrrl.com 9/11/99 Kristinn Taylor "...The media has worshiped at the altar of "Deep Throat" for 25 years. They slavishly praise the work of Bernstein and Woodward, and willfully engage them in their coquettish game of the secret identity of "Deep Throat." ..... Fast-forward from 1974 to 1999. The equivalent to "Deep Throat" in the impeachment of Bill Clinton--Linda Tripp--is poised to stand trial for blowing the whistle on the current president. In contrast to "Deep Throat," Ms. Tripp has been demonized by the press..."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "...In an effort to wreak vengeance upon the woman who called attention to his felonious behavior, President Clinton has misused the power of his office to pressure the government of the corrupt state of Maryland into initiating a malicious prosecution of the whistle-blower, Linda Tripp. At least that is the interpretation any reasonable person would apply to the facts as they are known at present. Given the legal difficulties involved and the renewed scandalous publicity for Clinton that is likely to result should the case go to trial, it seems certain that the indictment is intended to harass and punish Tripp by causing her mental anguish and legal expense. The prospects for a successful prosecution of the case are nil. The indictment is itself a crime, being an egregious violation of a federal civil rights statute that prohibits interference with a federal witness. The reaction of the mainstream press to the indictment has been typical. Most news organizations have largely ignored it, a few editorials and op-ed pieces have thoughtfully considered the issues involved, and a number of die-hard Clinton supporters have made abject fools of themselves with their fawning adulation of their psychopathic hero and their compulsion to spit venom at anyone who takes offense at his scandalous, criminal behavior...."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "...Pointing out that Montanarelli had decided to indict Tripp only after being pressured to do so by "49 Democrat state assemblymen," a spokesman for Landmark Legal foundation asserted that the prosecutor had no business seeking an indictment if he believed that the immunity granted Tripp by the independent counsel would be an impediment to a conviction. It seems that 49 members of the Maryland legislature are such ignorant twits they have chosen to ignore, or perhaps have never even heard of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, set forth in Article VI: "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." This means, says the Landmark spokesman, that a state has no authority to interfere with the legitimate power of the federal government. Since Ms. Tripp gave her testimony, including the taped conversations, to Starr's investigators under the protection of the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees that self-incrimination cannot be compelled by force of law, the Maryland court which tries her case will be required to hold an evidentiary hearing such as that mandated in the case of the United States vs. North...."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "...The truth of the matter is that it is not entirely clear whether any law was actually broken by Tripp's taping of her conversation with Monica. Maryland law does prohibit the "interception" of a private conversation without the consent of all of the parties involved, but what does "interception" mean in this case? Some lawyers maintain that the conversation was intercepted by use of the telephone, while others say no, it was the recorder that intercepted it. Various states having wiretap laws with similar language interpret them differently. It is difficult to say what the interpretation of the law in Maryland truly is, as this law has hardly ever been enforced there. As noted recently by the Wall Street Journal, "The Maryland law has so seldom been applied that no judicial decisions applying can be found in a standard legal data base." ...."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "...Now the statute does require that the person who "intercepts" the conversation be aware that the act is illegal. But how could Tripp be aware that taping a telephone conversation in Maryland is illegal if the matter has yet to be definitively settled? You see, the Maryland statute doesn't even mention taping the conversation -- it only prohibits "intercepting" it without the consent of the parties involved. Under the circumstances, the prosecution of this case is ludicrous and malicious. John McCaslin, writing for the Washington Times, quotes James A. Ross, the director of a security firm in Washington, D.C., who points out that, "the calls were not made within the state of Maryland. They were interstate calls made between [Washington] D.C. and Maryland, and therefore the federal law applies, not state law. And federal law allows taping when one party consents." ..."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "...Oh yes, Tripp has made clear her intent to sue high officials of the Maryland government for failing to prevent an illegal prosecution which she describes as "ridiculous" and "outrageous." Tripp's attorney was more precise: their suit may target top state officials such as Gov. Parris Glendening or Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for allowing the state prosecutor to investigate Tripp. The attorney, Steve Kohn, who is considered to be an expert in whistle blower cases, and is known as a very tough trial lawyer, bluntly told the New York Post that, "What the state is doing is illegal." It seems that during Reconstruction certain states attempted to violate the civil rights of former slaves using oppressive state laws, prompting Congress to pass the Federal Civil Rights Act of l871. This statute prohibits the states from enforcing any law in such a way that it interferes with a federal witness. Of course, that is precisely what the corrupt degenerates in the Maryland state government are attempting to do. They are using the law in an illegal manner to punish Tripp for exposing the criminal behavior of their psychopathic liar/leader, Clinton, and anyone with a particle of sense must know it...."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "... "The interesting thing about it from the defense standpoint if we go to trial," the lawyer said, "is that the September twenty-second tape which has been selected by Mr. Montanarelli . . . talks about Monica Lewinsky -- purportedly on behalf of the President of the United States -- seeking [to get] Linda Tripp to lie under oath. It's more of a conspiracy to commit perjury than it is a conspiracy to talk about the sex life of the president." The interviewer opined that Linda Tripp is suffering the fate of many whistle-blowers -- "when somebody blows the whistle," said Smith, "fate doesn't tend to be very kind to the person." Mr. Murtha responded that the defense has brought in lawyers who specialize in whistle-blowing cases, including the law firm that defended Dr. Fredrick Whitehurst, the FBI scientist who called attention to the fact that the agency's crime lab procedure lacked integrity. He pointed out that these attorneys have been very successful in representing whistle-blowers nationally...."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "...But Tripp had the audacity to tell the truth about Bill and Monica to a grand jury and then had the temerity to back it up with proof in the form of her taped telephone conversations with the president's bimbo of the moment, demonstrating conclusively that Clinton is a perjurer, and thus a felon. The Clinton counteroffensive was quick in coming, and hard-hitting. As the Journal points out, Tripp "suffered selective leaks of records from her Pentagon personnel file, then the invective and ridicule of reporters and cable blabbers friendly to the President's pre-impeachment cause."
Never mind that Mr. Bacon, a Defense Department spokesman, violated the law by releasing Tripp's personnel records in an obvious effort to discredit her -- see, it's okay when Clinton and his minions break the law. That's DIFF-runt. It's only when somebody like Tripp runs afoul of a highly ambiguous state law in an effort to protect herself that our virtuous public -- egged on by Clinton's media quislings -- become livid with Moral Outrage. After all, they don't like her looks. Never mind the Fifth Amendment -- in our country at the present time, this means that Tripp has no rights...."
Washington Weekley 8/14/99 Edward Zehr "...Tripp could always have recounted everything Monica had told her, in any event, without violating any laws. The existence of the tapes impinges not upon Monica's privacy, but rather addresses her veracity. Or as Ayers put it, "If you think about it, the only thing the law protected was Ms. Lewinsky's option of misrepresenting what she said." Do you begin to understand why this Maryland law has gone largely unenforced? Ayres finds it "bizarre" that the law should protect a person's privacy only if that person lies about what was said, noting that secretly taping phone calls is legal in 38 states, "though not in Maryland, where Ms. Tripp lives." As previously explained, even that point is debatable...."
ABC News 8/18/99 AP "…Linda Tripp has asked a judge to dismiss her felony wiretapping indictment, arguing state prosecutors improperly relied on her immunized testimony about Monica Lewinsky’s affair with President Clinton during their investigation…."
The Washington Times: National Weekly Edition 8/16-22/99 Lyn Nofziger "…In a recent opinion article Mark Levin says the indictment of Linda Tripp is a matter of settling a political score for Bill Clinton. He asserts the indictment is unconstitutional and will be thrown out. He is probably right. But it doesn't matter. For the Democrats and the Democratic prosecutor to get a conviction and have it upheld on appeal would be a welcome bonus, but that is not their purpose in indicting Mrs. Tripp and bringing her to trial. Their purpose is to harass her, to ruin what reputation she has left, bankrupt her, make it difficult for her to get future employment. In other words it is to get even with her for her role in the Clinton/Lewinsky matter. The fact is any prosecutor can indict just about anyone. There is a saying in legal circles that a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich if he chooses. Unfortunately that is true. The grand jury that originally was devised to be a bulwark for the people against the overweening power of the state has too often become a tool the state uses not for prosecution but for persecution. An indictment is the second step government takes when it wishes to ruin a person. The first step is for the prosecutor to summon a grand jury, start an investigation and call witnesses, leaking all the while what he is doing and putting the potential indictee in the worst possible light…."