EXCLUSIVE: 'HILLARY MUST NEVER BECOME PRESIDENT'
says the woman who
exposed Bill's affair with Monica. Former Clinton West Wing assistant
Linda Tripp says Democratic contender is a liar who treats the public
with contempt
- Linda Tripp, now 65, was a civil servant who had a ringside seat during Clinton's administration with office directly adjacent to Hillary's
- She exposed President Clinton affair with Monica because it was the culmination of years of so much corruption
- Although she was vilified for her role in the scandal, she breaks years of silence to tell Daily Mail Online she would do it again
- During the bimbo eruptions Hillary 'destroyed women so that their stories never saw the light of day,' Tripp says
- She went from being a lackluster First Lady with unimpressive approval numbers to First Victim
- Hillary will stop at nothing to achieve her end - the Presidency - and see the public as plebians easily seduced into believing her, says Tripp
Published: 11:20 EST, 28 July 2015 | Updated: 16:16 EST, 28 July 2015
It
was the scandal that saw Bill Clinton impeached and which threatened to
bring down his presidency. For many, it continues to define it to this
day.
But
according to the woman who outed Monica Lewinsky as the president's
mistress, the real story was never about Monica. It was about
'subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice… a true abuse of power.'
And it was about Hillary.
Because,
according to Linda Tripp, it was Hillary who manipulated and stage
managed the story, converting herself from a lackluster First Lady with
unimpressive approval ratings to admirable First Victim - the blindsided
wife standing by her man.
She
made him forgivable. She 'orchestrated the cover up' and she made damn
sure that she moved on. Nothing, and no-one, was going to stand in her
way.
Linda
Tripp, whose recorded conversations with Lewinsky - submitted to
independent counsel Kenneth Starr - exposed the truth of the affair that
both Lewinsky and Clinton had sought to deny, has never spoken fully
until now.
Scroll down for video
Power
play: Linda Tripp, now 65, was a civil servant who had a ringside seat
during Clinton's administration. Her office was directly adjacent to
Hillary's. Her recorded conversations with Lewinsky - submitted to
independent counsel Kenneth Starr - exposed the truth of the affair that
both Lewinsky and Clinton had sought to deny. She has never spoken
fully until now
Monica
confided everything about her fling with Bill Clinton to friend Linda
Tripp. Those recorded conversations exposed the truth of the affair that
both Lewinsky and Clinton tried to deny
After
more than a decade of silence Tripp, 65, has chosen to speak out. In an
exclusive interview with Daily Mail Online the woman who had a ringside
seat throughout Clinton's administration has given a damning insight
into - and assessment of- Hillary as the 'key player' in the scandals of
the Clinton presidency.
She
describes Hillary as the true 'ruler' of the White House through her
husband's administration; tells how she watched Hillary 'blatantly lie'
to the American people; describes her as utterly 'ruthless' in her
pursuit of power; and voices her belief that Hillary must never gain the
presidency - the position that has always been her goal and to which
she has always believed herself entitled.
I
think the most compelling thing about Hillary is that she will stop at
nothing to achieve her end and that she views the public as plebeians
easily seduced into believing her point of view.
According to Tripp: 'In her mind she would be part of a coronation instead of an election.
'This
has been planned for so many years. I remember one of the quotes in my
first week in the Oval Office which was the week after Clinton's first
inauguration.
'Everybody
had this little mantra, 'Eight years for Bill. Eight years for Hill.'
And when I asked a senior person, 'What does that mean?' He said, 'Well
eight years for his administration and eight years for hers.
'So this is a runaway train. Nobody is going to stop it.'
Tripp
explained: 'I think the most compelling thing about Hillary is that she
will stop at nothing to achieve her end and that she views the public
as plebeians easily seduced into believing her point of view.'
Tripp's
office was directly adjacent to Hillary's second floor West Wing office
for the entire time she served at the Clinton White House, with the
exception of the first three months during which she sat directly
outside the Oval office. Her position offered her unparalleled access
to, and a unique perspective on, both the couple and the administration.
The
most obvious examples of Hillary's single-minded pursuit of power came
in how she handled the constant 'bimbo eruptions' that threatened her
husband during his campaign and eventual presidency. She went from
being a lackluster First Lady with unimpressive approval numbers to
wronged wife
When
it came to Monica, Tripp said: 'Hillary was not only aware of Monica
Lewinsky she ensured that Monica was removed from the White House.'
Speaking
today she revealed: 'I believe for all his faults as a flawed man, Bill
Clinton is not as unscrupulous as his wife. He is complicit but he is
not as deceitful as Hillary Clinton is. Don't get me wrong, they are
both missing the integrity chip but while she is inherently
dishonorable, his seems to be learned behavior.
'Hillary
Clinton ruled the White House even as early as 1993 and every scandal
that originated in the Clinton administration was the brainchild of
Hilary.
'When
I think of Hillary Clinton I think of a lingering taint of scandal and
wrongdoing and, in my opinion, possible criminal activity.'
And behind it all was, according to Tripp, the pursuit of the Clintons' 'common goal' – power.
She
explained: 'She has stood by him all these years because she needed
him. In 1992 no female, least of all she, would have been elected to the
highest office in the land.
'Their
focus has always been power and the accumulation of that power. There
were just so many things in the White House that made it abundantly
clear to anyone in their radius that he was the elected official but she
was the one with the actual power.'
And,
according to Tripp: 'When a couple is as focused as they are on a goal
there are many, many things that one overlooks to achieve that. Nothing
is allowed to stand in the way. That means no circumstance, no person.'
The
most obvious examples of this single-minded pursuit came in Hillary's
treatment of the series of 'bimbo eruptions' that threatened to derail
Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and continued to surface throughout
his presidency.
The
confidante to Lewinsky, Tripp leaves the US District Courthouse in
Washington in 1999 after appearing before a grand jury investigating
allegations of sexual misconduct between Clinton and Lewinsky. Tripp
was subpoenaed by the grand jury to testify about recordings of
conversations between her and Lewinsky
Tripp
said: 'His political success was largely dependent upon Hillary. He
owed her a great deal. As is widely acknowledged, Hillary took care of
all the 'bimbo eruptions' of which there were thousands in order to
present to the world an electable candidate.
'In this endeavor she was ruthless. She destroyed women so that their stories never saw the light of day.'
Hillary was not only aware of Monica Lewinsky, she ensured that Monica was removed from the White House.
And in the case of those stories that did surface she orchestrated an all-out attack on the women's credibility.
Tripp
is in no doubt, for example, that Hillary lay behind the marginalizing
of Gennifer Flowers who came forward in 1992 claiming that she had
enjoyed a 12-year love affair with Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas
and presidential hopeful.
Tripp
said: 'Gennifer Flowers, by coming forward, was marginalized despite
the fact that according to Clinton insiders at the time everything she
said was true.
'She
was one of a cast of thousands and they were disposed of in a way that
trivialized and marginalized their impact. At the end of the day the
public was left with the sense that this couldn't possibly all be true.
'It
became easier to believe that these claims must be the work of a vast
right wing conspiracy of politically motivated people who would stop at
nothing to undermine their forward trajectory.'
When
it came to Monica Lewinsky, Tripp said: 'Hillary was not only aware of
Monica Lewinsky. She ensured that Monica was removed from the White
House and in the end went from being a lack luster First Lady with
unimpressive approval numbers to wronged wife. Literally within the
blink of an eye she propelled herself to First Victim status. This
turned the corner for Hillary.
All smiles: Hillary Clinton speaks during a town hall campaign stop in Nashua, New Hampshire on Tuesday
Head
bowed: Hillary Clinton walks away after answering questions from
reporters following a town hall campaign stop in New Hampshire
This
photo of the former intern smiling in a White House office as
President Bill Clinton looks on was submitted as evidence in documents
by the Starr investigation and released by the House Judicary committee
September 21, 1998
'Women
across the world could certainly understand her position of standing by
her man, finding it admirable that she was working on her marriage,
unaware that it was a charade.'
In
Tripp's opinion: 'She has that particular scandal to thank for her
Senate candidacy and election and for everything that followed.'
But
while the 'bimbo eruptions' may have grabbed headlines and attention
they were, according to Tripp, far from the most significant scandals to
rock the Clinton administration or to be covered-up by Hillary.
Now
the very person who orchestrated that cover-up and all the other
cover-ups over the years including those surfacing today is running for
president of the United States.
She explained: 'I can't emphasize enough how relatively insignificant the bimbo eruptions were compared to the real issues.
'In the case of Monica Lewinsky, the story was never really about Monica or Linda Tripp. It was about subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice and a true abuse of power on the part of a sitting president.
'That should have been the story. It never was.
'And
so it gave Monica her much needed fifteen minutes and it took the rest
of us along with it but the actual crux of the entire issue escaped
most.
'And
now the very person who orchestrated that cover up and all the other
cover ups over the years including those surfacing today is running for
president of the United States.'
According
to Tripp: 'When I came forward it was not simply because of Monica
Lewinsky. It was because of a culmination of years of so much
corruption. So much the opposite of what was being presented to the
American people, it was so completely different than what was going on
behind closed doors.'
As
a political independent with no agenda or ax to grind Tripp was, she
admitted, appalled by what she perceived as the 'disingenuous front'
presented by the Clintons to the world. It stood in stark contrast to
the previous Bush administration under which she also served.
She
said: 'The Bush administration may have bungled but the work of the
people was all done in a straight forward, honorable way. The first
George Bush was not a particularly talented politician but a decent
statesman.
'Bill
Clinton is a gifted politician and he was able to charm and seduce the
country. The Clintons presented a disingenuous front.'
According
to Tripp what she witnessed behind the scenes at the peak of the
Whitewater scandal was pure manipulation of the truth. In a press
conference during the height of the Whitewater frenzy Hillary was well
rehearsed, her wardrobe was carefully selected to be soft and pastel and
essentially every word out of her mouth, preserved for posterity, was a
lie
The
year 1994 saw the first of a series of investigations into the
propriety of real-estate purchases involving Bill and Hillary back in
1978 when he was attorney general of Arkansas and shortly before he
became governor.
The
investigations spanned seven years and became known as the Whitewater
Scandal after the name of the business Bill and Hillary had started with
friends James B and Susan McDougal with the intention of developing 230
acres of land in the Ozarks, Arkansas.
According
to Tripp what she witnessed behind the scenes at the peak of the
Whitewater scandal 'was not spin. It was lying to the American people
knowingly and doing it routinely.'
She
said that not for the first time and certainly not for the last: 'This
was not recognizing any controlling legal authority investigating the
various scandals and obstructing the investigations at every turn to
ensure the malfeasance never surfaced publicly.'
As for Hillary's role, Tripp said: 'I watched her on countless occasions blatantly lie to the American people and knowingly lie.
'This
was not a mistake or error or even spin. This was pure manipulation of
the truth. In a press conference during the height of the Whitewater
frenzy she was well rehearsed, her wardrobe was carefully selected to be
soft and pastel and essentially every word out of her mouth, preserved
for posterity, was a lie. It's all of a piece with Hillary.'
Because according to Tripp, Hillary operates on the assumption that, 'the rules do not apply' to her or her husband.
Her
modus operandi was, and continues to be, Tripp explained: 'I will do
what I want and then when I'm questioned I will say, "oops," or
"bureaucratic snafu", and then after a couple of months her refrain will
be, "this is old news, it's been investigated, I did nothing wrong,
let's move on, it's time to address the issues facing the middle class
of America."
'That's
what she has always done and that's what she will continue to do and
the frightening aspect of that approach is that it works.'
It
is, Tripp believes, the way Hillary is approaching emailgate, the
current scandal in which she is embroiled and which centers on the fact
that, throughout her time as Secretary of State, Hillary used her own
private email account as opposed to only her government address via a
personal server which she has since wiped.
Today Tripp lives in rural Virginia, on an idyllic $3million farm that she and husband, Dieter, are currently selling
Now
a grandmother of seven, life for Tripp revolves around the family of
which she is justifiably proud. It is not an existence she has any
desire to disrupt but she is motivated now by the same sense of duty
that saw her speak out 17 years ago
Among
Hillary's initial justification for her actions was her assertion that
she used the private account for convenience as she did not want to
carry two devices. This was quickly scotched by the revelation that she
uses multiple devices.
Tripp
for one is not surprised by the scandal that she has described as a
'timely and telling' indicator of Hillary's 'no rules apply to me' way
of operating.
She
explained: 'The scandals simply continue. She covers them up and moves
on. People should be aware that she is probably the first cabinet
secretary in the history of our country who has operated with their own
private server, for a reason. Every lowly government employee
understands that electronic communication on government-operated
computers belongs to the United States.
'Hillary
knows this and it's why she chose to break the rules. Because every
document written on a government device is a record and it is
retrievable forever more. Hillary's voluminous documents are not
retrievable. She is answerable to no-one.'
She
continued: 'She was clearly not answerable to the president for whom
she worked and more importantly by actions she took she was not
answerable to the American public.
'She hands over what she chooses, deletes the rest and wipes the server clean. That is Hillary Clinton in a nutshell'.
It
is a damning conclusion and it is a belief that has prompted Tripp to
speak out. Today Tripp lives in rural Virginia, on an idyllic $3million
farm that she and husband, Dieter, are currently selling.
The couple run a successful German Christmas store, The Christmas Sleigh, in Middleburg, Virginia
The quaint shop sells ornaments, nutcrackers, candles, music boxes and other German-made treasures
The
couple run a successful German Christmas store, The Christmas Sleigh,
in Middleburg and, as a grandmother of seven, life for Tripp revolves
around the family of which she is justifiably proud. It is not an
existence she has any desire to disrupt but she is motivated now by the
same sense of duty that saw her speak out 17 years ago.
Then,
she faced dire consequences as she found herself publicly vilified for
her actions and indicted on charges of illegal wiretapping. The charges
were subsequently dropped.
Asked by Kenneth Starr if she had any final words on testifying, Lewinsky said simply, 'I hate Linda Tripp.'
Looking
back Tripp said: 'I regret what I put my children through. I regret
very much that they had to endure that level of vitriol but would I do
it again? Yes.
'I
come from a very patriotic background. My civil service career, well
over 20 years at that time, meant a sense of loyalty, patriotic duty and
honor. I sincerely cared about the integrity of the country's
leadership.'
She still does. It's why she believes Hillary Clinton must never be president.
She
said: 'I'd love to see a female president in my lifetime but I
certainly would not choose to vote for a president of the United States
based primarily on gender.
'Without
a doubt it's time for a female president but it is without a doubt not
the time nor will it ever be the time for Hillary Clinton to be that
president. She simply lacks the integrity.'
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