Tripp had 'no choice' but to make the tapes

February 16, 1999
Web posted at: 4:07 a.m. EST (0907 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, February 16) -- An unapologetic Linda Tripp on Monday night defended her decision to tape conversations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In this story:

Lewinsky was suicidal, Tripp says
A book deal?
Clinton 'tarnished' presidency

Tripp, who made the tapes at the suggestion of New York book agent Lucianne Goldberg, said she had "no choice" but to "document" the conversations in order to avoid "being set up for perjury."

"How would I prove I was telling the truth?" said Tripp, in an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live."


Linda Tripp, on CNN's "Larry King Live"

"All I can say is Monica made choices, the president made choices and I was forced to make choices."

With regard to President Clinton, Tripp said she is "not an anti-Clinton zealot," but she was concerned about "a pattern of behavior" on his part, and she believed his relationship with Lewinsky was wrong.

"The notion that I would bastardize my values, my sense of integrity for a young woman who I had worked with for a year and a half and commit a crime was not ever an option," Tripp said.

Lewinsky was suicidal, Tripp says

Asked whether she were betraying her friend, Tripp replied that she and Lewinsky "weren't social friends or lifelong friends." They were work colleagues.

Nonetheless, she said she has "shed many tears" over the relationship.

Lewinsky had become suicidal out of fear that the president would learn that the former White House intern had confided their relationship to friends, Tripp said.

Lewinsky was so upset about being treated badly by the president that she tracked down Tripp and bombarded her with phone calls while Tripp was trying to deal with the death of family members.

"I had to explain to my (then teen-age) children" about Lewinsky's relationship with the president "because of the incessant phone calls" from Lewinsky during the Christmas holiday in 1996, Tripp said.

She said Lewinsky was more upset at the thought Clinton would find out she had shared her story with someone else than at the thought that he was "dumping her."

Tripp said she feels she acted properly in secretly taping Lewinsky. "If it had only been about Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp, I believe it was the right thing to do."

She said she watched Clinton forcefully deny his relationship with Lewinsky on television, and found that moment "chilling." Tripp added "I knew that was precisely what Monica would become -- 'that woman'" -- portrayed by the president as a stalker, and unstable.

A book deal?

Tripp's legal bills have totaled more than $500,000, and she faces potential criminal charges for illegally taping phone conversations in her home state of Maryland.

She is "seriously considering" writing a book about her experiences, a project she said she abandoned in 1996 because she was afraid of losing her job. That book, contemplated before the Lewinsky scandal, would have dealt with her tenure as a White House aide in the early years of the Clinton administration.

"From what I'm seeing, the truth is just never going to get out there, so to the extent that I may decide to let the truth come out I may show what really happened," said Tripp when asked about her plans for a book now.

Asked whether Goldberg would represent her, Tripp laughed and said, "I don't know. She may not want me."

Tripp criticized Lewinsky's mother, Marcia Lewis, for taking the view that her daughter's relationship with the president "was OK; more than OK."

Clinton 'tarnished' presidency

Depicting herself as an older authority figure for Lewinsky, Tripp said she made clear to the ex-White House intern that "I did not think this was cool" to be having a relationship with Clinton. Tripp said she refrained from criticizing Lewis to Lewinsky because of the close mother-daughter relationship.

Tripp described Lewinsky as "clever," "bright," and "warm" but said she was mentally unstable and had a "different moral compass than mine."

"I thought she was troubled," she said of her former friend.

She said she recommended a therapist for Lewinsky, but the former intern did not follow up on it.

Tripp's appearance on "Larry King Live" was her second broadcast appearance in four days. She gave her first in-depth interview on NBC's "Today Show" last Friday.

Tripp, who said she voted for George Bush for president, said she is not part of any right-wing group or conspiracy against the president.

"I can't say that I stopped anything he may or may not be doing right now, but I think he'll think twice about it," she said. And she said Clinton's behavior has harmed the country.

"I believe he tarnished the presidency," she said.

TRANSCRIPTS

Linda Tripp on Larry King Live (02-15-99)

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VIDEO
Larry King Live: Linda Tripp on why she taped her conversations with Monica (2-15-99) Windows Media: 28K \| 80K

AUDIO
The Tripp tapes