 |
|
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tripp to be arraigned in SeptemberBy Wolf Blitzer/CNN
August 3, 1999 WASHINGTON (August 3) -- Linda Tripp, whose secretly recorded phone conversations with Monica Lewinsky led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, will be arraigned September 2, CNN has learned. She will plead not guilty to two felony charges -- illegal wiretapping and disseminating the information to the news media, her associates say. Tripp has been indicted on two charges associated with her secret recordings of phone conversations with Monica Lewinsky.
Tripp's associates say she is not required to appear personally at the arraignment and will not appear at the Howard County Courthouse in Ellicott City, Maryland. The associates tell CNN that her lawyers are preparing "several" pre-trial motions to dismiss the case. They say that while they expect those motions eventually will be accepted by the presiding judge though, they also are preparing for a trial. Last week, Tripp's attorney says he will challenge the state's authority to bring charges against her. Stephen Kohn said Tripp was given immunity by Independent Counsel Ken Starr when she turned over tapes she had made of conversations with Monica Lewinsky. Federal law protects Tripp as a government witness in a corruption case, Kohn says. No trial date has been set, but those close to Tripp don't expect to go to trial before sometime in November. It is against state law in Maryland to record a phone conversation without the knowledge and approval of the other party, unless you are unaware of the law. After a yearlong investigation, Tripp was indicted by a Howard County grand jury last week on one count of illegal interception of a phone conversation on December 22, 1997. Although Tripp taped more than 20 hours of calls with Lewinsky, the December 22 call was recorded after Tripp allegedly had been told by her lawyer that the taping was illegal. The second count charges Tripp illegally disclosed the contents of that conversation to Newsweek magazine. Maryland law forbids the recording of phone conversations without the consent of the other party. Although ignorance of the state law is considered a defense, Tripp told a Washington grand jury investigating the Lewinsky affair that she taped some conversations even after an attorney told her it was illegal. 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. Lewinsky, who became friends with Tripp when they both worked at the Pentagon, wanted Tripp to deny knowledge of the sexual relationship between Lewinsky and the president. Tripp subsequently gave the tapes to Starr under a grant of immunity from federal prosecution and Starr's investigation of the Lewinsky affair led to the president's impeachment by the House and trial in the Senate. Tripp is the only central figure in the Lewinsky scandal facing criminal charges. Clinton was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. However, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright last week ordered Clinton to pay $90,686 for giving false testimony in the civil sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by Paula Jones. Lewinsky was granted immunity from federal charges in return for her cooperation with Starr's office. Julie Hiatt Steele, a peripheral figure in the investigation of the president, was prosecuted for allegedly obstructing Starr's probe of Clinton. The jury deadlocked on the charges, and Starr chose not to retry the case. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MORE STORIES:Tuesday, August 3, 1999
• Tripp to be arraigned in September • GOP demand for testimony postpones Huang sentencing • Panel sets stage for campaign finance debate • Republicans agree on tax cut plan • Film of JFK killing valued at $16 million • After winning court case, group to boost political efforts • Spokeswoman says Mrs. Clinton doesn't blame president's childhood • Senate GOP shows support for high technology • Campaign intensity steps up as straw poll nears • House acts on small business loans • Democrats, GOP play acting in tax debate • New speaker raises $1.6 million in six months • House approves veto-threatened $12.6 billion foreign aid bill • GAO estimates Pentagon losing millions to health care fraud • Chief judge summons colleagues to unusual meeting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
