By: Mary Mostert, Analyst
Wednesday, July 30, 1998
After eight days of testimony before Kenneth Starr's Grand Jury, Linda Tripp, stepped out of the courthouse yesterday, flanked by her children and lawyers and, visibly shaking with stage fright, gave the following statement to the assembled press. It was the second time that day that Tripp and her lawyers sharply refuted press speculation that she was somehow responsible for Monica Lewinsky's "talking points." After months of being vilified by the media and some in the entertainment industry, Tripp's obvious sincerity and humility was a stark contrast to the arrogance and mean spiritedness of her detractors.
And, her logical mind and direct manner undercut the media speculation that she somehow was responsible for writing the "talking points" that Monica Lewinsky admits giving to her as she pressured her to commit perjury.
"Good afternoon." Linda began as she read her comments, "I'm not a public speaker. I am going to have to refer to my notes. Please bear with me.
"I've just completed my testimony before the federal grand jury. This has been a lengthy process and, as I'm sure you can imagine, a very difficult one.
"While I am relieved that the testimony has come to an end, I am glad to have fulfilled my legal obligation to the grand jury by testifying truthfully and completely. I hope -- I sincerely hope -- that all remaining witnesses will do the same.
"I am encouraged that it appears from press reports that Monica (Lewinsky) has decided to cooperate with the independent counsel. The facts will show that time after time, I urged her to tell the truth right up until the end."
On July 6th, after the Independence Day week-end during which the Washington Press corps, and the week-end talk shows had spent several days heaping scorn and vilification on Linda Tripp, I wrote my column: (Linda Tripp is Free and at Peace - Because she Told the Truth) about the weekend attacks. It was obvious the attacks were orchestrated and all seemed to have the same theme - that "that one girl should not squeal on another girl," regardless of the situation. Linda was attacked because, supposedly, she had betrayed a trust by "taping a friend's" conversation.
I wrote: "What kind of 'friend' urges you to commit a felony by lying to a grand jury? Where on earth did the columnists and commentators ever get the idea that Monica Lewinsky was a 'friend?' As near as I can tell, Monica Lewinsky was a pest."
Linda used almost the same words, only she was a little kinder than I was:
"I understand that there has been a great deal of speculation about just who I am and how I got here. Well, the answer is simple. I'm you. I'm just like you. I'm an average American who found herself in a situation not of her own making.
"I'm a suburban mom, who was a military wife for 20 years, and a faithful government employee for 18 years.
"I never, ever asked to be placed in this position. Because I am just like you, I ask you to imagine how you would feel if someone you thought was a friend urged you to commit a felony that could jeopardize your job, potentially put you in jail and endanger the well-being of your children."
Linda did not fall off a turnip truck yesterday. She was well aware that she was privy to information that not only could destroy her, but her children as well. She watched from inside the White House as Hillary and Clinton destroyed the life of Billy Dale, who directed the White House Travel agency, so they could turn it over to an Arkansas crony. She was the last person to see Vince Foster alive as he left for lunch, after telling her he would be back shortly. She continued:
"Imagine how you would feel if your boss' attorney called you a liar in front of the whole country. And imagine if that boss was the president of the United States.
"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.
"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."
In a studied attempt to discredit her, raw data was released from her FBI file - one of the over 900 files the Clintons were cataloguing, using Craig Livingstone, who did not have security clearance himself to do it. The "leaked" information stated that she had been arrested for shoplifting. What was not released, but would have been in her file, was that the incident was a practical joke played on her by friends in college. The information had been expunged from her file - so only someone with a raw data file would have even known of it - some 35 years after the incident.
"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. 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.
"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 think that anyone who cared to really investigate and listen to what Linda Tripp has tried to say would know that she had a reputation that could best be summed up in just that last phrase. "Truth matters." She was never a gossip. She was known as a person who kept confidences. Why do you suppose Monica Lewinsky CHOSE Linda Tripp to tell her lurid, painful story to? Linda was known as a person who was responsible and dependable. Younger women often came to her for advice in coping with the Washington environment. However, it is clear that there is something about what she knows that has convinced her that the information Monica was telling her was putting her, and her children, in danger. Tremendous pressure was being exerted to get Monica to lie about what she knew. Keeping girlish confidences never equates with lying under oath in a court of law.
"For example, it matters that you know now that I have testified to the fact that I had nothing, let me repeat, nothing to do with preparing the so-called talking points. Allegations to the effect that I contributed to or assisted in any way with the creation of the talking points are as illogical as they are patently false.
"I have been vilified for taking the path of truth. I've been maligned by people who have chosen not to tell the truth, and who know that they are not telling the truth. That's a pretty frightening thing. To cast me in the role of the villain, they have enlisted legions of paid prevaricators, not surprisingly, 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.
"Despite all of that, I bear no malice toward anyone in this case. I have never had any political agenda. I still don't. I have been honored to serve presidents in both parties."
I hope that those who recognize themselves in Linda Tripp's statement - and it is a list that would certainly include nearly all the female newspersons I heard that week-end - hang their head in shame. Unfortunately, they probably won't. Linda's description is painfully accurate. It is a "pretty frightening thing" to watch arrogant, mean-spirited defenders of the president destroy one person after another with their poison pens and their arrogant cruelty. Linda Tripp ended her statement with a graciousness that contrasted sharply with the low-level attacks on her that had become the norm for what some call "reporting:"
"I want to say a word about the people who've supported me throughout this ordeal. I don't believe they're Washington insiders. I don't think that they're the politically connected. But they have made a noticeable effort to have their voice heard and to support me and my family. It has meant a great deal to us. So for all of that, I thank each and every one of them. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the men standing with me today for their unfailing support and superb counsel. Anthony Zaccagnini, Joe Murtha and Philip Coughter.
"I certainly could not have gotten through this without the love and support of my children, Ryan and Allison, who are here with me today, and a very strong extended family. 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."
"I hope that when all the facts are revealed, you'll understand that it is a right all of us should be fighting for.
"Thank you."
It was a class act. Her lawyers were admiringly nodding their heads and her children were very proud of their Mom, as they have every right to be. Linda Tripp is a woman of great character and courage. As I watched the expression on the faces of her grown children, I thought of the description in Scriptures of a "virtuous woman." Part of that description, in Proverbs 31, reads: "Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in the time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
"Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."
What has motivated Linda Tripp? It was obvious yesterday what was motivating Linda Tripp. Her love for her children is motivating Linda Tripp, and her concern for the kind of country they will inherit if she succumbed to the pressure and lied under oath. It probably is the only thing strong enough to prompt her to overcome her normal reserve so she could speak into that microphone even though her stage fright was causing her to shake like a leaf.
She may not be nearly as glib as the hard and glib female commentators who have been slamming her, but she has a quality of character that most of those commentators seem to be unable to even recognize, much less emulate.
She is a marvelous example of what one honorable, honest person can accomplish, when they are motivated by love of family, love of country and courage.
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com