Linda Tripp who blew the lid on Bill Clinton's sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky dead at 70
Linda Tripp, whose recordings of conversations with then White House intern Monica Lewinsky led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998, died at the age of 70 on Wednesday. According to Linda's daughter Allison, she had been quite ill for a while now and on Tuesday she shared that her mother was on her death bed.
According to the New York Post, Allison posted on Facebook, "My mommy is leaving this earth. I don’t know myself if I can survive this heartache. Please pray for a painless process for the strongest woman I will ever know in my entire lifetime." The post is now unavailable and Allison's profile has been changed to private since.
Tripp's son-in-law Thomas Foley was quoted as saying, "Look it’s hard to talk right now. Linda has passed on. She fought on as hard as she could. We just have to let all the grandkids know as it was so sudden. I know all the press will focus on the other stuff but she was a special person and a fantastic grandparent who was devoted to her family.” “People forget this part," he added.
He also said that he will not be able to share further information about her medical condition or cause of death.
Lewinsky also shared a condolence message on Twitter since the news broke and said, "No matter the past, upon hearing that linda tripp is very seriously ill, i hope for her recovery. i can’t imagine how difficult this is for her family (sic)."
Tripp was a civil servant and worked at the Pentagon when she made her acquaintance with Lewinsky who was then a 22-year-old working in the public affairs office. During their conversations, Lewinsky had revealed to Linda that she had had a physical relationship with Clinton while working as an intern at the White House, following which Linda began to secretly record their conversations.
Linda had also encouraged Lewinsky to keep a record of her relationship with Clinton and had also told her not to dry clean one of the dresses that Lewinsky had worn while she had sex with Clinton. This served as evidence later as it had semen stains on it. This helped the then-independent counsel Kenneth Starr -- who she had turned over the tapes to in return for immunity from illegal wiretapping charges -- get approval from the then-Attorney General Janet Reno and the special court that oversaw the independent counsel, expand on the investigation into the relationship between the former White House intern and Clinton.
Clinton was impeached by the House in December 1998 and was acquitted by the Senate in 1999. The conversations were useful in laying the groundwork for perjury charges against Clinton who had denied the affair.