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Wiretap That Nearly Took Down President Clinton (S1, E4) | The Clinton Affair | Full Ep | Biography — Transcript

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0:01(Linda Tripp) Alright, so what, w-what is my next move? What do I do?
0:03(Lucianne Goldberg) Alright, let me put it this way..
0:04My ultimate goal in this
0:07is that this information..
0:10...become public.
0:13(Linda Tripp) In my mind, I was thinking if anything could
0:15surface by early spring--
0:18- Alright. - In a big way.
0:19(Lucianne Goldberg) Alright..
0:20It wasn't so much about bringing him down
0:22it was, "Open your eyes, world
0:24and see who this man is."
0:29'Cause I knew eventually, it was gonna come out.
0:32The dress was hanging in her closet.
0:35You know, it was going to come out.
0:38[intense music]
1:07Linda Tripp had to listen to this...child, virtually
1:13night after night with the whining phone calls
1:15and he said this, and he said that, and blah, blah, blah.
1:31(Blair Foster) 'Linda is gonna have to betray Monica's trust.'
1:33Yeah, oh, sure.
1:35(Blair Foster) 'I mean, was that, I mean'
1:37'was she conflicted about that? Or--'
1:38I don't know, I never discussed, one thing
1:40I never discussed with Linda was trust.
1:43It just was not, you know, in our wheelhouse
1:47as they say now.
2:13(Lucianne Goldberg) Linda thought she could get herself subpoenaed
2:16in the Paula Jones thing
2:17and so I called, uh, friends of a friend of mine.
2:21[intense music]
3:00[intense music]
3:08Bill called at 2:30 in the morning
3:10and there were two pieces
3:13of bad news which he was passing along.
3:17One was that Betty Currie's brother
3:19had been killed in a car accident
3:21and I had grown very close to Betty, I mean, our relationship
3:24was complicated, but I cared very much for her
3:26she had had another relative who had passed away recently
3:29so this was distressing news to me.
3:32And then, he really dropped the bombshell that he had seen
3:36the witness list for the Paula Jones case
3:37and I was on it.
3:41The information about Betty spun me one way
3:44and the information about the witness list
3:47spun me completely the other way.
3:49He told me that it broke his heart
3:50and that he'd thought that I probably wouldn't
3:52get called as a witness.
3:54I was petrified.
3:57I was frantic about my family, and this becoming public.
4:03Thankfully, Bill helped me
4:06lock myself back from that
4:08and he said I could probably sign an affidavit
4:11to get out of it, and he didn't even know
4:14if a 100 percent I would be subpoenaed.
4:16He did not say, "Now, listen, you're gonna have to lie here."
4:20But on the flip side, he also didn't say
4:23"Listen, honey, this is gonna be really awful
4:25we're gonna have to tell the truth."
4:28A couple of days later, I got subpoenaed.
4:35The subpoena specifically asked me to produce
4:38for evidence, a hat pin.
4:40I was hysterical. I called Linda Tripp.
5:04(Monica Lewinsky) I didn't know how to process any of it
5:07and because Betty's brother had just passed away
5:10I didn't wanna call her
5:12so I called Vernon Jordan, a prominent attorney
5:15who was the president's best friend.
5:17And I was crying so hard on the phone
5:19he couldn't understand me.
5:20He just said, "Come to my office."
5:22Miss Lewinsky was, uh, in my office, uh
5:27in the reception area, she had a subpoena.
5:31I mentioned to him that I was worried
5:34about the hat pin and he's like, "Nope, it's a vanilla
5:37this a vanilla subpoena."
5:39And then he said there, there are only two questions
5:41"Did you have sex with the president
5:43and did he ask for it?"
5:46And so I said, "No," and "No."
5:49(male #1) 'After your meeting with Miss Lewinsky'
5:52'did you see the President of the United States'
5:54'later that evening?'
5:55I did.
5:57'And did you, uh, have a conversation with him alone?'
5:59- I did. - 'No one else around?'
6:00No one else around.
6:02'And I know that's a redundant question.'
6:04- It's okay. - 'Now..'
6:06'Would you describe your conversation'
6:08'with the president?'
6:09Uh, we were upstairs, uh
6:11in the White House, then I raised with him
6:14the whole question of Monica Lewinsky
6:16and asked him directly
6:18if he'd had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky
6:21and the president said, "No, never."
6:23'It appears to me that this is an extraordinary question'
6:26'to ask the President of the United States.'
6:29I'm asking a question to my friend
6:31who happens to be the President of the United States.
6:35'And did you expect your friend'
6:36'the President of the United States'
6:37'to give you a truthful answer?'
6:38I did.
6:40'Did you rely upon the president's answer'
6:42'in your decision to continue'
6:44'your efforts to seek Miss Lewinsky a job?'
6:46I believed him, and, uh, I continued to do
6:50what I had been asked to do.
6:51I didn't know whom to contact
6:53and Vernon mentioned a lawyer
6:56Frank Carter, and took me to meet him.
7:00Frank Carter explained to me, if I'd signed an affidavit
7:03denying having had an intimate relationship with the president
7:07it might mean I wouldn't have to be deposed
7:10in the Paula Jones case.
7:12I did feel uncomfortable about it
7:16but I felt it was the right thing to do, ironically, right?
7:19So, the right thing to do, to break the law.
7:23A few days later, Betty arranged for me to come in
7:27for a little Christmas visit.
7:30I really struggled before I went
7:32because I thought maybe I should tell him about
7:35that I had confided in Linda.
7:40This is the first time I met Buddy, the dog
7:43and we kind of all played around with Buddy in the office
7:45and then we went into the back study
7:48and we had a Christmas kiss.
7:52Over the summer he had gone to Martha's Vineyard
7:54and he brought back a bunch of different things.
7:57He had this big canvas bag
7:59from the Black Dog.
8:02This marble bear, sunglasses.
8:05It was the most presents he'd given me at one time.
8:09He knew the subpoena was gonna ask to produce certain items
8:13and yet he was giving me more gifts.
8:18He clearly still trusted me.
8:21I realized he was giving me all these gifts
8:24and they're asking me to turn things over
8:26and I kind of suggested, well, you know, like
8:30if Betty had them, wouldn't I not be able
8:32to turn them over?
8:34So, I-I boxed them all up, and, um, she came over
8:38and I gave her the box of items.
8:44A few days later, I signed the affidavit
8:49and it was evasive, a-and false.
8:55(male #2) 'Did you notify anyone in the White House that the affidavit'
8:58'in the Jones case had been signed by Miss Lewinsky?'
9:01Yeah, I'm certain I told Betty Currie
9:03and I'm fairly certain that I told the president.
9:06(male #2) 'And what was his response when you informed him'
9:08'that she had signed the affidavit?'
9:09"Thank you very much."
9:12Signing the affidavit felt for me, okay, I'm one step closer
9:15to maybe being taken off the witness list
9:17and it also reaffirmed
9:20that I was on his team.
9:26(Steve Binhak) It was the first day back after Christmas vacation
9:28and I went into the office on Monday morning
9:32with the express purpose of sitting down
9:34with my direct boss, Jackie Bennett
9:35who was the deputy independent counsel.
9:38Jackie and I were going through all these matters
9:40that were relevant to the investigation
9:42and the phone rang.
9:45Jackie started talking to this person on the phone
9:49and he was saying things like, "Uh-huh.
9:51Yes, tell me about that.."
9:53And I actually thought Jackie was talking to his wife.
9:55So I got up to leave and give him privacy
9:57and without saying anything, he went..
10:01Jackie said to the person on the other end
10:03"Listen, I've got a colleague in the office with me
10:05do you mind if I put you on speaker phone?"
10:08The speaker phone went on, and that was Linda Tripp.
10:12She told us there was an intern at the White House
10:16the intern had had a sexual relationship
10:18with the President of the United States.
10:21Monica Lewinsky was subpoenaed in the Paula Jones litigation
10:25with the president.
10:27Monica Lewinsky and the president
10:29had discussed the testimony
10:30and they had agreed together that Monica Lewinsky
10:33and the president would lie under oath in that case.
10:38So, she was alleging some pretty serious crimes
10:41on behalf of the President of the United States.
10:44Witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and perjury.
10:48You know, we get calls all the time from nuts.
10:52We get calls from people saying, you know
10:55wanted to get into Clinton's sex life and we didn't care.
10:57This was something very different.
10:59This was an allegation that the president and his allies
11:03were encouraging somebody to obstruct justice.
11:07(Steve Binhak) Jackie asked if we could come and meet
11:09Linda Tripp at her home.
11:11She said, "Yes."
11:15At that time, it was rather late in the evening
11:16there weren't many people in the office.
11:19Sol Wisenberg was there, working.
11:21Jackie just grabbed anybody who was in the office.
11:25(Steve Binhak) A few minutes later, we were in Sol's minivan
11:27heading up to the Maryland suburbs
11:30to meet with Linda Tripp.
11:32We went out to see her.
11:33Just didn't know what we'd find.
11:36(Steve Binhak) Her house was really very Christmas-y and well-decorated.
11:40And we sat in her living room, and it became apparent
11:44that Linda Tripp had tapes
11:46of her discussions with Monica Lewinsky.
11:49Linda Tripp had made the tapes in Maryland.
11:52If you record a conversation in Maryland, without the other
11:56party knowing, it is a crime.
11:59We were willing, under the circumstances
12:01to give her immunity in exchange
12:05for handing over the tapes.
12:07Linda Tripp also told us that Monica Lewinsky
12:10had a blue Gap dress in her closet
12:14and that the dress had the president's semen on it.
12:50We have these very provocative
12:54uh, allegations that seem almost..
12:59No, that can't be, maybe this is just something
13:02that's in Monica's imagination. Uh..
13:06Surely this is not happening.
13:08Well, let's authenticate.
13:10How do you authenticate?
13:12You wire the witness so that you have
13:15an accurate recording of the conversation.
13:38I was trying to manage Linda and manage this process.
13:42I kept hoping that she would see
13:46what I considered the light of day
13:48and agree to not mention anything
13:51about what she knew about my private relationship.
13:58(Monica Lewinsky) She was constantly switching it, like, she was gonna tell
14:01she wasn't gonna tell, maybe she would do this
14:02maybe she would do that.
14:03I didn't trust her, and we met
14:07at the Pentagon Ritz Carlton for lunch.
14:35I am on the precipice of this
14:37l-legal nightmare, and there is one person
14:41who, if she just agrees...to do
14:43what she said she always would do
14:45which was protect my secret
14:47it would maybe all be okay.
15:10I was desperate. I was absolutely desperate.
15:52(Monica Lewinsky) Something happened, and basically she had to go
15:54to the bathroom and I actually rummaged through her purse
15:58'cause I thought she might have had a tape recorder.
16:13I never, I-I never could've imagined
16:16that she would have been wired
16:18and certainly not wired by the FBI.
16:24(Michael Isikoff) I'm at my desk, and I get a phone call
16:27from a source who tells me there's this
16:29little event going on at the Ritz Carlton.
16:33Ken Starr has Tripp wired.
16:37Starr?
16:40What does he have to do with this?
16:44I wanted to run down to the Ritz Carlton
16:46and see what I can witness, and it occurred to me
16:49I could, uh, find myself in the middle
16:51of some surveillance tape, and I figured
16:54that was probably not a good idea.
16:57But I knew I had to immediately begin taking steps
17:01to verify what I had been told
17:04and so, I made plans to confront Ken Starr's people
17:08about all this.
17:10(Solomon Wisenberg) After we'd wired Linda Tripp up
17:13we got the tape of their conversation.
17:32(Ken Starr) Vernon Jordan was a very prominent lawyer
17:35a very close friend of the president.
17:38Mr. Jordan was finding gainful employment
17:41that was attractive to Monica in New York.
17:49It was very, very explicit information.
17:52She's being offered a job at Revlon
17:54and that bore some similarity
17:57to what had happened with Webb Hubbell.
18:01(David Shuster) Webb Hubbell was a partner at the Rose Law Firm
18:03and he became number three at the justice department.
18:07He was part of the Clinton inner circle who has admitted
18:10to criminal wrongdoing, to billing clients
18:12for work that he didn't do.
18:14(male #3) The evidence showed Hubbell billed over $600,000
18:17in expenses to the Rose Law Firm.
18:19Kenneth Starr brought charges against Webster Hubbell.
18:23We are looking forward
18:25to Judge Hubbell's cooperation.
18:29After he had been convicted for billing fraud
18:33Vernon Jordan helped place Webb Hubbell
18:35in a lucrative job.
18:38That frustrated Starr's people
18:40they suspected that there was some sort of hush money.
18:44We found that disturbing because someone you're investigating
18:47who has potential information is being taken care of.
18:50One of the people who gave him a consulting contract
18:53was a company affiliated with Revlon
18:55and so, the same thing had been offered to Miss Lewinsky.
18:59(Monica Lewinsky) It was Linda who mentioned Vernon Jordan
19:02as someone to help me get a job.
19:09She wanted to go to New York
19:12for a job in the private sector
19:15and she thought that I could be helpful in that process.
19:18(Monica Lewinsky) Looking back now, it makes no sense.
19:21Why would Linda care about him getting me a job?
19:49The day after the meeting at the Ritz Carlton Hotel
19:52she told me she had decided now
19:54that she was not gonna tell, and she would do what I did
19:57and she would try and sign an affidavit to get out
20:00of having to testify.
20:02I was excited by this, I thought, "Hooray, okay
20:05she's coming around to my side of thinking about things."
20:08So, I sat and I wrote up a document
20:11based on my own affidavit
20:14to help her possibly not testify.
20:17That was the document which became
20:19the famous talking points.
20:52What is, uh..
20:55...this, this information about an affair
20:57with the President of the United States have to do
20:59with the Whitewater investigation?
21:01I think the, you know, the simple answer is nothing.
21:07The only arguable basis for this case was the fact
21:10that it involved allegations similar to the allegations
21:13that we were already looking at
21:15in connection with Vernon Jordan and Webb Hubbell.
21:19But, this was pr-probably outside of our mandate
21:23as an independent counsel office.
21:24We went promptly to the Justice Department.
21:27To the, uh
21:29chief law enforcement person in the country
21:32beginning with the Deputy Attorney General, Eric Holder.
21:35(Bruce Udolf) We informed Eric
21:37we were under some deadlines
21:40particularly with respect to Isikoff
21:42who is threatening to run a story that Sunday.
21:46My interest at that point was
21:48blowing the lid off of the Starr investigation.
21:51I'm focused on getting a story for Newsweek
21:54about this in our next issue
21:57which goes to bed that Saturday.
22:00It's time sensitive
22:02the president's deposition in the Jones case was coming up.
22:05So, Eric Holder consulted with
22:07the Attorney General of the United States
22:09and Janet Reno called it.
22:12To her credit, she made the decision very promptly
22:15for an expansion of our jurisdiction.
22:18You know, let's assume that this relationship
22:21with Monica Lewinsky did happen, why would it matter?
22:24The Paula Jones lawsuit was still moving forward..
22:28...and we knew the president would be deposed
22:31and he would be asked not only about Paula Jones
22:33but about Kathleen Willey and about Monica Lewinsky.
22:36If he lied, this would become a big story.
22:41(Michael Isikoff) I told Jackie Bennett, "Lay out, for me
22:45"what you know, and why you're doing this
22:48"because if you don't, you're gonna get roasted.
22:52"This is gonna be a huge controversy that could blow up
22:56in your face as much as the president's face."
23:55(Monica Lewinsky) A few days after meeting with Linda
23:57she called me at one point.
23:58She told me that she was starting to have cold feet
24:01about signing the affidavit.
24:03She was supposed to be going to see her lawyer that afternoon
24:07and she asked if I would meet with her to, you know
24:12kind of just go over things.
24:14[instrumental music]
24:21The Pentagon City Mall is close to the actual Pentagon
24:24and it's connected to the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
24:28As I was waiting for Linda, I was on the concourse.
24:31It's kind of right by a Panda Inn or Sbarro's
24:33or one of those other places.
24:36I felt absolutely sick to my stomach
24:40but I was so determined.
24:42Get through this, get her to sign an affidavit
24:45and we'll all be okay.
24:48At one point, I look up and I see Linda
24:52and she's walking towards me
24:54and she motions behind her, in this kind of serpentine way.
24:59And two men step forward
25:03and flash their badges at me.
25:06I heard something like
25:08"In trouble, Paula Jones case
25:11federal government, wanna talk to you."
25:15At 24, that was the most frightening thing
25:18that had ever happened to me.
25:19Linda said, "They did the same thing to me.
25:22This is the best thing for you." She tried to hug me.
25:25I imagined at this point, that they must have stung her
25:28and she turned me over, because she was in legal jeopardy.
25:34And a part of me wanted to run
25:36but I was also seething with anger.
25:39I thought, I'll just get the information
25:42and I'll be able to pass this on to Bill
25:43and he'll know how to fix it.
25:45So I-I went.
25:47[indistinct chatter]
25:54Going up an escalator with two FBI agents
25:57with Linda Tripp, it was almost like in a dream
26:00where you're sort of trying to scream
26:03but no one can hear you.
26:06I'm staring at people, and I'm looking at people
26:08thinking that someone would be able to understand the situation
26:11and somehow help me. That someone would stop this.
26:14[people laughing]
26:15But I looked like just another person
26:17who's probably at the mall going shopping.
26:21We go up to a hotel room.
26:30The door opens and
26:32it's this incongruous scene
26:35that the gaping maw of hell is
26:38a very fancy nice hotel room.
26:41Someone told me to sit down somewhere
26:43I sat in one of the club chairs
26:45or on the corner of a bed.
26:47One of the FBI agents
26:49his jacket was kind of folded back
26:52and I saw that he had a gun.
26:55And he said, you know, "Does that make you uncomfortable?"
26:59Uh, I just, I had no sense of what could happen
27:01and what would happen.
27:03[inhales deeply]
27:05The connecting room door opens
27:07and in walks this very attractive looking man
27:10in a, in a suit who introduces himself
27:13as Mike Emmick, one of the lawyers
27:15from the office of the Independent Counsel
27:17working with Ken Starr.
27:18So now my brain is really exploding, like
27:21"W-w.. How, they mentioned Paula Jones, now Ken Starr.
27:24"Ken Starr is Whitewater
27:27like, really, what the ááá is happening here?"
27:29[helicopter whirring]
27:35They try to usher Linda into this other room
27:38and I insisted on her staying.
27:41I knew at some point, she'd cooperated
27:43because they had these pictures of me
27:45but she was my only
27:48my only mooring to everything
27:50that my life had been up until that point.
27:53She, she's like.. I couldn't believe this was happening.
27:55Like, if this person is standing here, then I know
27:57that's what's really happening, and I also was angry
28:00and I felt she shouldn't, she shouldn't get
28:02to just walk into another room
28:04and not have to see what she's done.
28:10Two agents came in with Monica and with Linda Tripp
28:14which was a surprise to me and to Mike.
28:18She was somewhat disheveled, she was wearing workout clothes.
28:21Her face was, uh, blotchy as if she'd been crying.
28:26(Monica Lewinsky) The only thing I really thought to do
28:29was what I had seen happen in TV and in the movies
28:32which was to ask for my lawyer.
28:35They said that they wanted to question me
28:38and that after they talked to me
28:40about what it was that they wanted to discuss
28:43that if I wanted to call my lawyer
28:44then, that I could decide to do so.
28:47But that if my lawyer was present now
28:49they wouldn't be able to give me as much information
28:51as they could without my lawyer.
28:54She was basically told that she could contact a lawyer
28:59and then at some point
29:01she indicated that she was represented
29:03by this attorney, Frank Carter.
29:04She had gotten..
29:07...to that lawyer through Vernon Jordan.
29:09We really didn't know if he was involved in bad conduct
29:13with Vernon Jordan to begin with, and that's why
29:15he was brought on to represent Monica.
29:18We just didn't know him.
29:19W-what the hell do you do in a situation like this?
29:21Because you don't wanna tell somebody
29:22"No, you can't contact this lawyer."
29:25We're doing this all on the fly.
29:27We had 24 hours, or less than that t-to get ready for..
29:31Mike was, uh, really struggling with this.
29:35(Monica Lewinsky) Mike starts to lay out for me this litany of legal jargon.
29:39They knew I had signed a false affidavit.
29:41They had me on tape saying I would lie under oath.
29:55They said that I-I had committed crimes.
29:58[instrumental music]
30:00They said they were going to prosecute me
30:02for obstruction of justice
30:04signing a false affidavit
30:06witness tampering and conspiracy.
30:09I-I didn't even know what witness tampering was.
30:12They were clearly trying to pressure me
30:15into understanding the gravity of the situation
30:18in which I found myself.
30:25(Bruce Udolf) She could have been targeted with trying to suborn perjury
30:28by encouraging Tripp to commit perjury
30:32and she could have been prosecuted for filing
30:33a false affidavit to convince her to cooperate
30:37but Mike and I never really thought seriously that
30:39that there was a criminal case to be made
30:41against Monica Lewinsky.
30:43I-I think you might be able to count on one hand
30:46the number of false accuses there have been for filing
30:48a false affidavit in connection with a civil case.
30:51Particularly about a private sexual relationship.
30:55People view that type of lie differently
30:59from lies for venal purposes.
31:02So, I think that's why you see, uh, Mike, he made the offer
31:06of, of granting her immunity, you know, within
31:10a very short period of time when she was in her hotel room.
31:12I hadn't anticipated being there quickly.
31:15(Monica Lewinsky) In order to co-operate and to avoid charges
31:19I would have to make phone calls, monitored phone calls
31:21which they would listen in to and record
31:24and I might have to wear a wire and go see people
31:26actually in person.
31:28The ground completely crumbled in that moment.
31:31I felt so much guilt.
31:34Um, and I was terrified.
31:39Mike made his best pitch
31:41and Mike had been doing most of the prep work
31:43to figure out what he was gonna say to her
31:45'cause it's-it's impossible to rehearse something like that.
31:48Y-you go with your instincts
31:50and, uh, he was basically trying to be
31:54as, uh, calm and, and reassuring as possible
31:58but she was alternating between being hysterical
32:02being angry..
32:05...uh, being abusive..
32:09(Monica Lewinsky) They imagined that I would've flipped really easily.
32:13They had no plan in place for what would happen if I said no.
32:18There was a point for me
32:20somewhere in this sort of first several hours
32:22where I would be hysterically crying
32:24and then I would just shut down.
32:26And in the shutdown period, I remember
32:28looking out the window and thinking that the only way
32:33to fix this was to kill myself, was to jump out the window.
32:36And, um..
32:41I-I just, I felt terrible.
32:44[sobbing] I was scared and I just..
32:48I was m-mortified and afraid
32:51of what this was gonna do to my family and..
32:53[sniffles]
32:57You know, I still was in love with Bill at the time, um...
33:05So I just.. I felt really responsible.
33:07[sniffles]
33:09[instrumental music]
33:13When it was clear that we had sort of reached an impasse
33:17and we weren't making any progress
33:19and Mike's nice-guy approach wasn't working
33:22I brought in Jackie, who would probably tell you
33:25he was right out of Central Casting
33:26for "The Bad Cop."
33:27Uh, he was a big burly guy
33:30very intimidating, booming voice.
33:32As differential as Mike was to Monica, Jackie was
33:36you know, little rough around the edges with her to be short.
33:39I kept asking, "Could I call my mom?" They kept saying no.
33:42He said, "You're 24, you don't need to call your mommy."
33:45You know, you need to make a decision about what to do
33:48and so I said, "Well, then you should know I'm leaning
33:50towards not cooperating."
33:52And, he said, "Well, you should know
33:56"that we're also planning on prosecuting your mom
33:59for the things that you said she did on the tape."
34:03Basically, he told her, "Listen, you don't need
34:04"to call your mommy, you're a big girl
34:07"and you got to make some decisions on your own
34:09while you still can."
34:10And I basically stood my ground
34:14and said that if they would not let me call someone
34:17call my mom, I couldn't make this decision
34:19without talking to her.
34:21So, eventually, they said okay.
34:26And just as bizarrely as everything else had been
34:29for the few hours before this
34:31I walked out of room 1012
34:36and walked down the hall.
34:39I got in the elevator and went to a payphone
34:43by the Nordstrom.
34:52Some of the things that were going through my mind
34:53sound so ludicrous and so paranoid
34:57but it was as if someone had plucked me
34:59off the planet I'd been living on
35:00and dropped me onto a different planet.
35:03I was certain that there must have been agents
35:05hiding in the mall somewhere.
35:07That they instantaneously knew to bug every phone
35:10and at one point this other woman came to use a payphone
35:14and I thought she was an agent, and I started screaming at her
35:17to-to leave me alone, and so my mom said
35:19to-to calm down, to breathe
35:21and she eventually, like, came to understand
35:25FBI, have me..
35:28I'm in a hotel.
35:33(Ken Starr) Things were moving quickly towards
35:35the president's deposition on January 17th
35:39so we had the sense, we need to move very, very quickly
35:43gather the facts as fully as we can.
35:46Who knows the facts better than Monica Lewinsky?
35:52Is the president, in fact, going to commit perjury?
35:55Is he going to lie under oath?
35:56We believe that he had been lying under oath
35:59during the Arkansas phase of the investigation.
36:01So, we had our views, and they were very strong
36:04deeply held views about the, the president's
36:07lack of truthfulness.
36:10From a prosecutor's perspective
36:11time is absolutely critical, and so you want to reach
36:15essentially an immunity deal
36:17as quickly as possible so the person becomes
36:19a cooperating witness. That was the strategy.
36:23With Monica, all of the interactions
36:25that day were in Pentagon city.
36:28First in the shopping mall, and then the Ritz Carlton.
36:33I was not at the venue
36:34I was in our Washington, D.C. offices
36:37but I was being kept fully apprised by the team.
36:45(Steve Binhak) The office had two adjacent rooms at the Ritz Carlton
36:47and the rooms were set up with a double door between them
36:50so that if you opened both doors, there was a passageway
36:53through the rooms, but if either door was closed
36:55it was sealed off.
37:02When the agents brought Linda Tripp
37:04and Monica Lewinsky up
37:06Linda Tripp went into the room that I was in
37:08and it was a perfect opportunity for me to start asking her
37:12questions about what I knew from the tapes.
37:30Linda Tripp told me that Monica Lewinsky
37:32and the president had exchanged gifts.
37:34That was significant
37:35because they proved there was a relationship
37:37between Lewinsky and the president.
37:39(Monica Lewinsky) 'By the way, he wore one of my ties today.'
37:41- 'Oh, good.' - 'It was nice.'
37:42'And he wore the pin on Friday, did I tell you that?'
37:44- 'Yes.' - 'Okay.'
37:46I spent about two hours in the hotel room with Linda
37:47interviewing her, and then at that point
37:49she left and went home.
37:51That was probably around 2 o'clock.
37:53By that point, Bruce Udolf, Mike Emmick
37:55and Jackie Bennett had finished talking with Monica Lewinsky
37:58and their discussions had deceased.
38:00Lewinsky said, "I'm not gonna continue unless my mom comes"
38:03and the office allowed her to call her mom.
38:07(Monica Lewinsky) When I called my mom from a payphone, I was hysterical
38:10she couldn't understand me
38:12and she eventually, like, came to understand
38:16FBI, have me..
38:20...I'm in a hotel.
38:21And so my mom said to breathe
38:23and to go back to the hotel room
38:26and to ask whoever was in charge to call her.
38:29When Monica left, we just figured
38:31well, she'll never come back
38:32but, lo and behold, she did.
38:34Mike talked to her mother on the phone
38:37explaining the situation to her
38:39and apparently her mother didn't like to fly
38:42between New York and Washington
38:43so she arranged to get on a train
38:45and come down.
38:48(Monica Lewinsky) My mom called my dad on the train.
38:52(Bernard Lewinsky) Marcia called me and she said, Monica was in trouble
38:55did I know anything about her and the president.
38:59And I said, "What? No, I don't know anything.
39:02What are you talking about?"
39:03And, she said, "Do you know a lawyer in Washington, D.C.?
39:07She needs a lawyer." It was earth shattering.
39:13January 16th is the most harrowing day
39:17of all of our lives.
39:19I have never forgotten every second of it.
39:25(Steve Binhak) Monica Lewinsky was sitting in a chair by the window
39:27she was very quiet, clearly thinking over her situation
39:31clearly under a tremendous amount of pressure and stress.
39:35(Monica Lewinsky) I was starting to go stir crazy in this room.
39:38Aside from the crying and the not crying
39:41I would get really hot, I would get freezing.
39:44I had a headache from crying.
39:46So eventually I asked if we could go
39:48walk around the mall.
39:49[instrumental music]
39:52Bill Clinton's deposition in the Paula Jones case
39:55was gonna be in less than 12 hours.
39:57I was still desperate to kind of find a way to warn him
40:01about what was happening.
40:03Here I am walking around the Pentagon City Mall
40:05with an FBI agent and Mike Emmick
40:07and I remembered that there was a payphone
40:10in the Macy's bathroom.
40:12So I got this cuckoo idea, and I said
40:14I had to use the restroom.
40:16And I called Betty
40:18the president's secretary.
40:21[payphone dialing]
40:24The phone rang... and then went to voicemail.
40:29I thought, "Okay, calling her and telling her was one thing
40:32but I couldn't leave a message because that would be evidence."
40:35[chuckles] I know. I know!
40:37Um..
40:41I think it was around 6:00 p.m. now
40:43and I hadn't eaten and I was starving
40:45so in yet another bizarre twist in this surreal day
40:49I ate dinner with Mike Emmick and Agent Fallon.
40:56We finished, we went back to the room.
40:59Meanwhile, my mom's train got delayed
41:01so they turned the TV on.
41:05I read the Bible.
41:12I still remember the moment
41:14between hearing the knock on the door
41:18and the door opening and it being my mom.
41:21And that was a moment where I sort of finally felt
41:24I was tethered back to reality, a bit.
41:29I walked in, and she was standing
41:31in the middle of the room
41:32and she was shaking and trembling.
41:35I put my arms around her and said
41:37"Everything will be alright," but I didn't really
41:40think everything would be alright.
41:41I was trying to act brave, I thought it's important
41:43for them not to see how frightened I was.
41:47They were saying she had to cooperate
41:50and betray other people.
41:52I said I wanted to talk to my mom alone
41:54they said they'd leave the room, I said no
41:56because I was certain it was bugged.
41:58So she and I traversed the hallway.
42:01Back and forth.
42:03(Marcia Lewis) I said, "You must cooperate, Monica."
42:05I wanted her to do what they said
42:07because they were threatening jail.
42:10And this would be just to protect Bill Clinton!
42:14That's who they were really after, she was just a means.
42:17(Monica Lewinsky) She understood my loyalty to Bill Clinton
42:20but she had no loyalty to Bill Clinton
42:21her loyalty was to her daughter.
42:23Like any mother, my priority is my daughter's safety
42:27and her future, and so, yes, I wanted her to cooperate.
42:31At that time, I was in the second room
42:32and I walked out not knowing they were in the hallway
42:36and I overheard Monica Lewinsky's mother say
42:38"Monica, you're gonna tell these people the truth
42:40"you're gonna tell them everything they need to know
42:42and we're gonna end this thing right now."
42:44And Monica said back to her mother
42:46"Mom, don't be so naive, I'm not gonna be the one
42:49to bring down the President of the United States."
42:54(Marcia Lewis) They took me separately into another room
42:57and they said, if she will cooperate
42:59we will make an immunity offer
43:01and I said, "Could you put that immunity offer
43:04in writing, please?"
43:05And the whole room changed, they were exchanging glances
43:09and the man in charge said
43:12"I can't do that.
43:14I don't have a typewriter here."
43:17That-that was when I knew that this
43:20this was terrible trouble, that, that..
43:24...that we couldn't trust, we couldn't trust them.
43:29She informed them that she had called my dad
43:33so they were now kind of apoplectic.
43:35Already, they hadn't wanted me to tell my mom
43:37now my mom has told my dad.
43:39Whenever we talked with Monica
43:40which was only a very short amount of time
43:43they, they wouldn't let her talk much.
43:45You could tell she was terrified.
43:48I mean, you know your child, you know?
43:54(Bruce Udolf) By that time, Monica's father had gotten
43:57with his friend and malpractice attorney, Bill Ginsburg.
44:02They got on the phone with Mike
44:04and Bill Ginsburg basically told Mike
44:08that they wanted to talk to her
44:10and didn't want her to do anything
44:11that she had to get immunity.
44:13Ginsburg said there was no way she was gonna wear
44:15a wire on anybody.
44:18It was clear at that point
44:21that the matter was not gonna be resolved.
44:24So basically, he told Mike to put Monica back on the phone
44:27and she was told to get out of there
44:29and that they'd fly out there the next day and, uh, take over.
44:34And so, they were escorted outside by the agents.
44:39(Monica Lewinsky) Both of us, without having said anything
44:40to each other, were all of a sudden very nice and kind
44:44and courteous, and said, "Thank you."
44:47It was very strange.
44:50(Marcia Lewis) We went back to our apartment.
44:52It was 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning.
44:54We were both very, very frightened.
44:57Monica was distraught, she kept repeating
45:01"I just wanna die, I just wanna die."
45:04I, uh, you know, I-I stayed by her side.
45:09(Ken Starr) She was so fiercely loyal to the president
45:13and her loyalty was what ended up
45:16being a huge impediment.
45:18The idea of a citizen feeling that she has the full weight
45:22of the government, uh, coming down on her
45:24is perfectly understandable
45:26it's a horrible situation, uh-uh, to be in.
45:30But this is not
45:32a-a Franz Kafka novel.
45:35The real shame is that when you look back on it
45:38if she had said
45:41"I was betrayed by Linda Tripp
45:43"there's nothing else I can do.
45:46I've gotta tell the truth." And you know what..
45:49[chuckles] The horror that the nation went through
45:54for eight months would have been ...essentially avoided.
45:58It would have been over very, very quickly.

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