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Right On!
By David Horowitz
Why hate crime laws backfire

T A B L E+T A L K
When and why did you last fire a gun? Join the discussion in Table Talk's Social Issues area.

R E C E N T L Y
Renewal of vows
By Daryl Lindsey
Aided by a dying King Hussein, Israel's Netanyahu brings Israel back to where it was in the peace negotiations 18 months ago
(10/23/98)
Asking for it
By Jeff Stryker
Judges and juries may go easy on gay bashers who blame their victims
(10/23/98)
Backlash '98?
By Joan Walsh
After dreading November's elections, some Democrats now believe they will benefit from an anti-impeachment voter rebellion
(10/22/98)
Free speech is under attack -- again
A Salon Editorial
Why we're challenging the new Net censorship law
(10/22/98)
No place to hide
By Bruce Shapiro
The arrest of the brutal ex-dictator Pinochet marks the first time since Nuremberg that a head of state faces legal responsibility for his mass killings
(10/21/98)
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While Starr claims he first heard Tripp's tapes on Jan. 12, they were making the rounds of Clinton foes much earlier. On the Oct. 20 broadcast of "Geraldo," Lucianne Goldberg's son and partner, Jonah, said he had heard some of Tripp's tapes in September 1997 -- even earlier than the Oct. 3 date Tripp has testified she began taping Lewinsky. Jonah Goldberg also said that he personally delivered copies that he and his mother made of two of Tripp's tapes to Starr deputy Robert Bittmann and had earlier "handed the originals to Starr investigator Coy Copeland in New York."
Also on "Geraldo," anti-Clinton activist Ann Coulter revealed that she had heard one of the Lewinsky tapes at least two weeks before Starr has acknowledged knowing about them. And on Jan. 18, as the Lewinsky scandal was breaking, William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, told ABC's "This Week" that he'd heard about the Lewinsky affair from a friend who had heard Tripp's tapes, too.
Starr's connections to the Jones lawsuit might also have been closer than has so far been reported. Even after he became independent counsel, there is evidence suggesting that Starr and the Jones legal camp continued to act in concert. Following the Supreme Court decision to greenlight the Jones trial in May 1997, Starr's investigators were widely reported to be questioning Arkansans about possible Clinton sexual misadventures -- which at that point seemed far afield of the Whitewater real estate deal Starr was authorized to investigate.
Then in October, Jones hired a new legal team, with help from Ann Coulter and John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute, which helped underwrite Jones' battle and hired new attorneys for her. Then came the mysterious "anonymous" phone call to Rutherford's office from someone who suggested that Jones' lawyers should look into the relationship between Clinton and a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. Goldberg says she believes the caller was Tripp. The Los Angeles Times has revealed that Tripp was put in touch with Jones' lawyers by Goldberg at least by Nov. 21, not Jan. 16, 1998, as had been alleged.
It was in the closing months of 1997 that the links between Starr, Jones and Tripp began to come together. As she began to talk with Jones' attorneys, Tripp began worrying about whether her tapes, which were becoming more known to an ever-growing circle of people, put her in legal jeopardy. Tripp testified to the grand jury that her first lawyer told her that secret taping was illegal in Maryland, but she still taped Lewinsky twice after that warning. Goldberg later consulted conservative Washington attorney Theodore Olson, a longtime friend and political ally of Starr, for advice about Tripp's legal vulnerability.
On Jan. 9, Tripp met with lawyer James Moody, a friend of Ann Coulter's with ties to the Scaife-funded Landmark Legal Fund, which had also advised Paula Jones. Moody advised Tripp to take the tapes to Starr, who could immunize her from prosecution, instead of to the Jones lawyers. But Tripp managed to work with both Starr and the Jones team.
Tripp called Starr's office on Jan. 12 and agreed to wear a wire to an already scheduled lunch with Lewinsky the next day. (Given the new revelations that Tripp had been in touch with Starr's office at least a week earlier, it's hard to believe he didn't have a hand in scheduling the lunch in the first place.) The cooperation paid off: Tripp wound up an immunized witness in three of Starr's ongoing investigations, which may also have the effect of immunizing her against prosecution in Maryland's investigation of her illegal taping of Lewinsky. Starr also managed to keep Tripp from being formally deposed in the Jones case, which prevented Clinton's lawyers from having a chance to question the woman who would be central to the impeachment crisis he now faces.
Finally, that busy weekend before Clinton's deposition in the Jones case, Tripp was meeting with both Starr and the Jones lawyers. In fact, the Sunday night before the president's deposition, Tripp met first with Starr, and then one of his deputies drove her to meet with Jones lawyer Wesley Holmes. The next day, with Tripp's help, Jones' lawyers would ask Clinton their fateful 95 questions about Monica Lewinsky -- some of which were suggested by Tripp -- that would lay the perjury trap Starr would use to make his case for impeachment. Significantly, the Los Angeles Times has reported, Starr did not instruct Tripp to keep her work for him secret, contrary to Justice Department rules.
Although the media is getting more aggressive about tracking the Starr-Tripp-Jones connections, some leading reporters are still giving Starr the benefit of the doubt. In a recent Washington Post story, for instance, Susan Schmidt -- another reporter accused of being the credulous recipient of Starr leaks -- wrote that Tripp met with a Jones lawyer on Jan. 16, "unbeknownst to Starr." Since Starr's own deputy drove Tripp home for that meeting, it strains credulity to insist that Starr himself didn't know about it.
Maybe the best proof of collusion between Starr, Tripp and the Jones lawyers is the fact that Starr's deputies already knew about her false affidavit in the Jones case when they questioned Lewinsky Jan. 16 -- which, according to the Starr report, was a full day before Judge Susan Webber Wright received it. Both Ben-Veniste and Lars-Erik Nelson, writing in the New York Review of Books, have seized on this inconsistency. How could Starr have gotten the affidavit, which he used to threaten Lewinsky with a perjury charge, without help from the Jones legal team?
Given all the evidence, it's impossible to believe Starr's friends Porter and Olson, as well as the Jones lawyers and strategists, knew about the Tripp tapes for months without telling Starr. As Ben-Veniste asked in the Times, "Why would these lawyers have kept this information from Mr. Starr?"
Despite their artful plotting, Tripp, Starr and Clinton's right-wing enemies were unsuccessful in accomplishing what they wanted most: getting Lewinsky to say Vernon Jordan told her to lie, or got her a job as a quid pro quo for her discretion. Starr's report fails to point to any obstruction of justice by Jordan or any evidence that he urged Lewinsky to lie.
In her final statement to the grand jury, Lewinsky testified under oath that "Nobody ever told me to lie. And nobody ever offered me a job in exchange for my silence." Despite his awesome attention to detail, that's one statement that Kenneth Starr somehow left out of his 445-page report to Congress. That -- and the full story of his relationship with Linda Tripp.
SALON | Oct. 23, 1998
Washington, D.C.-based author-journalist Mollie Dickenson is writing a book on Whitewater. She is the author of "Thumbs Up," the biography of Reagan Press Secretary James Brady.

A L S O__T O D A Y Right On! By David Horowitz Why hate crime laws backfire T A B L E+T A L K When and why did you last fire a gun? Join the discussion in Table Talk's Social Issues area. R E C E N T L Y Renewal of vows By Daryl Lindsey Aided by a dying King Hussein, Israel's Netanyahu brings Israel back to where it was in the peace negotiations 18 months ago (10/23/98) Asking for it By Jeff Stryker Judges and juries may go easy on gay bashers who blame their victims (10/23/98) Backlash '98? By Joan Walsh After dreading November's elections, some Democrats now believe they will benefit from an anti-impeachment voter rebellion (10/22/98) Free speech is under attack -- again A Salon Editorial Why we're challenging the new Net censorship law (10/22/98) No place to hide By Bruce Shapiro The arrest of the brutal ex-dictator Pinochet marks the first time since Nuremberg that a head of state faces legal responsibility for his mass killings (10/21/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - S A L O N E M P O R I U M FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.
		THE STING \| PAGE 1, 2 - - - - - - - - - - While Starr claims he first heard Tripp's tapes on Jan. 12, they were making the rounds of Clinton foes much earlier. On the Oct. 20 broadcast of "Geraldo," Lucianne Goldberg's son and partner, Jonah, said he had heard some of Tripp's tapes in September 1997 -- even earlier than the Oct. 3 date Tripp has testified she began taping Lewinsky. Jonah Goldberg also said that he personally delivered copies that he and his mother made of two of Tripp's tapes to Starr deputy Robert Bittmann and had earlier "handed the originals to Starr investigator Coy Copeland in New York." Also on "Geraldo," anti-Clinton activist Ann Coulter revealed that she had heard one of the Lewinsky tapes at least two weeks before Starr has acknowledged knowing about them. And on Jan. 18, as the Lewinsky scandal was breaking, William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, told ABC's "This Week" that he'd heard about the Lewinsky affair from a friend who had heard Tripp's tapes, too. Starr's connections to the Jones lawsuit might also have been closer than has so far been reported. Even after he became independent counsel, there is evidence suggesting that Starr and the Jones legal camp continued to act in concert. Following the Supreme Court decision to greenlight the Jones trial in May 1997, Starr's investigators were widely reported to be questioning Arkansans about possible Clinton sexual misadventures -- which at that point seemed far afield of the Whitewater real estate deal Starr was authorized to investigate. Then in October, Jones hired a new legal team, with help from Ann Coulter and John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute, which helped underwrite Jones' battle and hired new attorneys for her. Then came the mysterious "anonymous" phone call to Rutherford's office from someone who suggested that Jones' lawyers should look into the relationship between Clinton and a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. Goldberg says she believes the caller was Tripp. The Los Angeles Times has revealed that Tripp was put in touch with Jones' lawyers by Goldberg at least by Nov. 21, not Jan. 16, 1998, as had been alleged. It was in the closing months of 1997 that the links between Starr, Jones and Tripp began to come together. As she began to talk with Jones' attorneys, Tripp began worrying about whether her tapes, which were becoming more known to an ever-growing circle of people, put her in legal jeopardy. Tripp testified to the grand jury that her first lawyer told her that secret taping was illegal in Maryland, but she still taped Lewinsky twice after that warning. Goldberg later consulted conservative Washington attorney Theodore Olson, a longtime friend and political ally of Starr, for advice about Tripp's legal vulnerability. On Jan. 9, Tripp met with lawyer James Moody, a friend of Ann Coulter's with ties to the Scaife-funded Landmark Legal Fund, which had also advised Paula Jones. Moody advised Tripp to take the tapes to Starr, who could immunize her from prosecution, instead of to the Jones lawyers. But Tripp managed to work with both Starr and the Jones team. Tripp called Starr's office on Jan. 12 and agreed to wear a wire to an already scheduled lunch with Lewinsky the next day. (Given the new revelations that Tripp had been in touch with Starr's office at least a week earlier, it's hard to believe he didn't have a hand in scheduling the lunch in the first place.) The cooperation paid off: Tripp wound up an immunized witness in three of Starr's ongoing investigations, which may also have the effect of immunizing her against prosecution in Maryland's investigation of her illegal taping of Lewinsky. Starr also managed to keep Tripp from being formally deposed in the Jones case, which prevented Clinton's lawyers from having a chance to question the woman who would be central to the impeachment crisis he now faces. Finally, that busy weekend before Clinton's deposition in the Jones case, Tripp was meeting with both Starr and the Jones lawyers. In fact, the Sunday night before the president's deposition, Tripp met first with Starr, and then one of his deputies drove her to meet with Jones lawyer Wesley Holmes. The next day, with Tripp's help, Jones' lawyers would ask Clinton their fateful 95 questions about Monica Lewinsky -- some of which were suggested by Tripp -- that would lay the perjury trap Starr would use to make his case for impeachment. Significantly, the Los Angeles Times has reported, Starr did not instruct Tripp to keep her work for him secret, contrary to Justice Department rules. Although the media is getting more aggressive about tracking the Starr-Tripp-Jones connections, some leading reporters are still giving Starr the benefit of the doubt. In a recent Washington Post story, for instance, Susan Schmidt -- another reporter accused of being the credulous recipient of Starr leaks -- wrote that Tripp met with a Jones lawyer on Jan. 16, "unbeknownst to Starr." Since Starr's own deputy drove Tripp home for that meeting, it strains credulity to insist that Starr himself didn't know about it. Maybe the best proof of collusion between Starr, Tripp and the Jones lawyers is the fact that Starr's deputies already knew about her false affidavit in the Jones case when they questioned Lewinsky Jan. 16 -- which, according to the Starr report, was a full day before Judge Susan Webber Wright received it. Both Ben-Veniste and Lars-Erik Nelson, writing in the New York Review of Books, have seized on this inconsistency. How could Starr have gotten the affidavit, which he used to threaten Lewinsky with a perjury charge, without help from the Jones legal team? Given all the evidence, it's impossible to believe Starr's friends Porter and Olson, as well as the Jones lawyers and strategists, knew about the Tripp tapes for months without telling Starr. As Ben-Veniste asked in the Times, "Why would these lawyers have kept this information from Mr. Starr?" Despite their artful plotting, Tripp, Starr and Clinton's right-wing enemies were unsuccessful in accomplishing what they wanted most: getting Lewinsky to say Vernon Jordan told her to lie, or got her a job as a quid pro quo for her discretion. Starr's report fails to point to any obstruction of justice by Jordan or any evidence that he urged Lewinsky to lie. In her final statement to the grand jury, Lewinsky testified under oath that "Nobody ever told me to lie. And nobody ever offered me a job in exchange for my silence." Despite his awesome attention to detail, that's one statement that Kenneth Starr somehow left out of his 445-page report to Congress. That -- and the full story of his relationship with Linda Tripp. SALON \| Oct. 23, 1998 Washington, D.C.-based author-journalist Mollie Dickenson is writing a book on Whitewater. She is the author of "Thumbs Up," the biography of Reagan Press Secretary James Brady.