Tripp Tapes Under Scrutiny
Independent counsel Kenneth Starr is investigating the duplication and possible tampering of nine secret tape recordings made by Linda Tripp of conversations with Monica Lewinsky about Lewinsky's affair with President Clinton, according to documents released Monday.
The documents showed that Tripp, the woman who touched off the White House sex scandal and Starr's investigation, has gone from being one of Starr's most important witnesses to being under investigation herself.
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Tripp went to Starr's prosecutors in January with the 20 hours of tape recordings, launching the investigation into whether Mr. Clinton had a sexual relationship with the former White House intern and lied about it. Starr granted Tripp immunity.
But the prosecutor said in the documents that an FBI examination to authenticate the tapes raised a number of questions.
Nine tapes were "inconsistent" with the tape recorder Tripp says she used and "exhibit signs of duplication," Starr's office said.
"The office of the independent counsel cannot exclude the possibility of tampering at this time," it said.
Besides Starr's investigation, Tripp also faces a separate investigation of whether she broke Maryland law by making the tape recordings without Lewinsky's approval. Tripp and her lawyers have denied any wrongdoing.
Tripp recorded her conversations with Lewinsky between Oct. 3, 1997 until Jan. 15, 1998, right before the sex-and-perjury allegations became public. In all, the documents listed 26 tapes in which Lewinsky had confided in the older woman.
Tripp also provided prosecutors with handwritten notes on calls to Monica and observations of the former intern and the president together at the White House. The notes covered the period from early January 1996 to "Dump Day" - May 23, 1997.
Starr's office said one of the tapes that showed signs of duplication was produced by a recorder that was stopped during the recording process.
Starr's office said it does not know who made the duplicates and does not posses the original recordings for those nine tapes.
The documents showed that Lewinsky began confiding in Tripp soon after she began working at the Pentagon. Tripp also took two sets of handwritten notes during their conversations in 1997.
Tripp told the grand jury Lewinsky had been aware of some of er note-taking during their conversations, but Lewinsky said she never knew Tripp was taking notes.
Starr's office said it only used as evidence in his impeachment report to Congress tapes that showed no signs of duplication, tapes that Lewinsky listened to and verified and tapes with independent evidence to corroborate the contents.