Jim Inhofe: “Let's quickly recap what happened. In March of 1998, about 8 weeks into the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Pentagon public…”

“Let's quickly recap what happened. In March of 1998, about 8 weeks into the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Pentagon public affairs director, Kenneth Bacon, got a phone call from Jane Mayer, who Jane Mayer was a long-time Clinton supporter and friend of the Clinton administration. She was an old friend of Kenneth Bacon. They worked together on the Wall Street Journal for years before. And she got a letter. She was then working on a story for the New Yorker magazine. Mayer informed Bacon that she had evidence that a key witness in this Presidential scandal, Linda Tripp, had been arrested for larceny as a teenager. Tripp was and still is a civilian employee of the Federal Government at the Pentagon. Mayer wanted to know how Tripp had replied to question No. 21 on her security clearance form, asking if she had ever been arrested. If she had answered no, which Linda Tripp did, then public disclosure of this information in conjunction with the new evidence that Mayer said she had would have been clearly damaging to Tripp's credibility and her reputation and would discredit her as someone who was bringing charges against the President. Soon thereafter, it was discovered that Tripp's teenage arrest was the result of a juvenile prank perpetrated against her. The judge in the case told her in a laughing way that it was a funny trick and her record would be clear. Nevertheless, Mayer's story was published and the damage to Tripp was done. She was discredited forever.”