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 For Immediate Release
Jun 14, 2000 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172


COURT RULES TRIPP CASE RELATED TO JUDICIAL WATCH FILEGATE LAWSUIT

Denies Motion for Judge's Recusal


(Washington, DC) In a major development today, The Honorable Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Judicial Watch's $90-million class action Filegate lawsuit is related to the civil litigation filed by Linda Tripp concerning the illegal release of her Pentagon file information.

In its Filegate lawsuit, Judicial Watch had uncovered that the release of the Tripp information was perpetrated by high-level Clinton Administration appointees, such as Kenneth Bacon, and likely Secretary of Defense William Cohen. This revelation generated Tripp's lawsuit against Ken Bacon, the Clinton Gore Department of Defense, and The Clinton-Gore White House.

In a "Hail Mary" attempt to force Judge Lamberth off the case, the defendants in the Tripp case filed a motion to disqualify him. In another ruling today, the Court denied this motion, effectively holding that it was nothing more than a litigation tactic. Obviously, the defendants are concerned about Judge Lamberth presiding over the case because not only is he the finest district court judge in this country, but he has shown a willingness to follow the law over politics. In recent months, he has been attacked by Clinton-Gore surrogates in the media, threatened by Democratic senators that he will never advance to a higher position (why he would want one is open to question, since being a district court judge is generally more rewarding), and subjected to other political efforts to influence his decisionmaking.

Judicial Watch had sought to intervene in the Tripp case given its similarity to the Filegate lawsuit. Judge Lamberth denied this request and, while Judicial Watch respectfully disagrees, it respects his decision. Judge Lamberth is a judge of unquestionable integrity, and the American people should thank him for putting their interests over the political games that generally occur in Washington.

"The discovery which is developed by Tripp in her lawsuit will undoubtedly assist Judicial Watch in proving its Filegate lawsuit, since the Court has ruled that the pattern of Clinton-Gore Administration violations of the privacy rights of American citizens such as Linda Tripp is circumstantial evidence that FBI files were also misused," stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

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