| For Immediate Release Nov 4, 2003 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5188 |
Judicial Watch Uncovered Privacy Act Violations Against Ms. Tripp Ms. Tripp Retains Rights to Pursue Filegate Claim (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, congratulates Ms. Linda R. Tripp for the successful resolution of her Privacy Act, and other claims, against the Pentagon. The settlement includes a payment of $595,000 and a retroactive promotion and retroactive pay at a higher salary level for 1998, 1999 and 2000. The Pentagon conceded that its officials had violated the Privacy Act. Judicial Watch uncovered in the course of its Filegate litigation how information from Ms. Tripp’s Privacy Act-protected personnel files was leaked by former Clinton political appointee and Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon. The Clinton Pentagon had lied about Bacon’s role in the illegal leak. (Clinton White House officials and political operatives sought to destroy Ms. Tripp because of her knowledge of former President Clinton’s adulterous affair with White House Intern Monica Lewinsky.) Judicial Watch is pursuing a “Filegate” class action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of former Reagan and Bush (I) administration staffers whose FBI files were illegally obtained and misused by Clinton White House. Hillary Clinton is a defendant in this lawsuit. In Judicial Watch’s “Filegate” case, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that evidence of a pattern of abusing the Privacy Act can raise an evidentiary inference that the Clinton-Gore White House misused the subject FBI files as well. Ms. Tripp’s settlement preserves her rights as a plaintiff in Judicial Watch’s Filegate litigation, in which she was an important witness. “We applaud Ms. Tripp’s vindication and the successful resolution of her claims. She endured terrible suffering at the hands of Clinton political operatives and their media spin-meisters for having the courage to tell the truth. Sadly, even the Bush administration shunned her. Judicial Watch wishes Ms. Tripp all the best,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Ms. Tripp’s Filegate Testimony is available on the Internet by clicking here. | |