Monica Lewinsky biography

Former White House intern. Born July 23, 1973 in San Francisco, California. Monica Lewinsky was at the heart of the White House sex scandal involving President Bill Clinton. While a 21-year old unpaid intern at the White House in 1995, Lewinsky began a sexual relationship with Clinton. She later became a salaried employee in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and moved to the Defense Department in April 1996. At the Pentagon, Lewinsky met Linda Tripp, a career government worker. Unbeknownst to Lewinsky, Tripp began recording their telephone conversations in which she described her relationship with the president. Linda Tripp contacted the office of Whitewater Independent Counsel Ken Starr to talk about Lewinsky and the tapes she made of their conversations. The tapes indicated that Clinton and his friend Vernon Jordan may have told Lewinsky to lie about the alleged affair under oath. Starr contacted Attorney General Janet Reno who agreed to submit his request of a probe into the matter to three federal judges. The judges agreed to allow Starr to formally investigate the possibility of subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Paula Jones case. FBI agents and U.S. attorneys questioned Lewinsky and offered her immunity. Lewinsky’s father hired attorney William Ginsburg, a family friend, to represent her. During his deposition in the Paula Jones lawsuit, Clinton denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky. In January 1998 several news organizations reported on the alleged sexual relationship between Lewinsky and Clinton. Clinton repeatedly denied the allegations and said that he never urged Lewinsky to lie. Starr issued subpoenas for a number of people, as well as for White House records. In July, lawyers for Lewinsky and Starr worked out a full immunity agreement covering both Lewinsky and her parents. As part of the agreement, Lewinsky had to hand over to prosecutors a dress that she alleged might contain physical evidence of a sexual relationship with Clinton. Lewinsky and Clinton testified before a grand jury in August. Clinton then appeared on national TV to admit he had an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. In October the House of Representatives authorized an impeachment inquiry of Clinton on a 258-176 vote. Clinton’s perjury and obstruction of justice trial began in the Senate in January 1999. Lewinsky was questioned in a closed-door deposition.

House prosecutors and White House lawyers played video clips of her testimony during their final summations. President Clinton was acquitted of all charges on February 12, 1999. Lewinsky went on to tell her side of the story in national TV appearances and in Andrew Morton’s book Monica’s Story. Later that year, she launched a signature line of handbags. .