Ex-Hillary Spokesgal: Monicagate Probe Had 'No There, There'

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NewsMax.com

Saturday, Nov. 24, 2001 10:22 a.m. EST

The former spokeswoman for ex-first lady Hillary Clinton said Saturday that there was "no there, there" to the investigation that eventually led to the impeachment of her boss's husband, calling allegations about Monica Lewinsky and other women linked to ex-President Clinton "crazy."

"There was no there, there," said Lisa Caputo, after being asked by WABC Radio's John Gambling what is was like to endure former independent counsel Ken Starr's Whitewater probe. "There was no evidence of any kind of wrongdoing whatsoever," Caputo insisted.

The former Hillary spokesgal complained that despite the total innocence of both Clintons, "we all had to endure being questioned by the attorneys who worked for the independent counsel's office."

The experience left Caputo saddled with staggering legal bills and motivated her to form Women & Co., she told WABC, a financial services business designed to help women establish their economic independence.

Though Caputo apparently intended to focus on her new venture during the interview, her comments quickly veered into an across-the-board defense of the Clintons and an attack on the now-defunct independent counsel law.

"In many respects you almost became paralyzed from doing your job," the ex-Hillary aide said. "You were almost spending more time complying with the independent counsel's office than you were trying to communicate what the president and first lady were doing on a proactive basis."

When Caputo was asked specifically about Monica Lewinsky, she lumped the notorious Clinton sex scandal along with other allegations and called them "crazy accusations."

GAMBLING: What was the atmosphere like in the first lady's offices when all of this, all of the awful things, the Monicas and the everything else, was going on?

CAPUTO: Well, you know, I can remember very well the first lady saying that she felt like she was living in the Twilight Zone. That may sound a little funny, but it's really true. I mean, you just couldn't believe that this was happening.

I had joined the Clintons in mid-1992 and I had gone down to Little Rock, Arkansas, to work on the campaign. And I had really gotten to know them very well. And, you know, for me personally, I just couldn't believe that they were being accused of all these sorts of crazy things - whether it was the Whitewater land deal or the travel office - all of these crazy accusations.

(End of Excerpt)

Of the investigation that ended in the first impeachment of an elected president in U.S. history, Caputo said, "It really does go to the level of which we've gotten to in the public discourse in Washington of the politics of personal destruction."

Caputo said Mrs. Clinton was able to survive the unfair intrusions into her private life because "she relies deeply on her faith. And I think her strength and her tenacity got her and her staff and the White House through a very difficult time."

Caputo's assertions notwithstanding, Mr. Clinton had to endure the latest in a series of indignities linked to the Whitewater probe's "crazy accusations" just last week, when he decided not to contest the Supreme Court's decision to disbar him before the high court for lying to a federal judge about his affair with Lewinsky.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Clinton Scandals
Impeachment
Sen. Hillary Clinton

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