May 10, 2000
Senator demands punishment for leak of Tripp data
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The chairman of a Senate Armed Services subcommittee has
asked Defense Secretary William S. Cohen to severely discipline
department spokesman Kenneth Bacon for leaking information to the
media from Linda R. Tripp's confidential file.
Sen. James M. Inhofe, chairman of the Armed Services
subcommittee on readiness and management support, said Mr. Cohen
should "act swiftly and in accord with the seriousness of this
matter."
"Federal employees throughout the government are watching
this case," said the Oklahoma Republican in a floor speech
Monday. "What will it say to them if someone who has so clearly
violated the Privacy Act is not held accountable?
"It will say that no one's privacy can ultimately be
protected, that the law is largely meaningless, and that ideal of
public service in support of the Constitution and the laws is
forever diminished," he said.
Last month, the Justice Department decided not to seek an
indictment of Mr. Bacon in the case despite concerns outlined in
a July 1998 Defense Department investigation that suggested he
had broken the law.
The decision came after the Justice Department had held onto
the report for nearly 20 months before ruling there was "no
direct evidence upon which to pursue any violation of the Privacy
Act."
Acting Defense Department Inspector General Donald Mancuso,
who headed the inquiry, told the Senate Armed Services Committee
March 3 that investigators concluded Mr. Bacon had ordered
release of the Tripp records and they were covered under the
federal Privacy Act.
Mr. Inhofe noted in his speech that the Justice Department's
decision not to prosecute Mr. Bacon included the statement that
he did not intend to break the law when the information was
released to the media.
"What this tells me is that the Justice Department knows the
law was broken. It is all the more reason why their decision not
to prosecute is so outrageous," he said. "The next time I'm
stopped by a policeman for speeding, I'm going to tell him I
didn't intend to break the law and let's see how far that gets
me."
Mr. Inhofe said Mr. Bacon "clearly violated the Privacy Act"
and "simply cannot be permitted to escape responsibility."
After the Justice Department's refusal to seek an
indictment, the matter was referred to the Defense Department,
where Mr. Cohen will determine whether administrative sanctions
are warranted.
Mrs. Tripp is the Pentagon official who blew the whistle on
President Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica
Lewinsky. Mrs. Tripp has since filed a lawsuit accusing the White
House and the Defense Department of using confidential Pentagon
records to smear her reputation.
The inspector general's probe focused on accusations that
the Defense Department released information to the news media
from confidential and required forms Mrs. Tripp filed with the
Pentagon. In those forms, she said she never had been arrested
when in fact she had � in what later was described as a teen-age
prank that occurred 30 years ago.
The Pentagon leak was orchestrated by Mr. Bacon, who later
said he was sorry he did not consult the Privacy Act before
authorizing the disclosure. The information was passed to Jane
Mayer, a reporter for the New Yorker magazine who once worked
with Mr. Bacon at the Wall Street Journal. It was used for a
damaging story on Mrs. Tripp's background at a time Miss
Lewinsky's relationship with Mr. Clinton had become a major
public issue.
Mrs. Tripp spurred the sex-and-lies investigation of Mr.
Clinton by turning over to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr
tapes she secretly recorded of conversations with Miss Lewinsky,
who had been transferred from the White House to the Pentagon.
Both Miss Lewinsky and Mr. Clinton acknowledged having a sexual
relationship, which led to the president's impeachment by the
House on charges of perjury and obstruction. The Senate later
acquitted Mr. Clinton.
Mrs. Tripp, in her lawsuit, said the disclosures were
designed to spread "embarrassing or damaging information . . .
for partisan political purposes." She named 11 current or former
administration figures, including first lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton, as having "engaged in communications . . . about Linda
Tripp."
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