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But the government didn't just want our client to tell her story; they wanted her wired, and they wanted her to record telephone calls with the President of the U.S., Vernon Jordan and others--at their will. Monica said, "Can they really make me wear a wire and invade other people's privacy like that?" She was frightened. They were threatening her mother with prosecution. But if they had all this collateral evidence, then they didn't need my client at all. Linda Tripp illegally taped 20 hours of conversation with Monica and then brought those tapes to Starr, a former judge. Rather than prosecute her, he said, Thanks, I'll use them. They should have gotten court approval, but Starr seems to think it's O.K. to break the law to enforce the law.
The Office of the Independent Counsel was created to ensure confidence in government because of the fear that Presidents could not be investigated by those who work for them, like the Attorney General. But this has evolved and evolved, and now we're in an interesting situation. Anytime anyone wants to talk to me about anything, I have to make sure they are not wired. It's sad, a disgrace. If you can't call a friend without the government listening in, then it has become Big Brother, government as the enemy.
So we came out of that series of meetings over the weekend totally befuddled by the contradictions. And leaks were breaking everywhere on Monday. Matt Drudge was on the Internet breaking "news" without names. By Tuesday, everybody knew about us. With all the news breaking, the independent counsel's office came back and said, "We've blown the opportunity to wire her. She's radioactive because of the Drudge Report." I had never even heard of Drudge before, but we were at the counsel's offices and these men would walk in with a piece of paper like it was news of war breaking out in Bosnia. It was Matt Drudge's Internet column. They were using the Internet to investigate! It was all salacious stuff. I couldn't believe it. They kept asking us to react to it. By the end of Monday, they had totally reneged on a grant of complete immunity. They were playing around with us.
On that Monday we made them an oral proffer, a statement of what Monica's testimony would be on all elements of the offenses they said were under investigation. We can't say what it says--that's privileged--but they took notes, and they were satisfied. They were very pleased. Thanks, they said. Now we need you to consent to a search of Monica and Marcia's apartment at the Watergate building. This was after midnight. We consented, and the search was set for 10 a.m. the next day. Next morning, 10 a.m., no FBI. Eleven a.m., no FBI. Finally at 12, I called. They said, Oh, we forgot about it. So they suggested Thursday. This search was so important to the nation, yet they waited two days. When they came, they took things like Monica's computer, hatpins, T shirts, dresses, pantsuits and a copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass--a paperback version, not even the one the President gave Monica, which, by the way, wasn't even signed by him.