Linda Tripp of Clinton-Lewinsky scandal fame dead at 70 after illness
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 29: Linda Tripp (R) speaks to the press in front of the Federal Courthouse 29 July in Washington, DC, after concluding her testimony before the federal grand jury investigating US President Bill Clinton. With her are her daughte
Linda Tripp, whose covert recording of conversations with Monica Lewinsky revealed an affair with then-President Bill Clinton, has died, Fox News confirmed.
"Sadly, Linda did pass away today," Joseph Murtha, the former attorney to Tripp, said in an email. "I am not in a position to provide any details."
Earlier in the day, it had been reported that her daughter, Allison Tripp Foley, posted in a Facebook post that has since been designated private that her 70-year-old mother was terminally ill.
"My mommy is leaving this earth. I don’t know myself if I can survive this heartache," Foley said in the message, as reported to the New York Post. "Please pray for a painless process for the strongest woman I will ever know in my entire lifetime."
Tripp's son-in-law simply told the Post, "it’s a family situation."
Tripp's recorded conversations, which she turned over to then-independent Counsel Ken Starr, exposed Clinton's sexual relationship with Lewinsky, who was a White House intern at the time. Clinton's denial of the affair led to a perjury charge when the House impeached him in 1998.
Upon hearing the news of Tripp's condition, Lewinsky expressed "hope for her recovery" and sympathy for Tripp's family.
Details of what led to Tripp's condition were not immediately available.