Linda Tripp Rausch, a Pentagon employee at the center of the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal, died today. She was 70.
Her son-in-law Thomas Foley confirmed to the New York Post that she had “passed on,” adding, “She fought on as hard as she could. I know all the press will focus on the other stuff, but she was a special person and a fantastic grandparent who was devoted to her family. People forget this part.”
Earlier, her daughter, Allison Tripp Foley, had posted on social media that her mother was in bad health, but told TMZ it was not related to COVID-19. Rausch had previously battled cancer.
According to the Post, Allison wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post, “My mommy is leaving this earth. I don’t know myself if I can survive this heartache.”
After learning she was in bad health, Monica tweeted, “no matter the past, upon hearing that linda tripp is very seriously ill, i hope for her recovery. i can’t imagine how difficult this is for her family.”
no matter the past, upon hearing that linda tripp is very seriously ill, i hope for her recovery. i can’t imagine how difficult this is for her family.
— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) April 8, 2020
Lewinsky had confided in Rausch about her affair with Clinton, and Rausch recorded their conversations. In 1998, Linda shared her information about the affair with independent counsel Kenneth Starr, leading to a political scandal. Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives, but was later acquitted by the Senate.
In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2015, she said, “I regret what I put my children through. I regret very much that they had to endure that level of vitriol. But would I do it again? Yes.”
She is survived by her husband Dieter Rausch, daughter Allison, and son Ryan.