White House Whistleblower Linda Tripp to Speak at Capitol Hill Whistleblower Event
On Monday, July 30th, White House whistleblower Linda Tripp will speak publicly at the National Whistleblower Day celebration, which will be held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
National Whistleblower Day commemorates the profound impact whistleblowers have on justice in the United States, and the critical role lawmakers have in protecting them.
Tripp, who has been known to avoid the spotlight after being vilified for blowing the whistle on a popular President, will make a public address for the first time since 2000. Her whistleblower disclosures to the Office of Independent Counsel triggered the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton after she disclosed recorded conversations between her and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, who admitted she had sexual encounters with the President. This and other evidence directly contradicted the President’s sworn testimony in a civil rights law suit. Tripp faced immediate political backlash. The White House and Pentagon launched a preemptory strike aimed at destroying Tripp’s credibility by unlawfully releasing harmful, confidential information about her. They also leaked to news outlets information from Tripp’s personnel and security clearance records to discredit her, causing her to file a lawsuit under the Privacy Act.
The United States Department of Defense eventually conceded it violated Tripp’s Privacy Act rights and was forced to settle with Tripp, granting her more than $595,000.
The National Whistleblower Center selected Ms. Tripp to present a keynote address in recognition of her trailblazing courage to blow the whistle on sexual harassment and other misconduct by the highest office holder in the land.
Tripp was represented in her Privacy Act case by a leading whistleblower law firm, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto (KKC). According to one of her attorneys, Michael Kohn, “Blowing the whistle on the President of the United States takes enormous courage. The time has come for Ms. Tripp to be accepted as an early trailblazer who stood up to Presidential misconduct and sexual harassment in the workplace at great personal expense before there was a #MeToo movement.”
Tripp is scheduled to speak at 1 pm EST [tentative] during the National Whistleblower Day celebration which is hosted by the National Whistleblower Center (NWC).
For those who are not attending National Whistleblower Day, NWC is hosting a live stream of the event on Facebook and Twitter.
Contact Ben Kostyack at [email protected] for more information.
