Lynda Tripp of Clinton impeachment fame dies

Linda Tripp has died.

She became famous for secretly taping phone calls with Monica Lweinsky and later turning them over to Kenneth Starr, the independent prosecutor handling the Clinton investigation. The tapes eventually led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998.

Although Tripp was 24 years older than Lewinsky, they both became close friends during their time working in the White House.

After Lewinsky had completed her testimony about her affair with Clinton, she told a CNN reporter: "I hate Linda Tripp."

Tripp moved from the White House to the Pentagon, where she was dismissed on the last day of the Clinton administration.

She subsequently sued the justice and defence departments for having released her employment and security files to the media. She won her case and was awarded close to $600,000, plus back pay for three years.

When Monica Lewinsky learned of the serious illness of Lynda Tripp she tweeted last Wednesday  "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."

In a case that supplied pages of salacious newspaper coverage there surely was something ironic about Lynda Tripp's surname.