Politics
Monica Lewinsky Recalls ‘Most Terrifying’ Day of Her Life Hours Before Bill Clinton Affair Exploded
Monica Lewinsky is looking back on the day before news of her affair with then-president Bill Clinton broke 28 years ago in 1998.
The former White House intern, now 52 — who had an intimate relationship with the former United States president — is honoring “Survivor’s Day,” which she has since “reclaimed” after being approached by the FBI on January 16, 1998.
In an Instagram post shared Friday, the activist explained, “Today, 28 years ago, I had the most terrifying (and frankly, INSANE) day of my life. At 1:01 pm, at the Pentagon City Mall, i was approached by [Defense Department coworker] Linda Tripp and two FBI agents who flashed their badges at me.”
Tripp, who died in 2020, secretly recorded conversations with Lewinsky during which the former intern spoke about private details of her affair with Clinton, who is 27 years her senior.
The day Lewinsky was confronted, she said she spent “10+ hours in a hotel room,” according to her Instagram. “Told I could leave but one had made a point of showing their handcuffs.”
She allegedly heard “things like: 27 yrs in jail. Cooperate. Wear a wire to see [presidential advisor] Vernon Jordan. Make monitored calls to The White House…,” she wrote.
“The rest is literally history,” Lewinsky continued, adding that she has since changed the narrative.
“25 or 26 years ago, I reclaimed this day turning it into SURVIVOR’S DAY in my family,” said the Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky podcast host. “We celebrate surviving today. GRATEFUL to all who have helped and supported me along the way.”
The sex scandal rocked the White House in 1998, when Lewinsky was 24. Clinton, now 79, initially denied the affair, but upon further investigation, he was impeached. The politician was eventually acquitted on both articles of impeachment.
Lewinsky recently told British newspaper The Times that the public humiliation following the fallout “was excruciating” — and while she has stated that their relationship was consensual, she feels the dynamic was “a gross abuse of power. Full stop.”
Clinton is still married to wife Hillary Clinton, whom he wed in 1975.
