Key figure in Clinton scandal wins lawsuit

US: Ms Linda Tripp, who secretly taped Monica Lewinsky's confessions of a sexual affair with former US president Mr Bill Clinton…

US: Ms Linda Tripp, who secretly taped Monica Lewinsky's confessions of a sexual affair with former US president Mr Bill Clinton, will receive a lump-sum payment of $595,000 from the Defence Department to settle claims that officials violated her privacy by leaking personal information.

Under the terms of a court settlement announced on Monday, Ms Tripp will also receive a retroactive promotion and retroactive pay at a higher salary level for 1998, 1999 and 2000.

The agreement ended four years of litigation.

Ms Tripp, who worked for the Pentagon as a public-affairs specialist, sued the department, alleging that officials released private information about her in retaliation for her role in the Lewinsky matter, which led to impeachment proceedings against Mr Clinton.

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In one instance, the New Yorker magazine, using information supplied by Pentagon officials in 1998, reported that Ms Tripp had neglected to admit an arrest on her security application for a job at the Defence Department. She had been arrested on suspicion of grand larceny when she was a teenager.

In another instance, the Stars and Stripes newspaper published a story detailing her application for a job at a military studies centre in Germany. She did not get the job.

The Pentagon ultimately conceded that its officials had violated the Privacy Act, which prohibits the government from releasing unauthorised personal information about Americans to non-federal organizations. Pentagon lawyers argued that the violations were minor.

However, US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan rejected Pentagon efforts to narrow Ms Tripp's claims and urged the parties to work with a mediator to achieve a settlement.

Ms Tripp left the Pentagon in January 2001 with the change in administrations. She has since been reported to be battling breast cancer and has not worked.