Cohen Denies 'Whitewash' in Tripp Files Case

by Christine Gardner

Reuters

May 26, 2000

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (Reuters) - Defense Secretary William Cohen said on Friday the Pentagon did not try to smear defense worker Linda Tripp's reputation and denied that he whitewashed the release of information from her private file.

Cohen spoke a day after he reprimanded Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon and former Bacon aide Clifford Bernath in letters to them for releasing information to a reporter in 1998 from Tripp's government file.

``Contrary to allegations that have been made, there was no attempt to injure Miss Tripp's credibility or her reputation'' in releasing the file information, the secretary told reporters at Morristown Airport after touring nearby Picatinny Arsenal.

``They (Bacon and Bernath) were seeking to respond to pressure from the press and said that the Freedom of Information Act was very much involved in their minds and there was no attempt to orchestrate any campaign to discredit Miss Tripp,'' he said in response to questions.

``I don't intend to fire him,'' Cohen said of Bacon, who as assistant defense secretary for public affairs serves both as the secretary's spokesman and chief spokesman for the department.

Tripp's lawyers and Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma angrily charged that Cohen's decision not to punish the officials was part of an administration cover-up of attacks on Tripp, whose tape recordings of conversations with former White House aide Monica Lewinsky fueled the sexual scandal involving President Clinton and Lewinsky.

``The president has never had a conversation about this matter with me. I have not had a conversation with anyone in the Executive Branch on this matter, so any allegations about whitewash or conspiracy are completely unfounded,'' Cohen retorted.

Despite an opinion from the Defense Department's inspector general that Bacon and Bernath violated the federal Privacy Act, the Pentagon said Cohen's letters expressing ``disappointment'' to the officials closed the issue and that no disciplinary action would be taken against them.

At issue in the Pentagon information case was that Tripp denied when she filled out a government security clearance form that she had ever been arrested when she had, in fact, been briefly detained by police in 1969 as a teen-ager.

Although the Privacy Act strictly prohibits the release of information in private files, Bacon provided that fact to a reporter for the New Yorker, who once worked with Bacon at the Wall Street Journal.

The secretary noted on Thursday that the Justice Department had found ``insufficient evidence'' to bring any criminal charges against Bacon and Bernath, and ``there are no charges that I would bring against either individual.''

``I think they made a mistake. I thought it was not up to the professional standards they normally demonstrate,'' he added.

Cohen said he examined Bacon's background and found ``he had been a distinguished journalist himself and served the Department of Defense very well.''

``Weighing that against a major mistake that he made in this particular case, I found that a reprimand -- and a public reprimand -- was sufficient under the circumstances,'' he told reporters.

``This is not something that is lightly dismissed. But in the final analysis because there were extenuating circumstances -- he (Bacon) was not acting on anyone's behalf and he did not initiate the disclosure about Miss Tripp -- his entire record should be taken into account.''

Cohen noted Tripp had filed a lawsuit against the department in the case and was ``pursuing remedies in the courts.''

For much more accurate legal information, see: http://www.lindatripp.com/pr200005251.htm