From: WashintonPost.com
ABC Paid To Secure Lewinsky Interview
ABC News scored one of the biggest journalistic coups of 1999
when it secured an exclusive interview with Monica Lewinsky. To
get the former White House intern before the cameras, ABC had to
persuade special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's office to relax an
immunity agreement with Lewinsky that barred her from talking to
the media.
To secure Starr's blessing, however, the network took an
unorthodox step. In an arrangement that raises the suggestion of
"checkbook journalism," ABC News paid the fees of an attorney who
had been hired by Lewinsky's advisers to lobby Starr's office,
according to people involved in the transaction.
ABC paid $25,000 to Washington attorney Theodore Olson after
Olson--who was hired by Lewinsky's book agent and adviser--helped
persuade Starr's deputies to allow Lewinsky to go on the air with
ABC's Barbara Walters.
The arrangement was confirmed this week by former ABC senior vice
president Richard Wald, who approved the payment to Olson, and by
Richard Carlson, the Lewinsky agent-adviser who recruited Olson.
Wald said he authorized payment of Olson's bill with the approval
of David Westin, president of ABC News. Westin was not available
for comment.
ABC has maintained that it never paid Lewinsky directly for the
two-hour interview, which aired March 3, 1999. Such payments
would have violated ABC News's standards.
But the statements by Wald and Carlson indicate that the network
compensated Lewinsky indirectly by paying one of her legal bills.
Traditionally, news organizations avoid any financial arrangement
with sources to protect themselves from suggestions that they are
bribing people for information.
The arrangement was also unusual in that Olson's involvement was
approved by ABC and by Lewinsky's criminal attorneys, Plato
Cacheris and Jacob Stein, further blurring the traditional
relationship between source and media organization.
The two-hour special edition of "20/20" attracted 49 million
viewers, making it the most watched news program ever broadcast
by a single network. It also attracted more than $20 million in
advertising revenue, according to ABC sources. Meanwhile,
Lewinsky's book, "Monica's Story," was released the day after the
program aired and raced to the top of the bestseller list. In
another unusual arrangement, ABC gave up international broadcast
rights and allowed Lewinsky to sell interviews overseas, netting
her about $1 million.
ABC and Lewinsky had a common interest in Olson's mission, part
of which was described in a New Yorker magazine story this week.
The network knew that an exclusive Lewinsky interview would bring
high ratings; Lewinsky was eager to cooperate with ABC because
she was promoting her book and saw prime-time exposure as a key
publicity vehicle, according to several sources. Carlson also
wanted the interview to come off because his compensation was
tied to the book's sales.
The only obstacle for ABC and Lewinsky was Lewinsky's
immunity-from-prosecution deal with Starr's office. The
agreement prohibited her from telling the media what she knew
about her sexual relationship with President Clinton.
ABC initially wanted to hire Floyd Abrams, a prominent First
Amendment attorney, to file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the
interview ban. But Carlson--a longtime Washington hand who was
advising Lewinsky--convinced ABC that such an approach could be
expensive, time-consuming and ultimately unsuccessful. Instead,
with ABC's blessing, Carlson said he hired Olson, a prominent
Washington attorney who is friendly with Starr, to approach
Starr's office directly.
Olson eventually met with Starr's deputies but not with Starr
himself. "I performed legal services on behalf of Richard
Carlson, who was acting as an agent for Monica Lewinsky," Olson
said yesterday.
ABC delayed payment of Olson's bill for more than a year, despite
repeated attempts by Carlson to get the network to pay. Wald
said yesterday that the bill "got lost in the shuffle" during a
changeover of financial executives at the network.
Wald conceded that it was unusual for ABC to pay for a source's
attorney but said Olson's work was in the interests of both
Lewinsky and ABC. Olson "was [Lewinsky's] lawyer for that one
thing only," said Wald. "We wanted it done. We wanted to get it
done right away. We were afraid the moment would pass."
Although Starr's office eventually relented, it's unclear whether
Olson's arguments alone clinched the deal. In addition to Olson,
Walters and ABC News producers Chris Vlasto and Katie Thomson had
been lobbying Starr's deputies for access to Lewinsky for months.
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
=================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
