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The new FX limited series Impeachment: American Crime Story the third in a true-crime anthology that started with The People v. O.J. Simpson and continued with The Assassination of Gianni Versace covers the events leading up to Bill Clintons impeachment in December 1998, with a heavy emphasis on the fallout from his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Fans of the brilliant Slate podcast Slow Burn will surely remember many details from its Leon Neyfakhhosted second season three years ago, which included among its eight episodes bonus interviews with major players like Ken Starr, the special prosecutor and author of the infamous Starr report, and Linda Tripp, who had befriended Lewinsky at the Pentagon and helped reveal her secret affair to the independent counsels office.

For all ten episodes of Impeachment, weve asked Madeline Kaplan, the researcher for the Clinton-Lewinsky season of Slow Burn, to fact-check the shows major events and minute details against her own understanding of the events. (Kaplan and Neyfakhs eight-book reading list can be found here and doesnt include the Starr report and its eyebrow-raising appendices.) Kaplan followed Neyfakh (and co-creator Andrew Parsons) to Prologue Projects, where she serves as a producer on Neyfakhs Fiasco and other podcasts.

As it happens, the sixth episode, Man Handled, covers the dramatic day that unfolded in the first episode of Slow Burn: January 16, 1998. On the eve of President Clintons deposition in the Paula Jones civil case, Ken Starrs team arranges to have Linda Tripp set a meeting with Monica Lewinsky at the food court in Pentagon City Mall. Once the trap was sprung, FBI agents working with the OIC (Office of Independent Counsel) escort Lewinsky to Room 1012 of the nearby Ritz-Carlton hotel, where shes interrogated by all male prosecutors, chiefly Mike Emmick (Colin Hanks) and Jackie Bennett (Darren Goldstein). A sliver of the episode is also given over to Ann Coulter (Cobie Smulders) and George Conway (George Salazar), who have copies of the Tripp-Lewinsky tapes and treat themselves to a listening party.

After watching Man Handled, Kaplan talked about Lewinskys long, traumatic, and, at times, surreal day with her interrogators, Tripps uncomfortable role in the sting operation, and the questionable strategy used to persuade Lewinsky to cooperate.

The major plot and character beats that shape Impeachments narrative.

Tripps feelings going into the dayShe definitely said that she felt bad about [the sting operation], but she also said she believed it was absolutely the right thing to do at the time. In this episode they seem to show a lot of her maybe wavering on whether doing this was the right thing or whether she should show up and go through with it at all. But in her recollections, it seems that she felt guilty about it and was stressed and scared during this period, but she was also convinced that this was the right thing for Monica.

Tripp actually being present at the hotelThis is often described as the result of poor planning or confusion. And I think the intensity of Monicas immediate reaction kind of threw [Starrs team]. They were set up in these adjoining hotel rooms and when they got up there, Monica remembers saying, Make her stay and watch. I want that treacherous bitch to see what shes done to me, which they used at the very beginning of the first episode. And then theyre like, Okay get Tripp out of here. And they put her in the other room, where they apparently interviewed her for a few hours before letting her go. Obviously it was very distracting that she was there at all. And Im sure it didnt help their chances at getting Monica to cooperate that she associated them so strongly with her friends betrayal.

Mike Emmicks roleOne of the people we interviewed for Slow Burn was Bruce Udolf, who worked in the independent counsels office and is not in these episodes. He was one of the more suspicious people about this [operation], he said he was concerned about how it might go. He asked something like, Could we have a woman come? Or Why arent there any women? And he was told that none were available that day to do this.

The absence of any women is a very striking detail. Also that they felt the best good cop that they had to try to convince her was Mike Emmick. Every single thing written about him, like the very first clause after his name, is that hes a charmer, that hes a charming guy, a ladies man. He was someone who was thought to be better to make this first approach than someone like Jackie Bennett.

Obviously theyre throwing this together pretty last-minute, but it was surprising the extent to which they were unprepared for her reaction. They thought that this would potentially go down very quickly and she would agree to cooperate.

Lewinskys deflected requests for a lawyerThis whole episode draws very heavily on Lewinskys recollections. Obviously, shes the person this is happening to. And so a lot of this is described in her authorized biography, these repeated attempts to ask for a lawyer. Being rebuffed in different ways. Not being told no explicitly, but being told its very time-sensitive or we dont want too many people involved here.

This became a real point of contention afterwards about whether there was any misconduct and whether they kept her there against her will or whether they actually told her she could leave. She said later she felt like she couldnt leave, even if they didnt say that explicitly. The independent counsels office was very clear afterward: We never told her she couldnt speak to a lawyer. Theres a lot of legalistic distinctions here. I dont think this is too far outside the norm of how a brace like this would go, in terms of how they approach the witness and try to get their cooperation. Its not that far outside the norm for them not to go out of their way to encourage her to leave and contact an attorney.

From their perspective, too, Vernon Jordan got her that lawyer. So whos to say that the lawyers not also implicated here? Im not a lawyer, but I dont think its the craziest thing in the world to say, Part of what were investigating here is whether [Jordan] got her a job to keep her quiet. And then this guy also got her a lawyer to file this false affidavit? Thats part of what their thinking was about.

These misconduct accusations ended up coming before a federal judge, and the judge ruled that the Starr team didnt do anything wrong here. Basically, because she hadnt been charged with a crime and was free to go if she wanted, she didnt have a right to an attorney in that moment that could be violated. But the judge also criticized the prosecutors for talking to Lewinsky about a possible immunity deal without a lawyer present. So that was a contentious issue here too.

Lewinsky seeing the news clip about Clinton getting deposed the next dayThat felt like it was for the audiences benefit. In the biography, she remembers that when she asked for a lawyer and was told, This is very time-sensitive, she immediately understood that it was time-sensitive because Clinton was being deposed the next day. I mean, anyone who followed the news even a little would have known about his deposition, let alone someone who was thinking and worrying about him constantly.

Lewinskys growing awareness of what was happeningHer immediate reactions were panic and despair, and the prosecutors werent really prepared for how intense her reaction would be. She definitely worried very quickly about feeling like her life was over. That exchange where she wonders what would happen if she were to jump out the window is something she remembers from that day.

Another really key element here is they literally tell her, You could be facing 27 years in prison for what youve done. So not only will her entire reputation be ruined when this becomes public and everyone knows about it, she could also spend more than her lifetime to that point in prison. She doesnt know that theyre probably not going to prosecute her. Its super rare to prosecute perjury in a civil case, especially when youre not the one being sued. But shes not a lawyer. She doesnt know how ridiculous it was to suggest this kind of time for what she did. Which, of course, does not help in the panic department at all. I think they expected that a young woman panicking about spending decades in prison would be relatively easy to convince, but she was much more forceful in her own instincts about what to do than they thought she would be.

Lewinskys encounters with Tripp on the dayIm not sure about the specific line, Linda, what did you do? Im just purely speculating here, but I think because [the show] used that line where she calls Linda a treacherous bitch in the first episode, they wanted that moment of anger again here, of her realizing what Linda did and being very angry. Monica did confront her very angrily when they were both taken up to those rooms. And she realized what was happening, and that Linda is responsible for this happening to her.

That scene later on when Monica is walking through the mall and sees Linda carrying shopping bags, thats an actual moment she remembers from that day. And apparently Linda again said to her during that run-in, They did the same thing to me. So they actually had an exchange then, too.

Jackie Bennetts interrogation styleHes definitely described as the bad cop coming in. Monica said later, It completely changed the tenor of the room as soon as he entered. He took a much more upfront and aggressive approach, totally different personality and style. I think they were probably just thinking like, This is taking so long. Lets try a different approach. Which also ends up not working.

Lewinsky and Emmicks shopping tripThey did go to Crate & Barrel first. They apparently just made a lot of small talk, maybe about a decanter, I dont know. Then she saw an opening to go to a payphone in the Macys and try to call Betty Currie, which is also shown here. Monica felt like, for obvious reasons, Betty Currie would be a person you could call in this scenario. She thought that if [Currie] picked up, she could say something kind of cryptic to her and she would know something was going on.

Then they did get dinner at Mozzarellas American Grill, where they have the conversation pretty much as depicted. She asked, Okay, can you walk me through? Where are you getting the number of years in prison from? And What are the charges youre talking about here? She apparently paid for her own dinner because she did not want to owe them anything.

Lewinskys mother, Marcia Lewis, pushing for cooperationOne of the other prosecutors who was there that day, Steve Binhak, who was also interviewed for Slow Burn, said that he overheard them talking in the hall when Marcia Lewis arrived. And she basically said, Tell them everything. Put this behind you. We have to be thinking about you here and your future. Then Lewinsky responded by saying, Im not going to be the one to bring down the president of the United States.

The quick end to the interrogationYes, it ended pretty quickly once Bill Ginsburg got on the phone with Mike Emmick. And the tenor of the conversation was basically the same as on the show. Ginsburg swore a lot and called Emmick names and was very skeptical of everything he was telling him. The big sticking point was whether they could give Lewinsky an offer of transactional immunity on the spot, so that she would be completely protected in exchange for talking to them. They have this whole back and forth about, like, Can you get this in writing? and Why cant you? Ginsberg calling their bluff about not having access to a fax machine. He apparently asked whether they could handwrite the immunity deal instead, which was not a suggestion they accepted. There was also some disagreement about whether they could actually give her transactional immunity in that moment at all. So Ginsburg eventually tells Lewinsky something like, All right, Im pulling the plug. Dont tell them anything. Go home. This isnt happening. And then its finally over.

Ann Coulter and friends getting the tapesSo theres something the show skips over here, probably because its so complicated. When Tripp has that meeting in a previous episode with her lawyer and she says like, I have all these tapes that Ive made and he says, Why do you have those? This is a two-party consent state. So thats a crime, she really didnt like that lawyer. She thought that he was not looking out for her interests. Because his reaction was, We should take this to the Clinton attorneys and they will want to settle the case. And thats the best thing for you because then these tapes dont become relevant. You wont be charged. Which is good legal advice.

But she didnt like that advice. She was thinking, Okay. So my lawyer is telling me that we should go to the Clintons and resolve this that way, which is not what I want. So she gets a new lawyer. And as part of this chain between her and Lucianne Goldberg and then the elves working on the Paula Jones case, Ann Coulter suggests this guy, Jim Moody, whos a friend of hers, to be Tripps new lawyer. And its through him that [Coulter] gets the tapes.

The way that Coulter remembers this is different than the way they show it here. She said in the middle of the night, at 3:00 a.m., she gets a call from Jim Moody and George Conway, and theyre like, We just got Linda Tripps tapes. We got to listen to these. Can we come over? Because Ann Coulter is a huge Deadhead and had an amazing speaker system. Apparently the way it went down was that they showed up at her place in the middle of the night and listened to some of the tapes.

The tapes being boringThere are certain incriminating things that are on the tapes. But its a really mammoth task to listen through all these hours of tape to find those little bits. Plus theyre mostly interested in whether she incriminated Clinton, not whether she incriminated herself. It makes sense to me that you would listen to a bunch and be like, I just heard a lot about a lot of stuff and Ive no idea whats going on. And a lot of its really mundane.

The details and embellishments that may or may not be rooted in the historical record but reflect Impeachments stylistic approach.

The TV shows they watched during downtime at the Ritz-CarltonApparently they were looking for something to watch on TV. NYPD Blue was on, and it felt like as they were flipping through, it was just cop shows. [Prosecutors] really didnt want that because obviously thats just going to make her think more about what shes doing there. And what if there are like, plotlines about witnesses or cops acting in bad faith or something? So they changed the channel until they found an Ethel Merman movie. And thats what they watched together. Because that felt, I guess, like that wasnt going to interfere with their investigation.

A Pentagon City Mall detail not in the episodeTheres something that they could have included, but I think that if they included it, as an audience member, youd be like, Theres no way that actually happened. Apparently on the same day at the Pentagon City Mall that Monica Lewinsky is being braced by prosecutors and the FBI, Susan Carpenter-McMillan was at that same mall shopping for an outfit for Paula Jones to wear the next day to Clintons deposition. So she couldve had a cameo in this episode.

Read more here:
Fact-checking Impeachments Dramatic Sting Operation - Vulture

The Issue: Suppression of The Posts story on evidence of corrupt deals on Hunter Bidens laptop.

The true collusion that exists in our country is comprised of Democratic left-wingers, Big Tech, mainstream media, social media and well-to-do Hollywood and academic snobs, coupled with spineless politicians who remain silent for fear of cancellation (They got away with it, Oct. 13).

The Biden machine and all associated with it will always get away with it.

Its pathetically shameful that the so-called leader of the free world continues to insult the integrity of the American citizenry and always with an arrogant smile on his face.

Jerry Chiappetta

Monticello

And so the double standard continues.

The mainstream and social media are all complicit in the Biden scandals. Unfortunately theyre still at it.

That said, I hope theyre all happy now with where our country is because of it. I, for one, certainly am not.

One year after The Post exposed Hunters laptop, they still refuse to call it corruption.

B. Tonuzi

Wanaque, NJ

The Posts front page reminds us that the Democrats who currently run this country also control the media and Big Tech.

Objective news reporting went out with Walter Cronkite. New York Times editorials could well be written by Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

No, the Bidens will never be held accountable, just as Hillary Clinton shall never have to answer for Benghazi or the Russian collusion story, and former FBI Director James Comey will prosper as a talk-show guest and author.

The privileged few that are in charge of our government are not accountable to the people so long as the media covers for them.

Robert Mangi

Westbury

I think we can stop pretending the excuse that the laptop wasnt verified is the reason The Posts story was censored.

Believing and advancing that excuse is us playing the game they created. We cant win at their game.

We need to stick with facts. Theyre only pushing a certain narrative. We cannot call them out on hypocrisy and expect things to change. They will not suddenly play fair because we point out what they are doing.

Steve Preziosa

Deptford Township, NJ

The Issue: Katie Courics decision to suppress Ruth Bader Ginsburgs criticism of national-anthem protests.

Katie Couric was about 60 years old when she interviewed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2016 (Couric buried truth on Ruth, Oct. 14).

Couric withheld Justice Ginsburgs response because she felt that Ginsburg, who was 83 at the time, may not have gotten what Couric was asking.

No doubt Ginsburg understood the question. Couric didnt like the answer. I guess it didntgo with the lefty philosophy.

Justice Ginsburg had a brilliant legal mind. It is an insult on Courics part to assume the justice didnt understand her because she was 83.

Barbara Brussell

Oceanside

Katie Courics selective editing of her interview with RBG is old news.

This sleazy Today Show presenter famously went out of her way to make conservatives like Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter look bad in her interviews with them.

While she helped RBG, she hurt Palin politically by trying to make this brilliant politician look stupid with gotcha questions and biased editing.

Americas Sweetheart is just that: not a journalist but a Hollywood personality selling her supposed good looks and fake persona.

Andrew Delaney

Jamaica Estates

Want to weigh in on todays stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@nypost.com. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy and style.

Originally posted here:
Letters to the Editor Oct. 16, 2021 - New York Post

Welcome to our weekly column Cant Miss Episode of the Week! Every Saturday well be spotlighting a different episode of television from that week that we thought was exceptional and a must-see. Check back to see if your favorite show got the nod or to learn about a new one! Spoilers ahead.

American Crime Story: Impeachment opened with a flash-forward scene in which Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) is confronted by the FBI and discovers that her friend Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) has sold her out. In this weeks episode, which aired on October 12 on FX, we finally catch up to that scene. What we werent prepared for? What came after it. The FBI escorts Monica to a hotel room to be interrogated, but when she makes things difficult for them, they end up holding her there for 11 hours. These federal agents, even after using every unethical intimidation tactic they can think of, are unable to break the 24-year-old terrified Monica, which makes for one highly entertaining hour of television.

The episode smartly frames this as a David vs. Goliath story. As small, tearstained Monica stands surrounded by agents in suits, the camera is wielded to put us into her point of view. It zooms in on an agents finger hovering over the switch hook of the phone, threatening to hang up Monicas call to her mom in case she says something they dont like. When Monica convinces them to let her call her mom back from a payphone downstairs in the mall, the camera focuses on the elevator button as Monica frantically jams it, on the security camera perched in the corner of the elevator, at the various agents stationed around the mall surveilling her, all while the scores swells, intensifying the moment, and Monicas heavy breathing comes through. This is the federal government throwing its weight around to intimidate a young woman, and the episode does an excellent job of making us outraged on Monicas behalf, especially as they repeatedly dissuade her (making it even seem like shes not allowed) to call her lawyer, all while threatening her with decades in prison. What Monica hasnt figured out yet, is that if they havent arrested her, then they have no right to hold her, and she can leave anytime she wants.

And yet, somehow special prosecutor Ken Starrs (Dan Bakkedahl) team has bitten off more than they could chew with Monica. Theyve labeled this sting Operation Prom Night in a case of you-cant-make-this-stuff-up, and its named so, as prosecutor Mike Emmick (Colin Hanks) explains, to signify half hour with a girl in a hotel room. Of course, it doesnt take a half hour, it takes almost a half day. Part of the thrill of watching this episode is Monica making the prosecutors and agents run in circles. She has some amazing one-liners, and Feldstein delivers them with a perfect zing. Shell call the police, if she doesnt hear from me, Monica says with a smug smile to prosecutor Jackie Bennett (Darren Goldstein) to get him to let her call her mom. She follows it up with, You gonna arrest me if I walk out of the room? in the very next scene.

Built into this melodrama is the hilarious absurdity of the prosecutors and FBI just sitting around, going shopping, getting a burger with Monica, while they wait for hours for her mother to arrive, because Monica has refused to talk to them without her. Well, if Ken Starrs team wasnt prepared for Monica, then they really arent prepared for her mom, Marcia (Mira Sorvino), who goes full Jewish mother on them protecting her baby. Shes happy to push Monica into cooperating, that is if she can get it in writing that Monica will receive full immunity. But they cant get Starrs approval on the immunity, because its after 11 oclock at night. The fact that these men were so confident that they could get Monica to roll over on Clinton (Clive Owen) in no time, that they didnt even have a plan for whether they could offer her immunity if she asks for it, proves their immense hubris and incompetency.

Perhaps the most satisfying part of the whole episode? When they finally get Monicas dad, medical malpractice lawyer William H. Ginsberg (Fred Melamed), on the phone, and he curses Emmick out for detaining Monica, and calls out the poor excuses Emmick is giving for why they cant get Monicas immunity in writing (Its the Ritz Carlton. Of course they have a fax machine). When he tells Monica to leave and go home, it is a triumphant moment.

See AlsoRoush Review: Impeachment Is Mostly Monicas Tripp-y StoryThe newest American Crime Story installment is an all-star retelling of the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal from the womens point of view.

But, I have to admit, Ive been beating around the bush here. It doesnt matter if theyd gotten permission for immunity from the very beginning. Nor does it matter if Marcia had agreed to strong-arm her daughter into cooperating. Ken Starrs team ultimately underestimated Monica, because she was never going to betray Clinton like that. Maybe they and her mom could have convinced her to answer questions about the relationship, but she was never going to make recorded phone calls to entrap the President. In a show where everyone is out for themselves, Monica, even after everything, is extremely loyal to Clinton, and somehow, these prosecutors never considered that. If nothing else, you have to admire Monicas strength of character, and underneath all of the theatrics, its what gives the episode its heart.

Other observations we thought made this episode stand out:

The revelation that Linda went shopping after betraying Monica when the two met in the mall is the final nail in Lindas coffin for any sympathy she might have left with viewers.Cobie Smulders cartoonish portrayal of Ann Coulter as she sweeps in with multiple bottles of wine, proclaiming to her colleagues that are listening to the tapes in celebration of their successful coup, is the high camp this series, and really any Ryan Murphy project, needs.Monica saying thank you to Emmick when she leaves the hotel, because hes been playing good cop this whole episode, is outrageous.

FOX28 Spokane

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Can't Miss Episode of the Week: It's Monica vs. the FBI on 'Impeachment' - FOX 28 Spokane

As with Robert Frosts two paths diverging in the woods, the covid pandemic has hit a fork in the road.

Back in 2020, when the virus first presented itself, anything could be forgiven. Trump could shoot hydroxychloroquine up his butt; Fauci could sneer at masks, then a week later demand that we wear 17 masks; governors could order everyone to stay home, while they cavorted at parties, restaurants, hair salons and protests.

The lies, hypocrisies and idiocies were all stuffed in our burlap bag, as we bounced along Coronavirus Road.

Then, in a triumph of Western medicine, A VACCINE APPEARED! Thats when our path in the woods diverged into the sane and insane.

Its pretty clear now that the vaccines work, with few side effects -- although our public health experts would really do us a solid if theyd stop lying about there being no side effects. At a minimum, the vaccines prevent serious illness and death. Theyre even more effective than the flu vaccine, and thats pretty good.

Between widespread natural infection -- something else it would be nice if authorities would stop lying about -- and mass vaccination, covid IS NOW OVER. It wasnt the flu in 2020, but it is in 2021.

Liberals sulked as people began getting vaccinated and living their lives again, but then seized on the delta variant to announce: Lets lock down again!

The very people demanding that everyone get vaccinated are the same ones telling us vaccines dont work all that well, so maybe wed better just keep wearing masks, quarantining, working remotely and staying home from school.

Do the vaccines work or dont they? If they work, well thank you to stop bossing us around now.

Going further into crazy town, liberals decided to pretend that Anthony Fauci was not an escaped mental patient.

Our most visible public health authority continues to issue lunatic pronouncements like a third world despot: The vaccinated must wear masks! Children should be vaccinated! Even 2-year-olds need to be masked! Everybody has to get a third vaccine shot! (That last bright idea led a couple of experts from the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel to resign in protest, followed by the panel unanimously voting to recommend booster shots only in certain cases.)

Apart from just coming out and telling us he doesnt believe the vaccines work, Fauci is telling us he doesnt believe the vaccines work.

This is the nut, you will recall, who knowingly lied to the public at the outset of the pandemic for what he, Anthony Fauci, in his sole discretion, decided was a higher cause. Without a scintilla of scientific evidence one way or the other, he condescendingly announced that masks dont work against covid -- simply for the greater good of preventing a mask shortage.

What if he considers it a greater good for Anthony Fauci to keep appearing on TV? Like an aging football star who dreams of being back in high school, Fauci longs to be in the spotlight.

Except we have vaccines now! So thanks, but weve heard enough from you, Fauci.

Also, we know things that we didnt in 2020.

We now know, for example, that covid is bad, but its not Ebola. Eighty-year-olds have survived it. Trump survived it. The 800-pound Chris Christie survived it. And that was before we had all the therapies we have now. Or, come to think of it, any idea what we were doing at all. (Remember the mad rush for ventilators?)

We know that cases are good; deaths are bad. The media frantically report cases only because their panic porn attracts readers, so who cares if its irrelevant?

As long as you dont die, which would be bad, a covid infection is natures vaccination shot! As multiple studies have shown, immunity from prior infection is stronger and more durable than that from vaccination.

Infections are especially good if youre already vaccinated. Then youll have super-immunity. You wont die of covid -- although you might die with covid, especially if youre old or sick or have just taken a massive dose of fentanyl.

Like George Floyd. Remember? He had covid when he died. But unlike Floyd, the media will broadcast your death as a cautionary tale to again harangue us to wear masks and get vaccinated. How dare you not get a vaccine and put the vaccinated at risk!

But the vaccinated arent at risk. You know why? Because the vaccines work.

We also know that covid poses virtually no risk to young people. We knew this early on, and for some reason ignored it, but by now the evidence is overwhelming.

Since covid landed on our shores, 95% of dead the U.S. have been 50 or older. Nearly 80% of the dead were 65 or older -- and not only are they heavily vaccinated, but they make up only 16% of the population. The 64.5% of the population under age 50 -- in its entirety -- accounted for only 5% of those who died from covid.

Combine the minimal risk of death to young people -- less than the flu during a normal flu season -- with what we now know about the strong immunity from prior covid infection, and, throughout 2020, we should have been putting little kids into giant, Japanese-size classrooms and encouraging young people to blow beer foam in one anothers faces, get drunk and make out with strangers. Our entire under-30 population would be immune.

Remember the college kid on spring break when covid first hit the news in February 2020, who had his life destroyed for nonchalantly telling a TV interviewer, If I get corona, I get corona? If only wed listened to him instead of Fauci!

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Ann Coulter: The real anti-vaxxers | Opinion | havasunews.com - Today's News-Herald

'Impeachment: American Crime Story': Looking Back on Matt Drudge's Role in the 1998 Scandal

While Impeachment: American Crime Story is largely focused on the key women involved in the 1998 sex scandal and subsequent impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, theres one key figure in the story that cant be overlooked. And that is Matt Drudge, the creator of the news aggregator Drudge Report responsible for exposing the affair between Clinton and Lewinsky.

On the series, Drudge is portrayed by Billy Eichner, a recent newcomer to Ryan Murphys universe who previously appeared in two installments of American Horror Story. While the actor doesnt agree with Drudges politics at all, he recalls to ET how he became one of those people who ran home and checked my desktop every day for breaking news.

While Drudge got his start in the gossip business while working as a sales clerk at a CBS Studios gift shop, it wasnt long before his site gained popularity and became a must-read scandal sheet of the mid-90s. And not long after news of the affair broke, ET spoke with Drudge several times about the impact of his story.

Its gonna be a real scandal on the highest order that Americas ever seen, Drudge said at the time. It really is the first time the internet is breaking a story of this magnitude.

He alsoexplained how he moved forward with it, noting howNewsweek, which had long been investigating Clintons abuse of power, waited on publishing. When they decided not to run this story, I had an opportunity to move in. And they presented me [with] that opportunity. And thats what I did, he says.

And because Lewinsky lived in the Watergate Hotel at the time, Drudge was dubbing the whole thing, Watergate 1998, saying that this is a story that will turn Washington upside down.

Im taking on a media establishment that basically I think has not been honest with the American people, he continued, noting, and all hell has broken loose.

Thanks his popularity at the time, Drudge landed a short-lived Fox News show as well as a Sunday night radio program.But he always remained an enigmatic figure --especially when it came to his sexuality, which was an open secret. And in more recent years, hes become a recluse, reportedly only talking to longtime media friends like Ann Coulter (who is portrayed on the series by Cobie Smulders).

His relationship to his sexuality is complicated, to put it best, and that part I am very interested in, Eichnersays. If I ever met Matt Drudge, I would ask him if he is a happy person.

Impeachment: American Crime Story airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.

Link:
'Impeachment: American Crime Story': Looking Back on Matt Drudge's Role in the 1998 Scandal - WUSA9.com