Were Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp friends?

LINDA Tripp was a prominent figure in exposing the Clinton-Lewinsky affair.

The new TV series puts a spotlight on the friendship between and .

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Were Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp friends?

The two women were close which was the reason that led Lewinsky to confide in Tripp over her affair with then-President in the first place.

Lewinsky said in the 2018 docuseries The Clinton Affair: "I felt so deflated and so desperate.

"And those were the conditions, along with some other things, that led to me confiding in Linda Tripp."

After the exposure of the scandal, Tripp downplayed their relationship and told Fox News "It wasn't a friendship” adding that she hadn’t met a “needier person" than Lewinsky in her life.

When did they meet?

Lewinsky, a former White House intern, met civil servant Tripp in April 1996, after being moved to the Pentagon’s Public Affairs Office.

Tripp was formerly working under the George H W Bush administration and was transferred to the Pentagon in 1987.

Despite the 24 year age gap, the two women struck up a friendship, and eventually, Lewinsky started sharing intimate details about her affair with Bill Clinton.

Did Monica Lewinsky tell Linda Tripp about the Bill Clinton affair?

Lewinsky considered Tripp a confidante and told her about the affair she was having with the married president, then aged 49.

Tripp secretly recorded their telephone conversations before handing them over to investigators at the advice of book agent Lucianne Goldberg.

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Lewinsky claimed she had on nine occasions, until March 1997.

Tripp was also the one who persuaded Lewinsky not to wash her "blue dress", which was damning evidence as it was covered in Clinton's semen stain.

She then shared the details with counsel Kenneth Starr, who was investigating Clinton.