http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/12/25/145745.shtml Thursday Dec. 25, 2003; 2:23 p.m. EST
Dem Probers Eye Rush's Medical File Despite Agreement
A Democratic Party prosecutor ordered the review of confidential medical records seized from doctors treating number one talk radio host Rush Limbaugh - despite an agreement by his deputy not to do so at a Florida court hearing Monday.
The brazen legal move has Limbaugh's supporters worrying that his medical secrets may now be in the hands of senior Democratic Party operatives working for New York Senator Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats.
During Monday's hearing, Limbaugh's attorney Roy Black asked the court to stay an expected decision granting permission to review the medical data until an appeal could be filed.
During the following exchange among Black, Assistant State's Attorney James Martz and Judge Jeffrey A. Winkoff, Martz indicated that he didn't object to the bid to keep the records under seal pending the judge's ruling.
"I honestly think it's in the purview of the Court to make that decision," replied the Florida prosecutor. "I don't think I have an argument on that."
Despite Martz's apparent agreement that the records would stay sealed until Judge Winkoff ruled, Limbaugh's records were allegedly opened and reviewed on orders from Martz's boss, State's Attorney Barry Krischer, the top talk host charged on Wednesday.
"The state advised my lawyer later in the day, [Monday] that, Barry Krischer, who is the elected state attorney down here, told his investigators to go ahead and open my medical records, despite the requests from my lawyers and the consideration of a stay by the judge. . .
"They couldn't wait; they had to open them," Limbaugh complained. "The state's attorney, Barry Krischer, personally ordered it from what we're told and his investigators began rifling through my medical records."
Contacted by the Palm Beach Post on Wednesday, State Attorney Krischer refused to deny the allegation.
The move shocked the top talk host's fans. Writing on the conservative Web site FreeRepublic.com, one listener worried: "The contents of Limbaugh's medical records are undoubtedly already in Hillary's database."
Kischer is a Democrat who strongly backed Attorney General Janet Reno after she was selected for the job by Mrs. Clinton.
Krischer's decision to press the case against Limbaugh so aggressively drew criticism from one particularly unlikely source.
"There is something odd about the way this case is playing out, the kind of crimes that are being investigated," complained former White House counsel Lanny Davis to MSNBC on Monday. "And it does really look like his celebrityhood . . . has attracted unfair attention."
While Davis disagreed with the notion that Limbaugh was the victim of a Democratic Party witch-hunt, he observed, "It doesn't look like, at the moment, they have a real serious case that smacks of criminal conduct."
"This is about prosecutors leaking to the press. That's wrong. And I agree with Limbaugh on that," he said.
Find out the real story about Rush in NewsMax's special report, "Rush Is Back" –