Posted on 02/12/2004 9:02:48 PM PST by Ryan Bailey
Kerry will respond to infidelity charge Report says woman fled to Africa after inquiry by top news producer
Posted: February 12, 2004 9:45 p.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Sen. John Kerry plans to respond to allegations of infidelity published yesterday by the Drudge Report, according to the Internet newssite.
Drudge reported several major news outlets are engaged in a serious investigation of Kerry's relationship with a former Associated Press reporter.
The AP, Time magazine, ABC News and the Washington Post have been working on a story about a woman who began a two-year relationship with the Massachusetts senator in the spring of 2001, Drudge said.
The woman reportedly was approached by a top news reporter, prompting Kerry to urge her to leave the country. Drudge reported last night the woman fled to Africa, where she remains.
Late last year, the relationship was revealed to a reporter by a close friend of the woman "claiming fantastic stories," said Drudge, "that now threaten to turn the race for the presidency on its head."
Earlier this week, according to the Internet site, Gen. Wesley Clark told a dozen reporters in an off-the-record conversation, "Kerry will implode over an intern issue … ."
Just two hours after the report was posted, Clark aids said the candidate, who dropped out Wednesday, would endorse Kerry.
According to Drudge, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean sees the "Kerry commotion" as a chance to revive his dying campaign. The allegation is why Dean "has turned increasingly aggressive against Kerry in recent days, and is the key reason why Dean reversed his decision not to drop out of the race after Wisconsin," top campaign sources told Drudge.
After Dean built a seemingly insurmountable lead in polls, Kerry became the front-runner for the party's nomination three weeks ago by winning the Iowa caucuses and 11 of 13 contests since then.
He is scheduled to appear on the popular radio show "Imus in the Morning" tomorrow before joining Clark at a campaign event in Wisconsin.
Drudge said "reporters who witnessed Clark making the stunning comments marvel at the general's reluctance to later confirm they were spoken -- only to later endorse Kerry for the nomination."
Clark's press secretary Bill Buck refused to comment on the allegations.
"We do not respond to right-wing Internet postings in any way, shape or form," he said.
The mainstream media in the U.S. apparently have ignored the report, but it has been picked up by at least two British papers, the Scotsman and the Daily Telegraph of London.
The news-industry magazine Editor & Publisher contacted the Associated Press to see if the wire service would report the story.
"We simply don't comment on stories we are pursuing or not pursuing," AP spokesman Jack Stokes said.
Hard to prove
Drudge said unlike the Monica Lewinsky drama with President Clinton, which he first revealed, Kerry's situation has posed a challenge to reporters investigating the claims.
"There is no lawsuit testimony this time [like Clinton with Paula Jones]," a top source told Drudge tonight. "It is hard to prove."
The Kerry allegation grabbed the attention of talk radio shows across the nation today, where there was considerable speculation that associates of former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton could be behind the leak of the story.
In an article about Kerry rival John Edwards, AP cites recent encouragement the North Carolina senator has received from Bill Clinton.
Clinton told USA Today, "A lot of times things happen late in the race" which may or may not make a difference. "Look at the elections of the last 30 years. And ask yourself, is this election the same or different?"
Commenting on the Drudge story, Craig Crawford of the Congressional Quarterly said the allegation is something Wesley Clark campaign secretary and former Al Gore adviser Chris Lahane "has shopped around for a long time.
"It was one reason the Gore vetters in 2000 shied away from Kerry as a running mate choice," Crawford said in an e-mail to colleagues.
Gore's staffers concluded the news wasn't bad enough to disqualify the Massachusetts senator, he continued, "except for the fact that they couldn't risk it as they were trying so hard to distance themselves from Clinton's personal failings."
Crawford notes that in addition to working for Gore, Lehane briefly advised Kerry during the current campaign.
"The Kerry camp has long expected to deal with this, and have assured party leaders they can handle it," Crawford said.
Lehane strenuously denies the charge, according to Crawford.
A week ago, the Boston Herald's Inside Track column discussed a National Enquirer investigation on Kerry which claimed the senator is "an admitted pot smoker who had an eye for Hollywood honeys, namely Morgan Fairchild, Michelle Phillips and Catherine Oxenberg. In fact, Morgan and Michelle were so turned off by him, they both contributed to the other candidates seeking the nomination," the Herald stated.
According to the column, the Enquirer story also mentioned a "22-year-old blonde who was spotted around midnight 'dropping off her resume' at Kerry's Louisburg Square home while wife Teresa Heinz was in Nantucket."
In an interview last year with Elle magazine, Kerry's wife gave an indication of how she might respond to any indiscretions by her husband.
Referring to the effect of President Clinton's affairs on Hillary, Heinz Kerry said, "I don't think I could have coped so well. I would've been like psheww!," she said, making a gunshot noise.
"I used to say to my husband, my late husband, 'If you ever get something, I'll maim you. Not kill you, just maim you.' And we'd laugh, laugh, laugh."
Meanwhile, the London Telegraph said diehard Dean supporters exulted at the news on Internet forums, where there has been considerable bitterness about what they perceive as the media's destruction of their candidate.
The Kerry campaign Internet forum, in contrast, was seething with anger over "Republican dirty tricks."
On a popular conservative forum, Lucianne.com, one post reads: "Watch out boys, those hoof prints you are hearing is Hillary running in for the rescue of her party!"
Oh they are investigating this alright. there all trying to get the story and spin just so before its put to the public. all hot to throw false stories about AWOL Presidents out for consumption i see.... but afraid of this hot potato? hypocrites all.
enjoy
Better: now the girl's parents are talking. Either the latecomer *mainstream* press reports it, or they get beaten on the story. And become more and more less relevant in the instant information age.
Let the feeding frenzy begin....
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