Posted on 10/01/2003 10:41:34 PM PDT by lainie
Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring.
The moralizing motormouth was turned in by his former housekeeper - who says she was Limbaugh's pill supplier for four years.
Wilma Cline, 42, says Limbaugh was hooked on the potent prescription drugs OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone - and went through detox twice.
"There were times when I worried," Cline told the National Enquirer, which broke the story in an edition being published today. "All these pills are enough to kill an elephant - never mind a man."
Cline could not be reached for further comment yesterday, but her lawyer, Ed Shohat of Miami, said his client "stands behind the story."
The Daily News independently confirmed that Limbaugh is under investigation.
His lawyers, Jerry Fox and Dan Zachary, refused to comment on the accusations and said any "medical information" about him was private and not newsworthy.
They said Limbaugh - who has a top-rated syndicated radio show but resigned early today from a weekly ESPN football segment amid criticism of racial comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb - was traveling and had no comment.
The Palm Beach County state attorney's office, which is running the probe, said it could not confirm or deny the allegations.
Scoring in parking lot
Cline told the Enquirer she went to prosecutors with information about Limbaugh and others after four years of drug deals that included clandestine handoffs in a Denny's parking lot.
She said she wore a wire during her last two deliveries to the conservative commentator and gave the tapes to authorities.
She also gave the Enquirer a ledger documenting how many pills she claimed to have bought for him - 4,350 in one 47-day period - and E-mails she claimed Limbaugh sent her.
In one missive, Limbaugh pushed Cline to get more "little blues" - code for OxyContin, the powerful narcotic nicknamed hillbilly heroin, she said.
"You know how this stuff works ... the more you get used to, the more it takes," the May 2002 E-mail reads. "But I will try and cut down to help out."
The account Cline gave the Enquirer is that she became Limbaugh's drug connection in 1998, nine months after taking a housekeeping job at his Palm Beach mansion.
It started after her husband, David, hurt himself in a fall, and Limbaugh asked how he was.
"He asked me casually, 'Is he getting any pain medication?' I said, 'Yes - he's had surgery, and the doctor gave him hydro-codone 750,'" Cline said. "To my astonishment, he said, 'Can you spare a couple of them?'"
Husband's pills
Cline said she gave Limbaugh 10 pills the next day and agreed to give him 30 of her husband's pills each month. When the doctor stopped renewing the prescription in early 1999, Limbaugh allegedly went ballistic.
"His tone was nasty and bullying. He said, 'I don't care how or what you do, but you'd better - better! - get me some more,'" Cline said.
The housekeeper said she found a new supplier and arranged to hide Limbaugh's stashes under his mattress so his wife, Marta, wouldn't find them.
After several months, Limbaugh told her he was going to New York for detox and didn't need any more pills, Cline said.
But a month later, he said his left ear was hurting and asked her for hydrocodone, followed by an order for OxyContin.
Limbaugh, 52, suffered from autoimmune ear disease, a condition that left him deaf and had to be corrected with cochlear implant surgery two years ago.
Cline said she continued to make deliveries to Limbaugh even after she quit as his housekeeper in July 2001 - but he became increasingly paranoid, even patting her down for recording devices, she said.
In June 2002, Limbaugh told her he was going to New York for detox a second time.
After he returned, "I went to talk to him, and he cried a little bit," she said. "He told me that if it ever got out, he would be ruined."
She claimed that a lawyer for Limbaugh gave her a payoff - $80,000 he owed her, plus another $120,000 - and asked her to destroy the computer that contained the E-mail records.
Soon after, Cline and her husband retained Shohat and contacted prosecutors.
We'll see and it won't take to long to get a pretty good indication.
I have a gut feeling that there's something to this story even though the part about how many pills he took might be exaggerated.
I'm a retired cop and this story rings true in the main.
Rush a Druggie and resigns from ESPN
Arnold gave chicks titty-twisters
North Korea continues to pump nukes
Chemical and Biological weapons intercepted to Kuwait from Iraq
What else will happen??? I'm almost afraid to go to sleep.
No it's not. I think you've made this stupid point more than once. He and Sean Hannity have been scheduled for months to be at some radio broadcasters shingdig.
I believe Rush said he won't be on the air on Thursday, but will be back on Friday.
Hmmm...
this is sad, shocking, but not necessarily out of the realm of possibility.....
there has always been something about Rush, and DR. Laura, and Savage and even Sean H. that lends me to believe that none of them are the saints and moral role models that they would like us to think they are....
Besides, Rush never came down very hard on moral issues....not drugs, not abortion, not infidelity, etc.....
he never wanted to touch any of the Monica stuff ( who would...you might catch germs!)....
just remember that the Hollywood crew gives standing ovations to their drugged up members.....
I use Oxy and percocet. You generally take only two oxy's per day. The percocet is a booster of a sort.
Anymore and you stop breathing when you fall asleep.
His doctor could and would have prescribed the drugs. With his millions there would be no need to go underground.
Thank you for that comment. I whole heartedly agree. Why do people expect other people to be perfect. No one is perfect.
He can beat this and come back stronger than ever. I believe he will. He certainly has the ability. I am praying for Rush and Marta and I am going to remain a loyal fan of Rush Limbaugh.
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