NY Daily News: Rush Limbaugh in Pill Probe -- Talk radio star had drug habit, maid sez

NY Daily News & Drudge ^ | October 1, 2003 | Tracy Connor

[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.

[cherry]

I'm not a Rush fan either...used to be but not the last few years...

the more I think of it, this maid is probably covering up for HER or her husbands's drug habbit....that, or she might be making a nice profit from her own private sales and wants Rush to take the fall....

unless Rush was re-selling pills, he is no more than a common addict and should be treated very lightly like all the others that get nabbed....

afterall, its a pretty common crime for people to try to get more pills than they are prescribed...

I would love to know who the doctor is who is prescribing that much medication for one patient....

and with all of Rush's money, he could have very easily gotten any number of doctors to get him pills legally....

[Timesink]

Well, it so happens, as you probably know, that ESPN is owned by Disney. Therefore, Rush would have had a drug test a few weeks ago. As far as I can tell, he showed no detox symptoms before that time. So, either he continued to take drugs even though he knew he'd be tested, or he didn't take the drugs at all.

Rush originally began working for ABC around 1987 or '88. That's when the drug test would have been given.

I'm also rather doubtful that Rush was hired on by ESPN like a normal employee. I have trouble believing they made Rush go sit in human resources and fill out forms like a new 25-year-old production assistant would have to do, and then started receiving checks every two weeks. His agent got him the gig, he signed the contract, he showed up once a week to do his show and went home.

[des]

yeah, died giving birth to a 8 lb. turd.

[CyberAnt]

I think you've keyed in on something BIG - the libs are known for using "talking points". Don't let go of this - it might prove important.

[Hildy]

What's most disturbing is how quickly the Daily news was to run it...ON THE FRONT COVER no less! I bet you this issue will be their biggest selling issue ever. The only way the leftist media can make money is by featuring a conservative.

[lainie]

Youthinks and methinks too.

[Jeff Chandler]

Wow, and some people accuse him of being out of touch with the common man!?

But seriuosly folks, Rush has been mixing his metaphors since the hearing loss problem; his command of the language has suffered. I, as a fan, noticed it, but I attributed it to the hearing problem. Could he be a bit stoned? I don't know, but his analysis has been as sharp as ever, and pain killers would have affected that, wouldn't they?

I hope this is BS, but if not, there are plenty of other good conservative talk shows on the air now, thanks to Rush. We owe him a debt of gratitude for that. He has helped save America.

[Hildy]

Well, thank you for that information!

[ApesForEvolution]

And what's truly sad is that you aren't ignored.

What does that say about the FReeple?

I'm not here to lead a pack Howler. Unlike you, I have quite a life.

[LittleJoe]

Rush Limbaugh is the one of the most important Conservatives of our lifetimes and I will stand by him no matter what. Im sorry that some of you have such short memories

Yep, cast the drug demon shadow upon him and it's over. There was once a time in this country when a mans worth was measured by his deeds, not what he consumed.

This insane war on drugs has destroyed the very fabric of American culture.

[Hildy]

The memory goes with pain killers. He's way too sharp to be taking that many.

[CyberAnt]

Nice to see you have him convicted and sentenced.

[lora_one]

We on the "Right" ( I like that! We're right!!!!)r always so damn nice. We put up with all the $#$@# from the left-wing all the time !!!! We've been getting a bit bolder, but we really need to get in the MEAN MODE, just like our counterparts. I'm sooooooooo SICK of the Gepharts, Daschels, Kennedys,etc,etc

---

and Robert Byrd needs to either die or retire!!!! WE NEED TO FIGHT THIS CRAP!!!! This is an attack!

[hmmmmm]

your expertise is officially requested. over and over and over again.

you forgot immediately :)

[nutmeg]

Oh wonderful... that NY Daily News cover (post #109) will be on every street corner and prominently displayed in every newsstand in NYC on Thursday! I don't believe one word of it, but the sheeple will! >:-(

The Clintoons are behind this, IMHO.

[DittoJed2]

With all of Rush's money, why would he have still owed his maid $80,000 for 4,000 pills?

[onyx]

What does your doctor husband say about the effects of painkillers on the liver? I thought they could damage it. At the doses they allege he was taking, there's no way he could hide liver damage.

I'm not about to ask him that tonight! In fact, I can't ask him anything else tonight! :-)

[slimer]

What does your doctor husband say about the effects of painkillers on the liver?

I'm not a doctor but I know something about vicodin. It's the tylenol in the vicodin that causes liver damage if taken over a prolonged period of time in high doses.

[Swordmaker]

bet it means nothing, but I keyed in to "for three decades" again today. LA Slimes is saying Arnie groped women "for three decades" and on Monday this Wilson character's wife supposedly was said to have been a CIA op "for three decades" (although she's only 40 years old).

What?! Haven't you seen "Spy Kids" and "Spy Kids II" and "Spy Kids 3D?" Autobiographically written by Wilson's wife. You read it here first!

[nutmeg]

RAT smear machine in full mode ping!

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