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.

[GeronL]

Ed Shohat is a friend of the FLEA Baily, just do a Yahoo search and you'll see his name has been in the news

[Howlin]

Odd that you feel the need to defend it on an internet forum.

[ApesForEvolution]

Yeah, his maid had quite an account with the narc dealers, eh? I wonder when she left the country after dropping this 'bombshell'....

[CyberAnt]

You think the doctor would give him the prescription in his real name. When people go from dr to dr to get prescriptions, they don't use their real name. And .. I get prescriptions for my mom all the time - they never question me.

[nopardons]

That's what I and others here, assumed. Thanks for the EXPERT's concurrance. :-)

[Dr. Eckleburg]

The more democrats lose, the more dangerous they become.

Just like terrorists.

[lainie]

You are absolutely correct: it is not a shining moment for them. To say the least.

[samantha]

The whole thing sounds like garbage,maybe plausable, but especially for a celebrity criminal case they would take a long time to build up an airtight case. Palm Beach county has a huge black market in pain killers and anti-depressants. I hope it is just BS, I will be praying all night,and so should anyone that cares about Rush. Send those donations in to the gop,this will be all out war. We will be hearing a racist (Cong weenie Wiener) call Rush a racist on Scarborough while using a racist term "redneck" to refer to a country type football fan. He and the other pencil necked geeky Dems don't even realize that it is like calling them a "kike". They are sooooo sick.

[ApesForEvolution]

Not as odd as you living a scizophrenic life masquerading as a Conservative...

[quidnunc]

No, but as I said I have a gut feeling that the story is at least partly true.

I hope I'm wrong but I think that there's at least some fire along with all the smoke.

[GeronL]

Who is Ed Shohat??

Democratic Fund-raiser Charged With Taking Illegal Contribution

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 10) -- The Justice Department's campaign finance task force has brought criminal charges against a fifth Democratic fund-raiser. Miami businessman Howard Glicken has agreed to plead guilty to soliciting a $20,000 donation from an overseas national in 1993.

A two-count "criminal information" charging Glicken violated the Federal Election Campaign Act was filed Thursday. A criminal information replaces an indictment when a defendant waives the right to have a grand jury consider the case.

"The agreement is that he will plead to misdemeanor charges," said Ed Shohat, Glicken's lawyer. "He has cooperated with the investigation from the inception and will continue to fully cooperate. Howard is happy to put the matter behind him."

[Howlin]

ROFLMAO...............omg...........how hilarious! And how true!

[CyberAnt]

Well then .. we better get in the trenches and figure out what we're going to do about it.

[lainie]

No I was wondering about the woman in the article, but I guess that's kind of moot isn't it :-)

[nopardons]

My husband's asleep too, but they KNOW what we do all night here. LOL

[DittoJed2]

Sad thing is, enough of the dems constituency will believe this kinda crap about Repubs they're libel to start another civil war over a bunch of lies.

[hmmmmm]

I did see that :) but to me the most pertinent piece of info was his connection to the FOG (friends of Gore) in the 2nd link I posted.

[Howlin]

Is that the same guy???????

[onyx]

It's apparent, you haven't evolved much, isn't it?

[Hildy]

I'm going to sleep...it's been quite the evening. Hoping tomorrow will bring better news. Good night, all.