--- title: Report: Investigators Mistreated Lewinsky in Bill Clinton Probe description: A report thought sealed from public view finds prosecutors erred in their tough questioning of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky canonical: https://time.com/3536555/report-lewinsky-clinton-starr/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-24T16:47:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:59:49.730Z article:section: Politics og:title: Report: Investigators Mistreated Monica Lewinsky in Clinton Probe og:description: According to a December 2000 report thought sealed from public view og:url: https://time.com/3536555/report-lewinsky-clinton-starr/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta57a591f267c6278/6987629c8e06015135457e5e/ap915517499769.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Monica Lewinsky og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Report: Investigators Mistreated Monica Lewinsky in Clinton Probe twitter:description: According to a December 2000 report thought sealed from public view twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta57a591f267c6278/6987629c8e06015135457e5e/ap915517499769.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Report: Investigators Mistreated Monica Lewinsky in Clinton Probe  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Oct 24, 2014 4:47 PM UTC  Monica Lewinsky speaks to attendees at Forbes Under 30 Summit at the Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa on October 20, 2014. Monica Lewinsky speaks to attendees at Forbes Under 30 Summit at the Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa on October 20, 2014.Star Shooter—Star Shooter/MediaPunch/IPx  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Oct 24, 2014 4:47 PM UTC Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky was mistreated in 1998 by authorities who were looking into her alleged affair with former President Bill Clinton, according to a [newly released government report](http://www.washingtonpost.com/r/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/10/23/National-Politics/Graphics/specialcounselreport.pdf) from two years after the incident. The report, thought to be sealed from the public but recently [obtained by the Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lewinsky-mistreated-by-authorities-in-investigation-of-clinton-report-says/2014/10/23/9a61bf6e-5a0e-11e4-8264-deed989ae9a2%5Fstory.html) via a Freedom of Information Act request, details a 12-hour meeting in January 1998 between Lewinsky, FBI agents and prosecutors. Lewinsky had been scheduled to meet with Linda Tripp, a White House secretary, at the food court of a Washington, D.C.-area mall. Instead, she was ambushed by federal agents and prosecutors. According to Lewinsky’s version of events — [detailed](http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/10/20/full-transcript-monica-lewinsky-speaks-out-on-ending-online-abuse/) in a rare public appearance earlier this week — when she asked to see an attorney, she was told her cooperation would be worth less if she spoke to counsel and told she could receive some 27 years in prison for allegedly lying about her affair with the President in an affidavit, among other crimes. The findings vindicate her side of how things played out that day and, the report found, call into question ethical decisions made during the aggressive questioning of Lewinsky and her mother by lawyers working for Ken Starr’s Office of Independent Counsel. \[[_The Washington Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lewinsky-mistreated-by-authorities-in-investigation-of-clinton-report-says/2014/10/23/9a61bf6e-5a0e-11e4-8264-deed989ae9a2%5Fstory.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3536555/report-lewinsky-clinton-starr/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3536555/report-lewinsky-clinton-starr/"},"headline":"Report: Investigators Mistreated Monica Lewinsky in Clinton Probe","datePublished":"2014-10-24T16:47:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:59:49.730Z","description":"According to a December 2000 report thought sealed from public view","url":"https://time.com/3536555/report-lewinsky-clinton-starr/","keywords":["justice","2016 Election topic","White House","Scandal","Clinton","DOj","probe"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta57a591f267c6278/6987629c8e06015135457e5e/ap915517499769.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta57a591f267c6278/6987629c8e06015135457e5e/ap915517499769.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Monica Lewinsky","caption":"Monica Lewinsky","creditText":"Star Shooter—Star Shooter/MediaPunch/IPx","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice/","name":"justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3536555/report-lewinsky-clinton-starr/","name":"Report: Investigators Mistreated Monica Lewinsky in Clinton Probe"}}]}] ```