20/20: Linda Tripp Interview

Jan. 11, 2001 -- She was ridiculed for her looks while being dragged through the mud for exposing the scandal of the president and the intern. Two facelifts later, for the first time on television, Linda Tripp has a totally new look and some very blunt insights into the affair that nearly brought down the White House. The interview airs Friday night on 20/20.

The interview marks Tripp's first time sitting down for a television interview since she had cosmetic surgery to change her looks and since her legal troubles started, roughly two years ago. It is also the first time Tripp’s children, Allison and Ryan, speak together on camera to defend their mother.

Tripp’s taped conversations with Monica Lewinsky exposed the White House intern’s affair with President Clinton. She says she was never a real friend of Monica Lewinsky’s, so her actions were not a betrayal. Despite the pressure put on her to lie, she says she urged Lewinsky to come clean with the president and tell him that Tripp knew about their affair. She did not want the president to perjure himself. She also speaks candidly about her brand new look, her West Wing access, her feelings toward the president and first lady and the fact that she would do it all over again.