Celebrities! Press intimidation!! The White House !!! What could be a bigger, juicier story? Strangely enough, the tale of Anthony Pellicano, former Los Angeles private eye now residing in federal prison, has drawn minimal publicity, and almost no press mentions of the juiciest morsel of all: his membership in what Dick Morris called the 'White House Secret Police.' Why has the Fourth Estate punted on a potentially Watergate—dwarfing political scandal? You be the judge.

Today's AP dispatch, covering the latest development, Pellicano's attempt to withdraw one of his guilty peas in the federal weapons charges which have landed him in the slammer, once again omits any mention of Pellicano's work for the Clintons, which was extensive, even though it does mention Elizabeth Taylor and Steven Segal (you remember him, don't you? He used to be a powerfully—built action film star), as his former clients.

Pellicano first got in trouble when he was accused of hiring a thug to intimidate LA Times scribe Anita Busch, who was investigating possible links between Segal and underworld figures. When a search warrant was executed on his office, a large quantity of C4 explosives (illegal for non—military use), and various other forbidden armaments was found. Also seized were extensive records, currently under grand jury seal.

Pellicano was the 'audio expert' first hired by the Clintons when they needed to discredit the tapes produced by Gennifer Flowers, containing her telephone conversations with then—presidential candidate Bill Clinton, in 1992. Pellicano soon concluded that the tapes were 'doctored,' and the press then obediently consigned them to oblivion, disregarding Clinton's slurs of Mario Cuomo, and all of the other assorted press—fodder on them.

Later on, Pellicano was allegedly hired to deal with the allegations of Katherine Willey, the attractive, recently—widowed Democrat activist, who went public with the story of Bill Clinton groping her in the White House shortly after her husband's death by self—inflicted gunshot. Willey later told the world that her tires were slashed, and her cat went missing. Later, a note appeared on her windsheld, asking her if she had seen her pet lately.

By bizarre coincidence, a note on the windshield was also the technique used on the reporter Busch, allegedly to intimidate her into dropping her inquiries into the underworld and Hollywood.

There must be a good reason why the press assiduously refrains from mentioning the most important clients Pellicano ever had. I wonder what it is?

Fortunately, many office records were seized from Pellicano's office, and the grand jury has not yet completed its work. Who knows what further revelations may be coming our way. Stay tuned, but don't expect the mainstream press to get too worked—up over them.

Posted by Thomas   01 23 04