MAID BLACKMAILED LIMBAUGH, ATTORNEY SAYS

His Lawyer Denies The Radio Commentator Was Laundering Money, As He Argues
For Keeping Seized Medical Records Sealed

WEST PALM BEACH - Rush Limbaugh was blackmailed by a former maid who later
told law enforcement and a tabloid newspaper about his addiction to
prescription painkillers, his attorney told a judge on Monday.

Attorney Roy Black said Limbaugh could not complain to authorities about
the maid's demand for $4-million because they would use the information
against him.

He argued that prosecutors now are attempting to discredit the conservative
radio commentator by investigating whether Limbaugh went "doctor shopping"
for prescription painkillers. Black said prosecutors violated his client's
privacy when they seized medical records from his doctors in Florida and
California.

But Palm Beach County prosecutors insist they need to review the records,
which are sealed, to determine how much Limbaugh's doctors knew about his
frequent prescriptions for OxyContin, hydrocodone and other painkillers.

Assistant State Attorney James Martz said judges approved the warrants
after investigators discovered Limbaugh received more than 2,000
painkillers, prescribed by four doctors, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach
mansion.

"Now the next question is did those doctors know about each other?" Martz said.

Martz said reviewing the records would be the only way to determine whether
Limbaugh withheld information from his doctors and violated the law.

Limbaugh's attorneys asked for the court hearing to attempt to keep his
medical records private.

They also outlined a defense against accusations that Limbaugh illegally
used prescription painkillers and laundered money to finance his drug habit.

Black described Limbaugh as a victim, who suffered from a degenerative disc
disease with "pain so great at one point doctors thought he had bone cancer."

He said Limbaugh chose to take the addictive painkillers, rather than have
surgery for the problem, because doctors would have to reach his spine
through his throat, which could threaten his career as a commentator.

Limbaugh's former maid, Wilma Cline, learned of his addiction and
threatened to sell the story to the National Enquirer. She and her husband,
David Cline, demanded millions and were "paid substantial amounts of
money," Black said.

The couple "bled him dry" and then went to authorities to gain immunity
from prosecutors before selling their story for $250,000 to the Enquirer,
Black said. The tabloid ran a story in October, days before Limbaugh
announced he would enter a drug rehabilitation program, alleging they
supplied him drugs for years.

Black said Limbaugh paid money to the Clines because they were blackmailing
him - not because he was laundering money.

"It's not money laundering to pay blackmail and extortion," Black said.

Ed Shohat, the attorney for the Clines, denied Black's allegation.

"Rush Limbaugh confessed and admitted that he bought the pills. ... I know
of no facts that my clients demanded money from Rush Limbaugh in any way,"
said Shohat, who added he had not heard of the blackmail allegation before
Monday's hearing and that his clients stand by their story.