DISCLOSURE OF LIMBAUGH PLEA TALKS DRAWS REBUKE

WEST PALM BEACH -- The release Friday of hundreds of pages of records
about the Rush Limbaugh investigation, including plea negotiations,
incensed the radio commentator's attorney and brought renewed charges
of a smear campaign by prosecutors.

Responding to a conservative legal foundation's request for documents
to support such a theory, State Attorney Barry Krischer's office
released allegedly confidential letters between Limbaugh's attorney
and prosecutors in which each side rejected the other's proposal late
last year to make the prescription fraud case go away.

Limbaugh's attorneys wanted pretrial intervention, a sentencing
program that would require Limbaugh to continue his drug treatment for
an admitted addiction to painkillers.

Krischer's office countered that, in exchange for not unsealing his
seized medical records, Limbaugh could plead to one count of "doctor
shopping," a third-degree felony, and take three years' probation and
community service.

"Mr. Limbaugh never considered accepting the state's ludicrous offer,"
Limbaugh attorney Roy Black said in statement. "He was not going to
plea to something he did not do."

Limbaugh's lawyers, as well as the Landmark Legal Foundation, which
made the public records request Jan. 15, saw the release of the
letters to the media as another example of Krischer using a
double-standard in the case.

Routinely, the state attorney's office says it won't comment on plea
negotiations or investigations. Krischer's office has steadfastly held
that Limbaugh's rights have been scrupulously protected during the
investigation.

Black said Krischer violated Florida law and legal ethics by releasing
the documents.

According to the records, Krischer's office consulted with the state
Attorney General's Office and the Florida Bar before releasing the
information.

Landmark said it was considering taking Krischer to court over the
released documents, which were given to the media. Landmark, based in
Herndon, Va., and Kansas City, said Friday it had not received the
documents, which were made available by the state attorney's office
through a West Palm Beach copy shop.

"Depending on what's been released, we may be inviting him to join us
to have a conversation in front of a judge," said Mark Levin, director
of Landmark.

A former U.S. attorney said the issue most likely will be heading to
court. Miami attorney Kendall Coffey said releasing settlement
negotiations could have a chilling effect in future cases. For
example, he said, a co-defendant could file a public records request
and find out if an accomplice was negotiating with
prosecutors.

"Evidently, the state attorney general has taken a broad view of what
many will dispute," said Coffey, who was U.S. attorney for the
Southern District of Florida from 1993 to 1996. "I don't think the
ramifications of this matter are confined to high-profile subjects.
They reach across the board."

Joanne Carrin, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said
it's not unusual for local agencies to call and ask questions about
the public records law. She said the office knows of no exceptions to
the public records law for documents relating to settlement
negotiations.

The Florida Bar said it couldn't comment on the Limbaugh case and does
not give legal advice. But according to a memo dated Thursday from
Krischer's office, the Bar told prosecutors it had an ethical
obligation to release the letters.

Meanwhile, with all the hoopla over the Limbaugh case, the 53-year-old
Palm Beach resident has yet to be charged.

Medical records still sealed

Limbaugh's drug use became public when his former maid, Wilma Cline,
told the supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer for an October
story that she provided the radio host with thousands of illegal pain
pills.

According to an Oct. 3 letter from Black to Assistant State Attorney
James Martz, Limbaugh offered his assistance in any investigation into
Cline and her husband, David. The next week Limbaugh told his
listeners he was addicted to painkillers and entered a five-week drug
rehabilitation program in Arizona.

Limbaugh has denied breaking any law, saying he became addicted to
prescription pills while being treated for back and ear pain.

"Mr. Limbaugh went to these doctors to relieve chronic, intractable
pain. There was no doctor shopping," Black said Friday.

When he returned to the air Nov. 17, Limbaugh accused Krischer's
office of investigating him for political reasons. Eight days later,
investigators executed search warrants for his medical records from
doctors in medical offices in Jupiter and West Palm Beach. The medical
records remain sealed as Limbaugh appeals a circuit judge's decision
to allow prosecutors to view them.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Association of American
Physicians and Surgeons are filing legal briefs on behalf of Limbaugh,
saying release of his medical records would undermine doctor-patient
confidentiality.

To obtain the court-approved search warrants, investigators used
records from the Lewis Pharmacy near Limbaugh's Palm Beach mansion
that showed he filled prescriptions for more than 2,000 pills of
painkillers, including OxyContin, and anxiety medications.

Black, in a Dec. 11 letter, proposed that Limbaugh be referred to the
pretrial diversion program. In that scenario, Limbaugh's addiction
treatment would be monitored and, if successful, the case would be
stricken from his record.

"Mr. Krischer told me specifically that the office policy is not to
prosecute addicts/users of illegal controlled substances, but to go
after the doctors who prescribed them illegally and the pushers on the
street," Black wrote.

A note on top of the letter says it is confidential as part of
settlement discussions under Florida law and Florida rules of criminal
procedure.

In a Dec. 15 letter, Krischer's office rejected the proposal, saying
the pharmacy records would support more than 10 felony counts of
doctor shopping against Limbaugh. Doctor shopping is when a patient
dupes at least two doctors into prescribing excessive medication.

Also in the letter, Martz told Black that, if Limbaugh pleaded guilty
to one count of doctor shopping, prosecutors would recommend three
years' probation, random drug tests and community service to raise
public awareness of prescription drug addiction. The medical records
would remain sealed and a guilty conviction would not appear on
Limbaugh's record.

"We hadn't even had a chance to communicate our rejection of the
state's supposedly confidential but preposterous proposal, when we
received a call from a news reporter asking if it was true that Mr.
Limbaugh was going to plead guilty," Black said Friday.

Incensed, Black wrote a letter to Krischer asking that his spokesman,
Mike Edmondson, be criminally investigated for a deliberate pattern of
disclosures "to publicly destroy Mr. Limbaugh's reputation."

"To date, our demand has been met with deafening silence," Black
said.

'Journalist shopping' claim

Black told cable TV news channel MSNBC on Jan. 14 that he felt
Krischer was kowtowing to public pressure. In Friday's public
disclosure, more than 300 letters and e-mails from the public -- most
urging Limbaugh's prosecution -- were released.

On Jan. 15, Landmark, a conservative legal firm that has sued the
Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies, entered the
picture, seeking documents because it was concerned Krischer may be
trying "to punish Rush for his viewpoints." It accused the state
attorney of "journalist shopping."

Levin, Landmark's director, said a letter faxed from Krischer's office
Friday seemed to be contradictory to what was released. It stated that
"communications which include references to the facts which led to the
ongoing investigation" would not be part of the records released.

"I've never seen anything like this," Levin said. "They made it quite
clear this is the sort of thing we wouldn't get. I don't know what
game they're playing. I think this is a very serious error in judgment."

The Limbaugh camp said the disclosure was illegal and is further proof
of a smear campaign. "Because the state has no case against Mr.
Limbaugh they continually seek to discredit him in the media," Black
said.