On Hannity radio show, Tyrrell said Bill Clinton's heart ailment is “proof that recreational sex can be dangerous”

On the March 19 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Sean Hannity featured American Spectator founder and editor-in-chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. to discuss his recently released book, The Clinton Crack-Up: The Boy President's Life After The White House (Nelson Current). During his appearance, Tyrrell said: “When [former President Bill Clinton] first left the White House, he womanized with these kind[s] of high-toned, high-powered Manhattan women, and shortly thereafter, as you saw, he was rushed into heart surgery,” adding: “I mean, this is proof that recreational sex can be dangerous.” Tyrrell continued: “But since then, he's picked up, night after night, whenever he speaks, generally, with whoever, whatever chaperone or single woman he can find himself with for these one-night stands. I call it girl-hopping. I don't know what he calls it, but I'll tell you, his heart doctors must worry about it every time they see him depart a ballroom.”

As Media Matters for America has documented, The Clinton Crack-Up continues Tyrrell's tradition of Clinton smear books by featuring a series of unverified -- and, to the point of absurdity, poorly sourced -- claims about the Clintons.

In one chapter of The Clinton Crack-Up, named “Pardongate,” Tyrrell wrote: “Clinton, always battling allergies and his adolescent impulses, aged noticeably while president, but nothing like the ominous deterioration that he suffered during the first four years of his retirement, at the end of which he underwent quadruple bypass surgery, followed by supplemental surgery, medication fit for an octogenarian, and white hair -- so much for the salubrious benefits of recreational sex and slow-motion jogging” (Page 80). Tyrrell also published an op-ed in the October 24, 2006, online edition of The New York Sun in which he made similar allegations.

From the March 19 edition of ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show:

TYRRELL: I want to emphasize, of course, Sean, that this is an investigative book about Bill Clinton's life after the presidency, and how he's worked so assiduously to make her campaign possible. It's also, of course, about the prospects for her campaign. But to pick up more directly on what you just said, one of the things I've found in writing this book is that practically every mess they get themselves in today had a precursor back in Arkansas.

I mean, in Arkansas -- the book begins with the deep depression that Clinton found himself in upon leaving the White House, not just because of the mess he had made of his presidency, but because of the pardons that he gave -- 140 pardons, 36 clemencies -- and he had done that, why was he so distressed? He had done the same thing back in 1980 when he left the governor's mansion. There's not much new about these people, except the media's endless tolerance of their misbehavior.

[...]

HANNITY: Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about, you know -- first of all, his private life, which I know a lot of people want to hear about. One of the things that the Hillary camp has -- and we've had leaks about this -- they have been most concerned about, is whether or not his womanizing is going to be a factor in her run for the presidency. And, in fact, you believe it is going on, and it will be.

TYRRELL: Well, you remember I said that -- in 2000, at the 2000 convention, I found myself sitting with some of Clinton's friends and they expressed the concern that, in retirement, he'd be even worse. Well, it turns out he was even worse. He's womanized with two types of women: when he first left the White House, he womanized with these kind of high-toned, high-powered Manhattan women, and shortly thereafter, as you saw, he was rushed into heart surgery. They almost killed him.

I mean, this is proof that recreational sex can be dangerous. But since then, he's picked up, night after night, whenever he speaks, generally, with whoever, whatever chaperone or single woman he can find himself with for these one-night stands. I call it girl-hopping. I don't know what he calls it, but I'll tell you, his heart doctors must worry about it every time they see him depart a ballroom.

HANNITY: Now, how do you know that for a fact? And I know you're an investigative reporter. I mean, is it speculation or you have concrete evidence to support that?

TYRRELL: Well, as you know, I had retired Secret Service agents; I had military affairs -- aides of his; I had police officers. There was a Capitol Hill -- as you know, a Capitol Hill police officer report to us that he overheard Hillary say to Nancy Pelosi in '01 or '02 -- it's in the book -- that Bill was having an affair. She -- Hillary used a much cruder word to Pelosi, but the term was -- the point was Bill was having an affair with Denise Rich and, of course, Denise Rich was the ex-wife of Mark Rich, the fugitive whom he had pardoned.

HANNITY: Well, you talk specifically about that because you, in quotes, you say, “Secret Service logs show that Denise Rich visited the White House as many as 19 times while he was president, and public records reveal she donated $450,000 to the Clinton library and $100,000 to Hillary's Senate campaign,” but you believe that there was a romantic link there?

TYRRELL: Oh, I don't believe -- I mean, I know it. I mean, we have -- first of all, there's plenty of backup documentation in the book that's on the public record. But, secondly, as I say, I have police officers that have overheard Hillary talk in this way, and you know, Hillary uses salacious language all the time, it's so nonsensical to present her as this demure lady. She's a tough customer. I call her in the book, “Bruno.”

HANNITY: Yes. You have -- you quoted one Secret Service agent in the book who had to counsel a tearful Air Force enlisted woman after Clinton cornered her on a jet and -- well, why don't you tell the story?

TYRRELL: Well, it caused a -- he -- this is during his presidency, and as I say, there's some about his presidency, but I want your readers to know that the real brunt of this book is about his last five years in retirement.

But yes, when he was president, he -- this was not the only time -- but, in this occasion, he cornered a military aide, a female military aide on Air Force One, and he fondled her, and she turned and she was tearful and distressed to have the commander-in-chief do a thing like this. And she went back to the top military aide and wanted to know what to do about it, and he kind of quietly had to cover -- to kind of smooth things over. He was outraged.

I don't know if it was at this point -- I've forgotten from the book, it's in the book -- or at another point, one of these military aides tried to orchestrate all the aides, and perhaps the Secret Service agents, quitting President Clinton's detail because of his misbehavior. One of the things he was doing, was during the height of the impeachment imbroglio, he was still fooling around with White House women.

HANNITY: In the height of it?

TYRRELL: At the height of it, yeah. And that caused real distress amongst the Secret Service and amongst the military aides, and that's pretty well documented in the book.

HANNITY: All right, let me ask you this question: Should this behavior of him impact people's decision about her?

TYRRELL: Well, I think, you know, I've known the Clintons so well. I'm practically consider them a member of my family -- the black sheep in my family -- but they're members of my family. And going way back, she was always an enabler. And they ought to consider, think to themselves, what do you think of a woman who, you know, kind of exploits her husband's political career and serves, as I said, an ongoing enabler for him? I think that this is just one of the reasons that I don't think she should be president of the United States.