America's No. 1 talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh, categorically denied on Wednesday an ABC News report that accused him of "laundering money" to bankroll his addiction to painkillers.
"Let me say right at the top that I have not laundered any money," Limbaugh said at the beginning of his broadcast.
"I know what this is. I know where this is coming from," the top talker told his audience. "This is not a leak. This is the purposeful release of false information."
ABC's "World News Tonight" anchorman Peter Jennings alleged in his Tuesday night broadcast: "The talk show host just finished five weeks of treatment. His legal difficulties may continue. Officials are looking into whether Limbaugh laundered money to support his drug habit."
The ABC anchor handed the story off to investigative reporter Brian Ross, who claimed: "Law enforcement officials in Florida and New York tell ABC News that Limbaugh may have violated state money-laundering laws, in the way he handled huge amounts of cash to buy his drugs. A conviction on such charges in Florida could mean up to 30 years in prison."
The bogus report claimed the top talker had a pattern of withdrawing cash just below the federal reporting limit of $10,000, which is a red flag for drug- and money-laundering investigators.
But Limbaugh told his audience that when he came to New York in 1988, bankers from U.S. Trust solicited his business by promising he would not have to wait in long teller lines in the private banking area.
"If I needed cash, they'd bring it to me," the talker said he was told. "They had somebody bonded and they'd simply bring it to my office."
Instead of a reported 30 or 40 transactions made in New York, Limbaugh said, he took advantage of the bank's cash courier "maybe four times, if that many." He says he was told that if he kept the withdrawals under $10,000, it would minimize paperwork and expedite the process.
"And so, that's what I did," Limbaugh explained.
Far from having any kind of drug slush fund, the conservative host said, he withdrew the money from the same account his EIB paychecks were deposited in. What's more, he said, the withdrawals had nothing to do with bankrolling his addiction to painkillers.
"The cash in question here, most of it had to do with a two-and-a-half-year remodel we did to the home in Palm Beach," he said. Limbaugh said he also applied some of the cash to everyday expenses like food, travel and gratuities.
In early 2001, he said, investigators with the Federal Reserve contacted him in connection with an investigation into U.S. Trust's cash withdrawal policy.
"The government was investigating U.S. Trust because the bank had apparently told many others of their clients that their cash withdrawals should be in amounts of less than $10,000," Limbaugh explained.
"Shortly after they met with me, U.S. Trust admitted to this, paid a $10 million fine and that's it," he said. "From that moment on, every cash withdrawal I've made has been for over $10,000."
Editor's note:
Former CBS reporter Bernard Goldberg makes more stunning revelations about Dan Rather - Click Here Now!
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