Larry Flynt, publisher of
Hustler magazine, famously targeted Republican politicians for their perceived hypocrisy, most notably during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s. He argued that officials who were publicly condemning Clinton for his extramarital affair, while having their own secret affairs, were hypocrites.
Flynt's Methods and Key Revelations
- Financial Bounties: Flynt placed full-page advertisements in publications like The Washington Post offering up to $1 million for documented evidence of adulterous affairs or other sexual improprieties by high-ranking government officials. His goal was to incentivize women who had affairs with powerful men to come forward.
- Targeting Impeachment Leaders: His investigations specifically focused on the Republicans who were leading the charge to impeach President Clinton.
Key Figures Exposed
Flynt's efforts led to significant political fallout for several Republican figures:
- Bob Livingston: Flynt's investigation revealed that Representative Bob Livingston, who was the heir apparent to Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House, had engaged in several extramarital affairs. Facing these revelations, Livingston publicly confessed to his adultery and announced his resignation from Congress on the day the House was set to vote on Clinton's impeachment.
- Bob Barr: Flynt also targeted Representative Bob Barr, one of the 13 House members acting as a prosecutor in the impeachment case against Clinton. Flynt's investigation uncovered that Barr, a fervent pro-lifer, had paid for an ex-wife's abortion years earlier.
- Henry Hyde: Flynt's investigation also exposed the sexual promiscuity of former House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde, another key figure in the impeachment process.
Flynt's Stated Motivation
Flynt always maintained that his crusade was not about the sexual acts themselves, but about exposing the hypocrisy of politicians who promoted "family values" while privately engaging in the same behaviors they condemned in others. He saw hypocrisy as a major danger to democracy.
He continued these efforts periodically over the years, targeting others like Senator David Vitter in the mid-2000s, who was linked to the "D.C. Madam" scandal, and even weighing in on the Mark Sanford affair for the same reasons. Flynt died in February 2021.