Auction house Nate D. Sanders has announced that it has commenced bidding on a collection of items that belonged to Monica Lewinsky and were used in the investigation of Lewinsky's notorious affair with former President Bill Clinton.
The auction began this week and is slated to come to an end on Thursday, June 27 at 5:00 p.m. PDT. As of Tuesday morning the current bid on the 32-piece Lewinsky lot is at $2,750. According to auction experts, the items are expected to go for between $25,000 and $50,000 by the time bidding closes.
The Nate D. Sanders Web site lists in detail all of the items up for bid in this collection. Among them: a black negligee, a letter written on White House stationary signed by Bill Clinton, an 8"x10" color photo of Bill Clinton signed in autopen, another photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton signed by both in autopen, several items of clothing once owned by Lewinsky (apologies, blue dress not included), a book of White House matches and three sealed boxes of presidential M&Ms, amongst other treasures.
The collection of goods was submitted by Andy Bleiler, a former lover of Lewinsky, to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr during his investigation of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in the 1990s, the auction house said in a statement.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Lewinsky's affair with Bleiler, who was married, was revealed during the investigation that led to Clinton's impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1998 as a result of his being charged with perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton was later acquitted by the Senate. He finished his second term in 2001.
"Items owned by Monica Lewinsky, especially relating to the Clinton scandal and Ken Starr investigation are exceedingly rare," auctioneer Nate D. Sanders said in a statement. "This is, to my knowledge, the only collection of this nature to come to light."