Lewinsky faults Hillary for stance on scandal

Bill Clinton remains popular despite the affair with his former aide. Photo / AP

Monica Lewinsky has broken nearly a decade of silence to say she was "troubled" by Hillary Clinton's impulse to "blame the woman" - rather than her husband - for the affair that nearly brought down Bill Clinton's presidency.

Nearly 20 years after her liaisons with the US President inside the White House, Ms Lewinsky's re-emergence could cast an unwelcome shadow as Mrs Clinton considers a second presidential bid in 2016.

In an article for Vanity Fair, Ms Lewinsky said she was speaking out to "take back my narrative and give a purpose to my past", but her comments about Mrs Clinton have generated the most interest.

"I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened," she wrote, adding that it was time to "burn the beret and bury the blue dress" - a reference to the now-infamous piece of clothing that became stained during an encounter with Mr Clinton.

Now 40, she maintained her relationship with the President had been "consensual", but added: "Any 'abuse' came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position."

Ms Lewinsky claimed she had turned down US$10 million in offers because it "didn't feel like the right thing to do".

Commercial ventures over the years have never taken off.

Responding to a recently disclosed 1998 conversation between Mrs Clinton and a confidante, in which the former First Lady described Ms Lewinsky as a "narcissistic loony toon", she said if that were "the worst thing she said, I should be so lucky".

Mrs Clinton had insisted the sex between Mr Clinton and the then-21-year-old had no "real meaning" and said she had not been "sensitive enough" to her husband's emotional state.

In an essay for Vanity Fair, Ms Lewinsky writes: "Hillary Clinton wanted it on record that she was lashing out at her husband's mistress. She may have faulted her husband for being inappropriate, but I find her impulse to blame the Woman - not only me, but herself - troubling."

Ms Lewinsky said she believed Mrs Clinton "blamed herself for her husband's affair [by being emotionally neglectful] and seemed to forgive him".

The renewed focus on Mr Clinton's past infidelities will be welcomed by some of his wife's political opponents as they look for ways to derail her potential 2016 bid for the White House.

Rand Paul, a Republican senator likely to run for president, has recently taken to describing Mr Clinton as "a sexual predator".

However, despite his affair and impeachment by Congress, Mr Clinton remains one of the most popular public figures in America while Mrs Clinton is the overwhelming frontrunner to be the Democrats' next presidential candidate.