Limbaugh named in drug inquiry

NEW YORK — Conservative talk-show superstar Rush Limbaugh, a longtime lightning rod for controversy, found the voltage turned way up yesterday as he responded to allegations of illegal drug abuse.

A law-enforcement source confirmed that Limbaugh, one day removed from resigning as an ESPN football analyst over a comment about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, has been implicated in a drug-ring investigation. The source said the radio and TV personality is not a principal target of the Florida investigation, which is focusing on drug dealers and has led to several arrests.

The source also confirmed a National Enquirer report that Limbaugh's former housekeeper Wilma Cline told prosecutors that she illegally supplied him with thousands of painkillers over more than four years, including at times more than 30 pills per day of the highly potent drug OxyContin. Limbaugh twice had undergone detoxification treatment, according to that report.

Limbaugh at one time had a disease that eventually left him deaf; the condition was corrected two years ago when he had an electronic device surgically implanted in his skull.

He denied knowledge of the investigation. "I am unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me," Limbaugh said in a statement yesterday. "No governmental representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required in the future, I will, of course, cooperate fully."

Whether Limbaugh, 52, faces prosecution could depend partly on the degree of that cooperation and the nature of the information he provides, the law-enforcement source said.

A Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office spokesman said he could "neither confirm nor deny" that an investigation is under way.

Edward Shohat, an attorney for Cline and her husband, David, both of whom were granted immunity, said they stand by the remarks attributed to them in the Enquirer but declined to elaborate.

Information on Limbaugh's disease was provided by the Los Angeles Times.