'Scared of our government': Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky hits out at Trump administration

Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky has said the Trump administration scares her more than the government led by former president Bill Clinton.

In a message posted to Twitter on Monday afternoon, Ms Lewinsky wrote: "Just realized I am more scared of our government now than I was in 1998."

She added: "And that’s saying a lot. A. LOT."

It was not immediately clear what Ms Lewinsky, 47, was specifically referring to in her comments, but recently she has been vocal in criticising president Trump's decision to replace the late Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday.

Ms Lewinsky, now a fashion designer and anti-bullying campaigner, found herself at the centre of a political storm in 1998, after allegations emerged that she had an affair with then 49-year-old President Clinton, who later admitted it.

Following investigations, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Mr Clinton on grounds of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was later aquitted.

Throughout the scandal, Ms Lewinsky, then aged 22, faced repeated attacks from all sides, saying she was "publicly outed and ostracised".

Ms Lewinsky later revealed that she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress following the ordeal, which dominated headlines around the world.

Trump's announcement over the weekend that he would replace Ginsburg with a conservative justice before November's election has enraged Democrats, and threatens to reshape the highest court in the land for a generation.

Democrats' say the next president should select Ginsburg's replacment; but Trump, backed by a host of Senate Republicans, is determined to fill the vacancy before the election.

Ginsburg’s death means there are five supreme justices aligned with the Republican party, versus three for the Democrats.

If Mr Trump selects a conservative justice, then the Supreme Court would have a decisive conservative majority.

The US Supreme Court is the highest court in the land and its rulings are crucial for some of the most important and fiercely contested issues in US law, such as reproductive rights, voting rights, protections from discrimination, the power of the presidency, the rights of immigrants, tax rules and laws, and healthcare for millions of the most at-risk Americans.