A trove of documents released Friday by the Clinton Presidential Library sheds light on how the Clinton White House tried just about everything to pull itself through the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The documents containing some 10,000 pages from the Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas put the spotlight back onto the painful aspects of Hillary Clinton’s past as she makes a final bid for the presidency in 2016.

The documents reveal details of the efforts to discredit rivals and attack the media to attempts to boost West Wing spirits by sharing supportive op-eds or the unfavorable poll numbers for special prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

Among documents covering all aspects of the administration were more than 200 pages of emails and briefing notes on Monica Lewinsky, the intern who had sexual relations with Mr Clinton in a relationship that ultimately led his impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

The earliest documents reveal how Monica was copied on an email in February 1996 about how White House staff should have received a subpoena from the counsel’s office for files related to the travel office. A month later, Lewinsky put in an official request to hang a picture in the legislative affairs office of Clinton signing a telecom bill.

By April 1996, as the West Wing grew concerned about Lewinsky’s relationship with Clinton, aides exchanged emails about placing her at the Pentagon.

“We are working closely with DOD to make this happen for Monica,” Patsy Thomasson, the White House deputy director of personnel, wrote on April 9, 1996, several days after Lewinsky had been removed from her West Wing job. “We have not finalized the deal but are working toward that end. … Our direction is to make sure she has a job in an Agency.”

There is a sense of panic as aides struggle to field press calls on January 21 1998, the day the Washington Post had become the first mainstream media outlet to report the scandal of Ms Lewinsky’s 18-month affair with the president.

The files also contain long internal memos in which staff members work out how Mr Clinton should respond to tough questions about the Lewinsky scandal, and whether the administration had tried to discredit her.