United States Government Officials

The presidential scandal involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is becoming fodder for advertising. Take the splashy four-page ad for designer Tommy Hilfiger appearing in this month's Vanity Fair. Spread across two pages is a shot of a handsome man getting off a helicopter parked on the White House lawn. The two pages that follow show an attractive young woman seated atop a presidential desk.

Trying to halt a judge's investigation into whether he leaked grand jury evidence to the news media, independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr suggested that his contacts with reporters should be treated the same as contacts with confidential informers, court documents show. Starr argued that he could not disclose evidence of his office's contacts with reporters "without revealing confidential investigative information," the documents say.

Shortly after President Clinton began testifying to a federal grand jury Monday afternoon, an odd-looking man standing outside the White House began slashing his throat with a flat-top screwdriver. Blood spilling across his shirt, the man screamed: "It's not about him. It's not about sex. It's not about what's going on in the White House. It's about Iran."

Shortly after President Clinton began testifying to a federal grand jury Monday afternoon, an odd-looking man standing outside the White House began slashing his throat with a flat-top screwdriver. Blood spilling across his shirt, the man screamed: "It's not about him. It's not about sex. It's not about what's going on in the White House. It's about Iran."

The following is the full text of President Clinton's talk to the American public Monday night regarding his testimony in the Monica S. Lewinsky investigation: Good evening. This afternoon, in this room, from this chair, I testified before the Office of Independent Counsel and the grand jury. I answered their questions truthfully, including questions about my private life, questions no American citizen would ever want to answer.

As President Clinton's fate hung in the balance Monday, his close and trusted No. 2--Vice President Al Gore--was hanging out nearly 5,000 miles away, vacationing in Hawaii. But shortly after Clinton offered his measured mea culpa on national television, Gore expressed unequivocal support. "I am proud of him--not only because he is a friend--but because he is a person who has had the courage to acknowledge mistakes," Gore said in a one-paragraph statement.

In a grudging public admission after seven months of denial, President Clinton told the American people Monday night that he had a relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky that was "not appropriate, in fact, it was wrong." In a televised address that followed an historic day of testimony to a grand jury, Clinton also acknowledged lying to the public about his "private" conduct but steadfastly insisted that he had not asked anyone to lie or otherwise break the law.

When President Clinton delivers a State of the Union address, members of Congress experience it live, taking in his pronouncements, applause lines and gravelly voice from across the room. But Monday night's extraordinary mea culpa left lawmakers in the same position as every other interested American--staring at the president's image on a television screen far from the executive mansion. With Congress on a monthlong recess, members tuned in from family vacations and fund-raisers.

By admitting that he had an inappropriate relationship with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky, President Clinton succeeded Monday in pushing aside the single strongest charge that could have led to his impeachment. Despite claims to the contrary, the Lewinsky investigation has been mostly about sex--and lying about sex. Had the president again flatly denied the sexual encounters--contradicting Lewinsky's latest sworn statement--independent counsel Kenneth W.

President Clinton's dramatic admission Monday night that he had an inappropriate relationship with former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky may deflate efforts to remove him from office, but it could also let much of the remaining air out of his presidency.