January 15, 1999
Web posted at: 8:09 p.m. EST (0109 GMT)

WASHINGTON (January 15) - The first family's lawyers have questioned Linda Tripp under oath for the first time since the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, taking a lengthy deposition for a lawsuit filed against the Hillary Rodham Clinton by a conservative group.

Two sources familiar with the White House legal strategy told CNN that Tripp was questioned by attorneys at Williams & Connolly, one of the private law firms handling legal matters for President Bill Clinton and the first lady.

Tripp is a witness in a case filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative group that has pressed a number of ethics and other claims against the Clinton Administration.

The sources declined to get into details of the Tripp deposition, but they said the Williams & Connolly attorneys did spend considerable time exploring Tripp's political motivations, and tried to build a record of sworn testimony that, in the words of one, "shows she has a problem with the truth."

It was Tripp's secret tapes of conversations with her former Pentagon co-worker, Lewinsky, that led Independent Counsel Ken Starr to investigate the Lewinsky's affair with the president.

Friday January 15, 1999

• Managers say evidence, law prove perjury, obstruction of justice
• No decision yet on Clinton as witness
• Prosecution has swayed some senators on witness question
• First family's private lawyers question Linda Tripp under oath
• Senator objects to 'juror' label
• Clinton planning to deliver a one-hour State of the Union address
• Reno: No wrongdoing by former top Gore aide
• Hustler's Flynt hospitalized with pneumonia
• Man who shot Reagan wins mental hospital release
• Roth proposes new type of 401(k), alternatives to Social Security
• Clinton Administration considers sale of Ginnie Mae
• Clinton plans cigarette tax hike to balance budget
• Clinton urges Wall Street to invest in distressed areas

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