Starr to Get Lewinsky's Reading List

Monica Lewinsky's lawyers threw Ken Starr a bone yesterday in the continued negotiations over her testimony: access to Lewinsky's bedside table -- or at least the list of books on it. According to reports, the ex-intern's attorneys are pressing for Starr to allow her to testify that she did indeed have a sexual affair with President Clinton. But no, she was not instructed to lie about it. Lewinsky's attorneys resolved a dispute between a Washington, D.C., bookstore and investigators by agreeing to release information on her purchases -- Starr's team supposedly wants those records to determine whether she purchased a copy of Nicholson Baker's phone-sex bodice-ripper "Vox."

Even if he manages to pin down a Lewinsky fascination with telephonic trysts, Starr may be facing a setback in his bid to prove that the President helped the former intern find a job in exchange for her silence in the Paula Jones case. U.S. News and World Report yesterday released portions of Linda Tripp's tapes, which, they claim, prove that Clinton was helping Lewinsky find a job two months before she was subpoenaed by Jones. At least the independent counsel will be able to console himself with some interesting reading.