Linda Tripp, a Pentagon employee who taped more than 20 hours of telephone conversations between herself and the young woman, is being investigated by prosecutors in the state of Maryland, where she lives. Under Maryland law, recording people without their consent carries a jail sentence of up to five years and a maximum fine of $10,000.

The Maryland state prosecutor, Stephen Montanarelli, says that any evidence from the new investigation would be heard by a grand jury.

An unconfirmed report in some American newspapers claimed that Lewinsky has indicated that she is willing to testify before such a grand jury if subpoenaed to do so. But the decision to begin the investigation against Tripp has caused apolitical and legal slanging match.

Tripp's lawyer, Anthony Zaccagnini, has alleged that the move is politically motivated and that it followed pressure from Maryland Democrats on their state's prosecutor. The Democrats, he said, were anxious to turn the spotlight on one of Clinton's chief accusers.

The Maryland prosecutor says this is ``absolutely untrue''. But earlier this year, 49 Democrats in the state local assembly did write to another state prosecutor asking him to investigate Tripp for a possible wiretap crime. That prosecutor passed the matter to Montanarelli.

Meanwhile, a new Gallup opinion survey has found that 63 per cent of the Americans it questioned think that the investigation into Lewinsky herself should stop.