The legal trust is intended to enable the US President to pay his legal bills in the sexual harassment case brought by Paula Jones and now by Monica Lewinsky.

More than 17,000 Clinton supporters contributed to the newly constituted defence fund operates with looser rules. Many in Hollywood are also among Clinton's supporters. The 63 donations of 10,000 dollars each, the maximum allowed, received by June 30 included gifts from performers, directors and producers such as Tom Hanks, Barbara Streisand, Michael Douglas, Ron Howard, Norman Lear, Bud Yorkin, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw-Spielberg as well as studio executives Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen and Henry Weinstein.

A former democratic Senator and Clinton's friend David Pryor, who set up the fund, said ``We believe that no First family should facesuch a horrendous financial burden while trying to carry out the work which the American people elected him to do.'' Critics say that they did not elect Clinton to dally with a girl old enough to be his daughter. However, Clinton continues to enjoy the support of more women than men - 56 per cent among men and 68 per cent among women.

The Washington Post said that feminist organisations, which have been wrestling internally for months on how to react to the Presidential scandal, continue their support, citing the difference between sexual harassment, for which they have condemned Justice Clarence Thomas and Senator Robert Packwood, and what was apparently consensual sex between the President and Lewinsky.

A Time reporter said on CNN-TV that this difference has not pacified Hillary Clinton, who reportedly said that she did not want the independent counsel Kenneth Starr to ``kill'' her husband because she wanted Clinton to be saved for her so that she could do that herself.