January 4, 2000
Web posted at: 1:53 a.m. EST (0653 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A year after the impeachment drama her relationship with President Clinton sparked, Monica Lewinsky says she hopes her place in history will become a "smaller and smaller footnote."

The 26-year-old former White House intern, whose illicit affair resulted in only the second attempt to remove a sitting U.S. president, told CNN's Larry King on Monday she still gets letters from all across the country. Lewinsky called them "heartwarming" and "touching," emphasizing that very few people were snide to her.

Monica talks with Larry King about her new look

Lewinsky declined to talk about former government co-worker Linda Tripp, who brought the Lewinsky-Clinton relationship to the fore, saying it wasn't appropriate because Tripp is under legal investigation. Her recent testimony in the case was "difficult" and "stressful."

But about the incident that brought her notoriety, she said emphatically that she doesn't feel like a victim. While she said she isn't blameless, "I keep trying to put it away."

She expressed concern for the effect the episode had on Clinton's daughter Chelsea and praised her extended family and friends for being "incredibly supportive" throughout the ordeal. "My true friends ended up with legal bills," she said ruefully, noting that she had confided as widely in some of them as she had in Tripp about her relationship with the president.

The situation with her two sets of lawyers she had during the impeachment crisis is "sticky". "They were trying to help me . . . everyone feels tarred and they want to be compensated," she said.

Though she said she never wanted the limelight, Lewinsky sees her current upfront role as diet spokeswoman for Jenny Craig as the most viable way to support herself since it would be "too chaotic" to have a regular job.

Besides dealing with "weight loss issues," Lewinsky told King she is trying to be on "track of a 26-year-old. I'm supporting myself, still trying to take care of my legal bills." She also has an Internet business selling handbags and totes and she's in therapy.

Tuesday, January 4, 2000

• Bradley would 'crack down' on corporate tax breaks
• Stuart Rothenberg: Spotlight on California races
• Dole endorses Bush
• Hillary Clinton moving to new home
• Kennedy expected to endorse Gore
• Monica Lewinsky trying to pare down her body and her fame
• NHPrimary.com: McCain starts major New Hampshire push
• Des Moines Register: Gore again pledges support for abortion rights
• Fourth term for Greenspan
• Rep. Fowler to retire
• Mrs. Clinton rakes in soft money
• Twenty years after White House run, Anderson back on ballot
• Legislature names Musgrove new Mississippi governor
• Web vote leaves Democrats with red faces
• July 10 is new Tripp trial date
• At last, Musgrove to become Mississippi governor

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