Tripp wiretap case collapses

Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky: Ribald conversations

Prosecutors have dropped wiretapping charges against former White House secretary Linda Tripp, whose secret tape recordings of Monica Lewinsky started the impeachment process against President Clinton.

Mrs Tripp was charged with recording the phone calls about Miss Lewinsky's affair with the US president, without Miss Lewinsky's consent.

But after the judge limited the evidence against her, prosecutors said they had no choice but to drop the charges.

There are no other witnesses to the conversation whom the state can call to testify

Maryland State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli

The decision in Maryland, which had been widely expected in political and legal circles, ended the only criminal case against a major figure in the White House sex scandal.

Mrs Tripp, who made the recordings at her home in Columbia, Maryland, was indicted last July for alleged violations of Maryland's wiretap law which makes it illegal to record conversations without consent.

But earlier this month the judge in the case, Diane Leasure, said much of star witness Miss Lewinsky's evidence should be suppressed.

Linda Tripp could have been jailed

Judge Leasure said Miss Lewinsky's evidence was not credible because her memory was tainted by her contact with independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr who led the proceedings against President Clinton.

Prosecutors needed Miss Lewinsky's testimony to prove that Mrs Tripp knew she was breaking the law when she made the recording.

Pair became friends

Maryland State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli said on Wednesday: "There are no other witnesses to the conversation whom the state can call to testify and Tripp cannot be compelled to testify."

If convicted, Mrs Tripp could have faced 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

The recordings of the two women's rambling and sometimes ribald conversations were released publicly by the House Judiciary Committee before the House voted to impeach President Clinton for perjury and obstruction in late 1998.

He was acquitted last February after a Senate trial.

Mrs Tripp has said she began taping her friend's phone calls to protect herself because she was being pressured by Miss Lewinsky to lie in the Paula Jones lawsuit that alleged President Clinton engaged in sexual misconduct while he was governor of Arkansas.

Miss Lewinsky confided her sexual encounters with the president to Mrs Tripp after the two women became friends while working together at the Pentagon.