People Hear Lewinsky for First Time

By NANCY BENAC
.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Nov. 17) - Finally, the voice. Monica Lewinsky's girlish excitement and pouty petulance reverberate through the Linda Tripp tapes as she dissects her improbable relationship with the president.

No valley girl-speak, here. No grim ''Fatal Attraction'' tones. Rather, the gush of emotion from an earnest young woman infatuated with an older man. Naive but not quite innocent.

With precise diction, Ms. Lewinsky playfully tests come-ons to Clinton like ''Dear Boo-Boo'' and ''You can't refuse me because I'm too cute and adorable.'' But she chokes out her words over sobs and snuffles when things turn sour, declaring: ''It is too much for any one person.''

The 22 hours of tapes released Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee gave America its first chance to hear Ms. Lewinsky's voice, one of the few remaining mysteries from a presidential morality tale that has unfolded in excruciating detail.

A transcript of the words came out earlier; what was new Tuesday was the emotion and inflection. The only thing missing now is the steady stream of expletives that were deleted.

Radio and TV stations had a field day: Ms. Lewinsky's voice instantly echoed across the airwaves coast to coast. ''The Tripp tapes come out today,'' a train conductor announced to early-morning commuters arriving at Washington's Union Station. ''We will hear Monica.''

From California, psychologist Robert Butterworth offered this assessment: ''It almost is like sitting down listening to 'Days of our Lives.' ... She's coming across more sympathetically and a little bit more vulnerable than I would have thought.''

The White House professed disinterest.

''My guess is that most people around the country won't be paying much attention, but the people who are obsessed with this story, this will be a day in heaven for them,'' said spokesman Joe Lockhart.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., dismissed the tapes as ''two ditsy ladies talking about stupid things.''

The tapes were secretly recorded by Ms. Lewinsky's onetime friend and co-worker, who turned them over to Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, triggering the 10-month investigation that spawned an impeachment inquiry.

Mrs. Tripp's low, throaty monotones offer a counterpoint to the bounce and varied pitch of her young friend's voice. A Maryland grand jury is considering whether she broke state wiretapping law by taping Ms. Lewinsky without her knowledge.

At times, Mrs. Tripp comes across as a co-conspirator to Ms. Lewinsky, chortling at her schemes to rendezvous with Clinton. At other points, she is the school marm, correcting Ms. Lewinsky's grammar and voicing exasperation at her naivete.

''Oh, Monica, Monica, Monica,'' she sighs.

The irony of some lines rings through on the tapes. Even as Mrs. Tripp is secretly taping her young friend, she advises Ms. Lewinsky: ''I'd be careful what I said on the phone.''

The presidential plotline plays out against the backdrop of ordinary life: A baseball game drones on TV; Mrs. Tripp's dog, Cleo, is shooed away any number of times; Mrs. Tripp snaps her chewing gum.

The sighs, giggles and garbled syntax of informal conversation are heard. So is the angst of young love, as Ms. Lewinsky's moods veer from infatuation to anger, sweetness to cynicism.

Playfully trying to coax Clinton into letting her visit, Ms. Lewinsky mimics a New York ''coffee talk'' voice from ''Saturday Night Live'' in a recording that she makes for the president. With exaggerated accent, she tells him: ''So I hope to see you later, and we can tawk about Corky and dogs.''

At another point, her frustrations boil over. Choking out words over sobs, she declares in a shaky voice: ''I am hysterical. I am throwing things. I am shaking. My heart was hurting before. I just can't do this anymore.''

In another conversation, Ms. Lewinsky's voice drops as she tells Mrs. Tripp how the president hurt her when he said he wouldn't have gotten involved with her if he had known what kind of person she was. In almost a whisper, she says, ''I'm going to make him take that back.''

An instant later, both women break out in laughter as Ms. Lewinsky jokes: ''(Expletive) him and the little motorcade he rode in on.''

AP-NY-11-17-98 1455EST

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