I take all the blame ... Silly me, Goldberg said
when she was asked about her mistake after
her 90-minute grand-jury appearance.

Goldberg said she was questioned by Maryland
state prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli, a
Democrat who was criticized after it was
revealed that state Democrats encouraged him
to go after Tripp.

He could not have been more gracious,
Goldberg said. The sheriff's department gave
us an escort in and an escort out. They gave us
an escort to a country inn for lunch. They treated
us like visiting royalty.

She said one of the jurors asked her for a
recipe for her meat pot-pie and another showed
her a map with directions to an antique mall.

Montanarelli's grand jury is investigating
whether to indict Tripp, a Maryland resident, for
illegally taping Lewinsky. The maximum penalty
is five years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Even though it's illegal to secretly tape a phone
conversation of another person in Maryland, the
person doing the recording must have
knowledge of the law in order to be prosecuted.

I told ^Tripp_ it was legal when I first told her to
buy the tape recorder, said Goldberg, who
helped instigate the scandal by urging Tripp to
record her many chats with Lewinsky about sex
and lies with President Clinton.

I asked someone to look up on the Internet
whether it was legal and was told that it was -
but that person was looking at the federal law,
not the Maryland law, Goldberg said.

Montanarelli can't use Tripp's Sexgate
testimony or any of the tapes she gave Kenneth
Starr because Starr granted her criminal
immunity in exchange for her cooperation.

-- Brian Blomquist - 11/13/98