Click on linked names to read about other key players, or see the full list.

A brash, smoky-voiced New York book agent and ardent critic of President Clinton, Goldberg, 62, once spied on behalf of President Richard M. Nixon's 1972 presidential campaign. She became acquainted with Linda Tripp during discussions about a possible book she wanted written on the late Vincent Foster. Foster, Tripp's former boss, was deputy White House counsel until his suicide, which was investigated by Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr. According to Goldberg, it was her idea that Tripp tape her conversations with Monica Lewinsky.

Goldberg denies the allegation that it was she who last fall started planting anonymous tips about Lewinsky with John Whitehead's Rutherford Institute, the conservative organization that helped to finance the Paula Jones case. By most accounts, Goldberg is one of the few characters in the unfolding Washington drama who is having a good time.

• The Book Agent's Pleasure Is President Clinton's Pain (Feb. 17, 1998)
• Goldberg a Veteran at Recording Gossip (Feb. 4, 1998)
• Literary Agent Was Behind Secret Tapes (Jan. 24, 1998)

(Updated October 2, 1998)