Updated: Jan 30 1998 2:38PM

Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky leaves the Watergate on Thursday. STEVEN SENNE/AP

WASHINGTON: Concerned, perhaps, that the scandal she helped bring about is flagging a little, Linda Tripp spoke out for the first time Friday in a fax to news agencies. In it, the woman who taped her conversations with Monica Lewinsky drops another bombshell: She was present in Lewinskyís Watergate apartment when a call from the President came in. "I have also seen numerous gifts they exchanged and heard several of her tapes of him," she added.

Tripp does lay it on a bit thick: Defending her allegations against cries of conspiracy, she writes: "Because I have chosen the path of truth, I have been vilified by spokesmen for the administration I proudly serve as a political appointee." The Pentagon staffer can hardly be said to have "proudly served" the Clinton administration, given her frequent contact with Ken Starr and plans for a tell-all book à la Gary Aldrich. But Tr ipp does defend the friend she lost when those tapes went public: Lewinsky was "a bright, caring, generous soul -- one who has made poor choices. She was not a stalker, she was invited; she did not embellish, the truth is sensational enough." Whether this is also true of Tripp herself is still debatable.

-- Chris Taylor