Attorney General Janet Remo, a Clinton appointee, has recently issued a notice to Starr, who framed impeachment charges against the President, declaring her office' intention to probe the Independent Counsel's conduct, prompting fears of a witchhunt against those who opposed Clinton during his trial.

Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Orrinhatch, immediately questioned the propriety of the move against Starr, who is widely credited with exposing the President's attempts to cover up his affair with Lewinsky.

The move ``calls into question the department's integrity and supports the impression many people have, that this is a partisan Justice department,'' Republican lawmaker Hatch said. But Remodownplayed the probe saying, ``I will continue to look to see how I may comment in a way that is fair to all concerned, consistent with the law and consistent with ethical considerations.''

The probe is expected to begin pending Starr's formal response to the notice. Although Starr has steadfastly maintained that his probe into Clinton's conduct during his affair with Lewinsky was legal and proper, Justice department sources said that under federal guidelines, prosecutors cannot discuss immunity deals with defendants without the presence of their attorneys.

The Justice department's move came days after media reports quoted unnamed Starr aides as saying that the Independent Prosecutor was convinced that he had the power to take the President to court, despite his acquittal.

Tripp defends tapes: The infamous Linda Tripp, whose secret recordings of Monica Lewinsky's confessions on her affair with President Bill Clinton led to the second ever impeachment trial in US history, has claimed that heraction had saved the then 23-year-old intern from abuse.

``People think that the relationship (between Clinton and Lewinsky) was consensual and that I inserted myself somehow... But it was not,'' Tripp, who acted as a confidante to the former White House intern while all the time taping her conversations, said.

Tripp defended her action saying ``If my daughter found herself in a situation such as this where she was being abused, used, discarded, I would hope someone would come in and help her. `The public has no clue, absolutely no idea what Monica endured -- the histrionics, the hysteria, the throwing of lamps, the damage to herself,'' Tripp told NBC TV yesterday.

Senate evacuated over bomb threat

WASHINGTON: Police ordered the evacuation today of the US Senate after receiving word of a bomb threat, officials said. The order came shortly after the Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton on both impeachment charges against him. The entire senate wing of the US capitol was evacuated andthe threat was being investigated. ``They are clearing out the Senate wing at this time,'' a police officer said as Senators who had just voted to keep Clinton in office quit the building.