Linda Tripp plans more public life after charges dismissed

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Linda Tripp, making her first public appearance in months, said Saturday she plans to be more visible now that wiretapping charges have been dismissed because ''if I continue to remain silent, they win.''

Tripp had avoided virtually all public appearances since her indictment in Maryland last July, though she has released statements on her Web site and through her attorney. She said she has received dozens of speaking invitations.

''I am not a public person. All this is very difficult for me,'' she told about 60 people attending a dinner of the South Carolina chapter of Free Republic, a group that operates a conservative Web site and has strongly supported her.

Charges that Trip illegally recorded Monica Lewinsky's conversations were officially dismissed Thursday after Maryland prosecutors said there was not enough evidence.

Tripp is suing the White House and the Defense Department, alleging her privacy rights were violated by officials who leaked information from confidential government records.

The wiretapping case closed, Tripp said her attorneys will turn their attention to the lawsuit.

''In the next few weeks, we will be subpoenaing every national name you can imagine in the White House,'' she said. ''It really is up to the civil process to hold them accountable.''