A Primer on The Starr Probe

* With the dismissal of the Paula Jones case, Kenneth Starr's 3-1/2-year, $35 million investigation of potential wrong doing by Bill and Hillary Clinton returns to center stage.

The initial probe - into the Clintons' business transactions related to a 1980s Arkansas real-estate deal known as Whitewater - has gone down at least six different tracks.

The Results

Fifteen people have been convicted or pled guilty in the Whitewater deal, according to the Office of the Independent Counsel. The biggest catch to date is Jim Guy Tucker, the former governor of Arkansas, who was convicted of fraud and tax evasion. In exchange for four years probation, he is cooperating with Mr. Starr's ongoing Whitewater investigation.

Two probes have been completed. Starr concluded that the death of Vincent Foster, a White House aide and attorney, was suicide. And an investigation into illegal contributions to Clinton's campaign for reelection to governor appears to have ended with the acquittal of two bankers in 1996.

To date, the Clintons have not personally been charged or found guilty of wrong doing.

What Lies Ahead

Starr continues to examine whether the Clintons sought to keep Whitewater documents from investigators.

Also ongoing is the 1996 "Travelgate" investigation. At issue, whether Mrs. Clinton was truthful in her recounting of events when White House travel office employees, from the Bush administration, were dismissed in 1993.

Starr is trying to gain access to Mr. Foster's notes, to see if they contain information about the travel office firings. Starr petitioned the Supreme Court Wednesday to speed up its decision about whether those notes are protected by attorney-client confidentiality.

In "Filegate," investigators are still trying to determine if the White House intentionally, and illegally sought the personnel files of former Republican White House employees from the FBI.

Since January, the focus of Starr's investigation has has shifted to former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He is bringing witnesses before a Washington grand jury to determine two things: Is there evidence that Mr. Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with Miss Lewinsky, and did he encourage Lewinsky to lie about the relationship?