"Look At Those Little Polkehs"

By Alain L. Sanders

JAN. 17 Ginsburg comes to town to represent Monica Lewinsky.

JAN. 21 Monica stands by her prior declaration of innocence "at this time," says Ginsburg. "If the President of the United States did this--and I'm not saying that he did--I think he's a misogynist." JAN. 25 Ginsburg changes course: Monica is now willing to "tell all" in exchange for immunity.

FEB. 1 A Ginsburg blitz. He appears on all five major-network political talk shows. "I don't plan to be ubiquitous very long," he says. So why does he hang around Larry King's studios one day to make faces at the guests? Gnashing his teeth over Kenneth Starr's skeptical view of Monica's proffer, Ginsburg begins devouring a series of power meals that will keep him noshing from the Cosmos Club and Morton's in Washington to the Four Seasons in New York City.

FEB. 23 He insists he's close to his client. "I kissed that girl's inner thighs when she was six days old--I said, 'Look at those little polkehs!'"

MARCH 2 A photo op with O.J. lawyer Robert Shapiro at the opening of The Man in the Iron Mask.

MARCH 3 TIME celebrates its 75th anniversary. Ginsburg is there.

MARCH 6 The avuncular friend turns nasty to the press after a judge reportedly admonishes him for talking too much in public: "I want some goddam privacy. Get back, all of you. Get away from the car."

APRIL 8 A lobster dinner at Legal Sea Foods, where, over red Bordeaux, he reportedly muses that maybe he could eventually have his own CNN show. To which Monica is said to have replied, "Yeah, you'll have plenty of time when I fire you."

APRIL 25 Passes up White House correspondents' dinner: "It's tasteless for us to attend."

APRIL 29 A judge rules Monica has no deal with Starr. Well, at least the Vanity Fair pix deal stuck. "The surrogate father has to figure out ways to get her ego back to par," says Ginsburg.

MAY 27 A legal mag publishes a Ginsburg open letter: "Congratulations, Mr. Starr!" he writes. "As a result of your callous disregard for cherished constitutional rights, you may have succeeded in unmasking a sexual relationship between two consenting adults." Oops.

JUNE 2 Ginsburg gets replaced. "It's been a very interesting experience," he says.

--By Alain L. Sanders. Reported by Melissa August/Washington

With reporting by Melissa August/Washington