PAULA JONES

By Viveca Novak/Washington

Clinton lawyer Bob Bennett, constrained by politics from delving into PAULA JONES' sexual history as he prepares for a possible trial in her harassment suit, intends to probe what he asserts was Jones' real motive for coming forward: money. To that end, a crucial witness could be CARRIE FERRARO, who rented Paula and Steve Jones a Glendale, Calif., house in May 1993. Ferraro told TIME that almost from the start, the couple complained of being broke. They were frequently late paying the $900 monthly rent, she says, and Paula often asked to borrow money. The chatty Paula, she claims, never mentioned meeting Clinton, much less being pawed by him. After paying only part of October's rent, they skipped November entirely, then told Ferraro the Joneses were breaking their lease and moving out, according to Ferraro. Just 2 1/2 months later, Jones went public with her claim that Clinton asked her for oral sex in an Arkansas hotel room in 1991. She filed suit in May 1994. Ferraro contacted the White House after she saw Jones on a TV news broadcast, and has spoken several times to Clinton's private lawyers. Jones and her husband, claims Ferraro, "were always wanting something for nothing." Jones' lawyers have consistently denied that she was motivated by money. On Friday, federal judge Susan Webber Wright is likely to set a trial date. But given the arsenal each side has built, observers say there are better-than-even odds of a settlement. Neither side really wants to see the other in court.

--By Viveca Novak/Washington