And it isn't over yet.

A FIRST defense of Clinton partisans against new revelations of corruption, illegality, and general wrongdoing in the Whitewater scandal is to point out that it all occurred a long time ago, before Mr. Clinton was elected President. By implication if not overtly, Mr. Clinton's behavior as President is held to be above suspicion.

Unfortunately for the tactic, the Clintons seem to attract scandal the way Newt Gingrich attracts controversy. And this tendency didn't stop with Whitewater. Here is a brief list of Clinton scandal since Inaugural Day 1993:

Filegate: The President's director of personnel security, Craig Livingstone, was caught collecting hundreds of secret FBI files on Reagan and Bush Administration officials. President Clinton, who disclaims familiarity with the facts, nonetheless asserts that this was merely "a bureaucratic snafu." FBI director Louis Freeh --whose agency complied with the White House's extraordinary requests for these files -- calls it a "massive" and "egregious" violation of privacy rights. Prosecutors and Congress want to know, among other things, who hired Livingstone and whether he acted on his own, as White House spokesmen claim. Two FBI special agents assigned to the White House insist they were told that Hillary Clinton was Livingstone's patron. While the First Lady has a finger in most White House appointments, including the chef, chief usher, head of the correspondence unit, and Secret Service detail, she denies any association with Livingstone. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr will have to sort this out. He will probably invite Mrs. Clinton to testify a second time, under oath, before the grand jury.

State Department files: The first time Clinton officials were found rifling through files was at the State Department; 160 personnel files of former Bush officials were collected, and disparaging information from two of the files was leaked to the Washington Post. The State Department's inspector general found that this conduct probably violated the Privacy Act. He referred the case to Attorney General Janet Reno for possible criminal prosecution. Miss Reno chose not to pursue the matter.

Travelgate: The first time Clinton officials misused the FBI was when they concocted criminal charges against the director of the White House Travel Office, Billy Dale. This was done to throw lucrative government travel business to two of the Clintons' Hollywood friends and campaign supporters. Dale, who had worked for Republican and Democratic Presidents, was forced to spend $500,000 on his defense. He was eventually prosecuted on charges of embezzlement by the Clinton Justice Department, but found not guilty after less than two hours of jury deliberation. Independent Counsel Starr is looking into whether former presidential aide David Watkins lied to government investigators to cover up Mrs. Clinton's role in the Travel Office firings. Watkins's own notes show that the First Lady ordered the firings, but Mrs. Clinton has told investigators she had no role in them. Again, she can be expected to give sworn testimony about this to the grand jury.

The Clinton Cabinet: The Clintons are not the only Administration officials being investigated by an independent counsel. Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, who was forced to resign, is under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from Tyson Foods, Inc., the giant Arkansas poultry company. Of course, the Tysons have been prominent supporters of Mr. Clinton's political career. Moreover, Tyson Foods' top lawyer, James Blair, helped Mrs. Clinton turn a $1,000 cattle-futures investment into $100,000 in less than a year. (Mrs. Clinton originally claimed that her superior financial skills were learned from the pages of the Wall Street Journal; in truth, this remarkable investment has never been fully explained.)

An independent counsel is investigating whether HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros lied to the FBI during his background investigation about the size and number of payments he made to his former mistress. And before his tragic death, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown was being investigated for, among other things, possible financial irregularities.

The Clinton Sub-Cabinet: Former Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell -- Mrs. Clinton's former partner in the Rose Law Firm -- is now imprisoned at Cumberland Federal Penitentiary. He was convicted of defrauding some of his clients. Former White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum resigned after he interfered with Justice Department lawyers' efforts to search the late Vince Foster's office. Former Associate White House Counsel William Kennedy resigned over tax problems and his role in the Travel Office firings. Former Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman and former Treasury General Counsel Jean Hanson resigned after it was learned that they had tipped off the President's staff that the Resolution Trust Corporation was sending criminal referrals involving the Clintons to the Justice Department.

Health Care Task Force: As head of the task force, Mrs. Clinton insisted that the group's meetings be closed to all but six hundred carefully selected government and industry officials who shared her goal of nationalizing America's health-care system. Mrs. Clinton and the task force were sued by three organizations claiming that the secret meetings violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act. A federal court agreed. Moreover, during the litigation, the presiding judge, Royce Lamberth, became concerned that certain Administration officials may have provided false and misleading information to the court. Judge Lamberth is currently considering whether to bring sanctions against any of these officials.

Paula Jones: Paula Jones's allegations of sexual harassment by Bill Clinton go back before his Presidency. But his legalistic contortions to evade a trial are a minor scandal in themselves. Incidentally, the Clinton lawyer who alleged that Billy Dale's willingness to have his lawyers plea-bargain was a sign of guilt might want to ponder the fact that the President's lawyers held negotiations with Paula Jones's team on the terms under which she would withdraw her suit. Mr. Clinton maintains that the Constitution immunizes him from civil suits involving allegations of personal misconduct that occurred before he became President. Of course, no such immunity exists. At one time Mr. Clinton claimed immunity as a member of the armed forces. Public outcry caused him to beat a quick retreat from that argument. Recently the Supreme Court agreed to consider the President's immunity claim, thereby delaying the case until after the election.

Whitewater: While Whitewater per se occurred before the Clintons came to Washington, actions that look like cover-up attempts have taken place in the White House. Last summer, for example, critical Rose Law Firm billing records, containing information about Mrs. Clinton's apparent legal work on the Castle Grande real-estate scam, were discovered outside the First Lady's personal office in the White House residence. The records, sought by lawmen since 1994, were not turned over until this January. Mrs. Clinton has steadfastly denied providing legal advice on Castle Grande. Furthermore, she denies knowing the whereabouts of the long-sought billing records prior to their discovery. Mrs. Clinton was required to give her testimony to the grand jury this January. Since then, the FBI found her fingerprints on the records.