It was on March 13 that the Pentagon's public-affairs office released information from Linda Tripp's confidential security file, in violation of the federal Privacy Act. Only days after, the department announced an internal investigation. The events of the illegal leak took a few hours, but the investigation has now taken more than three months. Last week, though, the Pentagon assured Congress that it would release its findings no later than July 9 (THE SCRAPBOOK is predicting a July 4 press release). The question then will be whether President Clinton or defense secretary Bill Cohen will hold anyone -- such as Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon -- accountable.