The New York Post

November 29, 1998, Sunday

PERJURERS JAILED FOR SEX LIES TO ; TESTIFY FOR HOUSE

BYLINE: DEBORAH ORIN Washington Bureau Chief

SECTION: News; Pg. 002

LENGTH: 488 words

Two women convicted of perjury for lying about sex will be star impeachment witnesses this week as Republicans try to show President Clinton wants the benefit of a double standard, GOP sources say.
One is Barbara Battalino, a former Veterans Administration psychiatrist who lost her medical license and is now under house arrest for lying to conceal an act of oral sex in her office with a Vietnam vet seeking help.
“I think [Clinton] is getting special treatment because he’s the president. He has used his office to get his message across that what he did was no big deal,” Battalino told the New York Times.
“That wasn’t good enough for me,” Battalino said, noting that she – unlike Clinton – has apologized to the judges to whom she lied.
The other is Pam Parsons, a former University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach who did four months in jail in 1985 for lying to conceal sexual relations with a former player. She had sued for libel and lied during the libel trial.
Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the consequences of perjury is the next step on impeachment after Clinton’s submission Friday of 81 answers to sex-and-lies with Monica Lewinsky.
His answers conceded misleading people but not lying or misleading under oath, broke no new ground and generally reinforced the views of Democrats who oppose impeachment and Republicans who favor it.
In his answers Clinton relied, as he has in the past, on legalisms and hairsplitting and claims “I do not recall” key events or conversations.
For instance, he claimed that “‘I have no specific memory” of conversations in which Lewinsky says they discussed how to conceal their relationship with false cover stories.
But even though Clinton says he lacks “specific recollection” he nevertheless insists that he does recall enough to say that “any such conversation was not in connection with her status as a witness” in the Paula Jones sex-harassment case.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Democrats and Republicans will present witnesses – including judges – to discuss the consequences of perjury for individuals and the nation.
Many Democrats are now pushing for a censure resolution as an alternative to impeachment – and one key issue could be how toughly worded that resolution might be.
Presidential scholar Stephen Hess yesterday disputed GOP claims that censure is a meaningless slap on the wrist and unconstitutional to boot, saying it would be “‘very significant” and mark Clinton’s legacy in history.
In the week of Dec. 7, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a vote on impeachment charges against Clinton – it is believed that Republicans have the votes to get committee approval on party lines.
The full House is due to take up the matter in the week of Dec. 14 and while the conventional wisdom believes the House lacks the votes to pass impeachment, some Republican analysts say that’s unclear.