Alan:
...Who can lie the most accurately. Is this a great country, or what.
That's an exceedingly perjorative spin. Remember, the Jones case was an adversarial civil proceeding. The President, same as any other private citizen, had the right to use every legal means at his disposal to win the case.
You may not like the fact, in this instance, that grammatical "parsing" of questions is legal under case law handled down by the Supreme Court, but you certainly would if you were being, in your opinion, unfairly sued.
I have had the distinct displeasure of providing a number of depositions. In every instance, Counsel has reiterated over and over again to ONLY answer the question asked, ONLY answer in accordance with the literal, i.e., grammatical meaning of the question, and never volunteer. Moreover, they advise that questions will be deliberately asked which are misleading or mischaracterize one's answers in order to put you on record as being inconsistent or present the appearance of being untruthful. Therefore, do not answer quickly and do not hesitate to correct the spin of opposing Counsel's questions.
Depositions are not trials. Counsel has far greater latitude to "badger" a witness. The aforementioned Supreme Court decision just happens to level the playing field a trifle.
ww |
