THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701250290
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 32 lines
The lawyer handling Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against President Clinton said he had been drinking when he was videotaped offering to help another client appear in Playboy magazine.
Gilbert K. Davis, who also is seeking the Republican nomination for Virginia attorney general, said he had ``a couple drinks'' at the meeting with Ramona Hines, whom he is representing in a sex discrimination suit against her former employer.
``I hope we're not so uptight that we think that everybody's got to wear a shirt and a tie and drink Welch's grape juice,'' Davis said.
Last week, Hines, 30, released a 1995 videotape in which Davis discussed with her a possible appearance in Playboy.
``I know what you want to do. You want to take your clothes off,'' Davis told her at one point on the tape. ``You want to take all of your clothes off and expose your body.''
Hines said she released the videotape because she felt Davis' nationally televised comments about Clinton were hypocritical.
But Davis, 54, said the tape shows voters that ``they're not going to get a stuffed shirt in public office.''
``We'd had a long day, and we'd had a couple drinks,'' Davis said. ``And she brought a camera out and I thought nothing terribly much about it.''
Davis has asked the Henry County Circuit Court to release him from representing Hines. A ruling is expected next week.