In Gibbons vs. Gibbons, someone is lying, but we don’t know who

This question remains: Does the governor have a girlfriend?

There’s no proof positive.

And Jim Gibbons has denied it.

He denied it when asked weeks ago by the Las Vegas Sun’s curmudgeonly Carson City reporter Cy Ryan, possibly the first reporter to ask Gibbons directly: Do you have a girlfriend?

One-word answer: "No."

Gibbons denied it again in a letter published Tuesday in the Elko Daily Free Press, responding to a May 21 editorial that stated: "The governor has been involved with the wife of a Reno doctor."

Is Jim Gibbons lying when he denies any "inappropriate" relationship with a woman now identified as Kathy Karrasch, estranged wife of a Reno podiatrist?

While Gibbons is denying she is anything more than "a friend of mine for more than 15 years," Dawn Gibbons contends she is "the other woman."

Dawn Gibbons, described by her attorneys as "the castaway wife," wants their divorce case played out in the open, partly to restore her reputation, partly to demolish his.

In court documents filed Wednesday asking to unseal the case, the first lady’s attorneys contend that while Gibbons filed for divorce May 2 citing incompatibility, the real reason is "his infatuation and involvement with the other woman," who is described as the governor’s "frequent bar, lunch, dinner and even grocery store companion."

As far as I know, no news media outlets tried to stake out the governor. No compromising photos have surfaced. But a Nevada governor going shopping with a woman not his wife is hard not to notice in Reno and Carson City.

A Nevada congressman can be anonymous in Washington, D.C.

A Nevada governor has a harder time going unnoticed.

Attorneys Cal Dunlap and Monique Laxalt argued it can be proven Dawn Gibbons "is blameless and that lust is the villain here."

They contend there is a constitutional and legal right to an open court despite the Nevada law allowing divorces to be sealed by either party. They make a valid point that an open court protects fairness and discourages perjury, misconduct and decisions based on bias. It’s far easier to make an outrageous statement without public scrutiny.

With Gary Hart in 1987 and President Clinton in 1998, the issue was not adultery. It was that they looked so sincere when they flatly lied about it and had no compunction about lying, instead of saying their sex life was nobody’s business.

Eliot Spitzer’s downfall this year was not the sex, but money laundering to pay for the sex and his hypocrisy.

Now Gibbons wasn’t so arrogant as to challenge the Nevada press to follow him. Remember when one-time presidential candidate Hart deep-sixed his campaign by telling the news media: "Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored."

The invitation was accepted, and reporters uncovered his affair with Donna Rice.

Clinton’s "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" was the big lie. He did have sex with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and lied about it.

Yes, Gibbons as a congressman did vote to impeach President Clinton for perjury before a grand jury and obstruction of justice.

He wouldn’t comment to The Washington Post before he voted, but Dawn Gibbons did.

In retrospect, there seems to be subtext in what she said in 1998.

"This is a very hard vote for Jim," she said. "It is hard to talk to him. He is taking it so seriously, really taking it to heart. He is just so troubled, I feel really bad for him. … He will analyze each charge until he drives everyone crazy. If there is any way he can give Clinton a break, he will, but I am willing to bet he will vote for impeachment on at least two counts."

President Clinton clearly lied. Sen. Hart clearly lied. Gov. Spitzer resigned.

And a whole lot of people will be willing to believe that Gov. Gibbons has lied although there is no evidence besides sightings.

To restore her reputation, Dawn Gibbons is hoping to provide that proof.

If Jim Gibbons is lying, he should resign and end this tragic comedy sooner, not later.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.