A supposedly ardent feminist, she has smeared the reputations of Clinton's female accusers in order to protect her political power.

After failing to suppress news stories by attacking the character of his female accusers, the Senator issued a general apology for his behavior.

But with the Clarence Thomas (1991) and Bob Packwood (1995) controversies, these groups took the stance that female accusers always deserve the presumption of veracity in sexual harassment cases.

They can hang some poor man out to dry whether he did anything or not, while his female accuser gets to hide behind a mask of anonymity.

Without the opportunity to argue an unfair prosecution, his case depends on rebutting the accusations of his six female accusers by challenging their accounts, offering alibis and attacking their credibility.

But in television appearances this week and in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he portrayed himself as the victim of a "smear" campaign by his female accusers.

All the female accusers are white.

The final days of the race were dominated by charges from a growing crowd of female accusers that Mr. Schwarzenegger was, at best, a boor when it came to dealing with vulnerable women.

If this were a private corporation instead of the Army, the six female accusers might be suing Sergeant Major McKinney and his employer for sexual harassment.

The college is trying to avoid alienating a female accuser, he said, as well as the accused, an Hispanic student on full scholarship, which is worth more than $20,000 a year.