Ex-Miss America's Clinton Encounter

NEW YORK: Today's entry in the parade of women who claim to have had sexual encounters with the President is Elizabeth Ward Gracen, a 37-year-old actress and former Miss America. Her confessional in Tuesday's Daily News comes as no surprise; Gracen was tapped as a potential witness in Paula Jones' 700-page legal filing two weeks ago. The bad news for Jones: Gracen says her 1983 encounter was consensual, and she'll swear to it in court.

"I had sex with Bill Clinton, but the important part to me is that I was never pressured," Gracen, an Arkansas native, told the News. "We had an intimate evening. Nothing was ever forced." And the sworn deposition obtained by Jones' lawyers from her friend, Judy Stokes, claiming that Gracen told of an assault by the then-governor in the back of a limousine? "I don't know why she said that," said Gracen. "It baffles me."

Gracen's story makes her part of a more exclusive club than you might think. Only she and Gennifer Flowers claim their trysts with Clinton were consensual. Like Flowers, Gracen has previously denied the story. Now, Gracen claims, she's coming forward only to clear Clinton of rape charges. "The lies gain credibility every day that I don't address them," she says. "I had to put a stop to it... this is something I don't want to talk about at all." Right.