Throughout history celebrities, politicians and other high profile figures have been known to lie about sexual allegations. Who can forget erstwhile President Clinton’s denial of infidelity with Monica Lewinsky?

There are however, 3 main reasons they lie and it’s not always because they are guilty!

Truthful allegations

The first and most natural reason is that the person (or people) making the allegations is telling the truth and the perpetrator doesn’t want the public to know.  A classic example of this is Keith Vaz who was caught on video telling rent boys that he was a washing machine salesman.  Well he was hardly likely to tell them who he really was! Mr Vaz wouldn’t have wanted his wife or the public to know about these activities. Unfortunately the lie backfired when the media exposed the lie. We imagine lying about his profession is the least of his problems right now.

Blackmail

The second reason may be that the accuser is lying but such an allegation would damage either a political election campaign or public image. Blackmailers have been around since the beginning of time. They can do as much damage with a false accusation as they can with a truthful one. Since the public loves a scandal and “there’s no smoke without fire” a career can be easily wrecked. Victims of blackmailers, should their payments come to light, have usually already lied about having any knowledge of sexual allegations.  Clearly they had knowledge or they wouldn’t have paid the money.

It has been suggested by Christopher Steele, former British intelligence officer with the MI6, that Trump is being blackmailed by the Russians.  He alleges that a tape exists of Trump indulging in sexual activity with Russian prostitutes.  This may or may not be true.

Recently it was revealed that Trump’s lawyer paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels (a porn star) to silence her.  Initially Trump denied all knowledge of the payment but later admitted he was aware of it.  Indeed he went further in stating that he had reimbursed his lawyer for money which was paid to stop her making false claims.

The problem with these types of payments is they are never likely to stop whether the allegations are true or not.  Once a blackmailer, always a blackmailer!

Paying off the lie about sexual allegations

The third reason is similar to the second.  Because high profile figures are often extremely wealthy they make payments to those who demand them to avoid unpleasant situations. Whether it’s a lie about sexual allegations or anything else, they would rather pay than become embroiled in a public scandal. Whatever the lie is that someone is likely to tell the collateral damage to career or family can be irreparable.

Whatever the reason, we in the Polygraph Industry believe that honesty is always the best policy. Lies about sexual allegations and infidelity often backfire with alarming regularity!