On CBS, he said it was a Bush family friend who asked him. In the lawsuit it looks like he took great pains to say only an explicitly that no Bush family member asked him. I looked into it and that's what I found.
It is rash to accuse someone of perjury if the evidence suggests that he didn't. "Family friends" are by definition not members of the family with which they are friends.
Perjury is very difficult to prove.
Although I think he should have been found guilty of perjury, a perjury rap was never pinned on Slimeball Clinton. He was found to have "lied under oath."
So far, my understanding of this situation suggests that Barnes is guilty of neither.
Give me the link so that I can see his testimony myself!! You say you've looked into it, that testimony would be invaluable. I've dealt a LOT with perjury, and in fact, am right in the middle of working with an attorney to have another attorney disbarred for perjury, AND to get a 2 year old Court order voided on perjury grounds.
I NEED THAT TESTIMONY LINK!! This could be another smoking gun.
What most people don't know about perjury is that it DOESN'T take a direct false statement. It takes a few elements:
1. Did deceive or mislead
2. Material to the issue
3. Knowledge of the falsity or reckless regard for the truth
Those are the primary elements. Some states add an additional threshold test that requires INTENT to Deceive or mislead, but there is generally a whole set of criteria for that which are usually not too difficult to prove.