By Colman M. Herman

What do former House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran and former President Bill Clinton have in common?

They both parsed their words under oath in a way that came back to haunt them. Clinton told a grand jury that he wasn’t lying when he told his top aides “there’s nothing going on between us,” referring to White House intern Monica Lewinsky. “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,” he said.

Finneran had a similar “defining” moment when he testified in a 2003 civil suit over a redistricting plan that angered minority voters. He testified that he had not seen the redistricting plan, although the truth was that he had not seen the final plan filed with the House clerk’s office. Finneran later apologized for his actions and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in return for three perjury charges being dropped. His license to practice law was suspended in January 2007.

Questioned last year at a disciplinary hearing by the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers about his statements in the redistricting case, Finneran said he regretted his Clinton-esque statement. Let’s go to the transcript of an exchange between Finneran and J. Charles Mokriski of the Board of Bar Overseers:

Finneran: My answer was less than responsive, less than forthright. It was technically in my opinion not a lie, but it was not completely truthful.

Mokriski: It is kind of like it depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is.

Finneran: A little bit. You know, obviously, I am troubled by the reference because I was so much bothered by our former president’s testimony on that, and here I find myself having engaged in…. [Finneran doesn’t finish his sentence.]

Mokriski: I find the parallels uncanny and equally disturbing.

Finneran: I look at it very much the same way. I was playing a word game here…and there is no other way to describe it.

A three-member panel of the Board of Bar Overseers recommended on Monday that Finneran’s license to practice law be suspended for two years, a decision that could pave the way for the radio talk show host to recover his license as early as January. A final decision on Finneran’s license to practice law will be made by the Supreme Judicial Court.