Halliburton: Woman who inspired Franken's anti-rape law is a liar

The giant defense contractor, already the object of scorn for profiteering off the war in Iraq with amoral abandon, says Jamie Leigh Jones made up huge portions of her story about being drugged, imprisoned and gang raped while she worked for the company in Baghdad.

The company's position became clear when it appealed a lower court's ruling that Jones' case could proceed to trial. It's scheduled to start next February.

Besides working to destroy Jones' character and credibility, Halliburton says she was contractually obligated to take her case to arbitration, not a criminal court.

Franken last year authored an amendment to the Pentagon's 2010 appropriations bill that barred companies with such clauses from doing business with the Pentagon.

Franken said he wanted to protect victims of rape. GOP senators who opposed the measure said he just wanted to tar them as pro-rape.

The amendment became law in December.