Patterico's Pontifications

7/1/2011

Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s Get-Out-of-Jail-Free-Card?

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 1:11 pm



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.  Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

So I have been following the news today that there were rumors about the case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn (who is a man) falling apart, but I hated to post based on those rumors.

Well, they aren’t rumors any more.  The District Attorney of New York wrote a letter to DSK disclosing significant problems in his accuser’s credibility.  If all of this is true, and the case depends on the alleged victim’s credibility, it’s instant reasonable doubt.  First, it recites various stories she told of horrific oppression, disclosed when trying to seek asylum in the U.S., and then it says:

In interviews in connection with the investigation of this case, the complainant admitted that the above factual information, which she provided in connection with her asylum application, was false. She stated that she fabricated the statement with the assistance of a male who provided her with a cassette recording of the facts contained in the statement that she eventually submitted. She memorized these facts by listening to the recording repeatedly. In several interviews with prosecutors, she reiterated these falsehoods when questioned about her history and background, and stated that she did so in order to remain consistent with the statement that she had submitted as part of her application.

Additionally, in two separate interviews with assistant district attorneys assigned to the case, the complainant stated that she had been the victim of a gang rape in the past in her native country and provided details of the attack. During both of these interviews, the victim cried and appeared to be markedly distraught when recounting the incident. In subsequent interviews, she admitted that the gang rape had never occurred. Instead, she stated that she had lied about its occurrence and fabricated the details, and that this false incident was part of the narrative that she had been directed to memorize as part of her asylum application process. Presently, the complainant states that she would testify that she was raped in the past in her native country but in an incident different than the one that she described during initial interviews.

(emphasis added.)  Which, oy, is bad.  Now it is incorrect to say that this means she was not raped.  But when a woman claims a man raped her, and has a history of falsely claiming to have been raped and even putting on the waterworks when necessary, that blows a massive hole in your case.  Reportedly DNA proves they had sex, but her credibility is crucial to determine if she is telling the truth about her lack of consent.  There are other ways to prove rape, but they are generally hit and miss.  So unless there is some powerful evidence that doesn’t depend on her credibility I expect prosecutors to dismiss.

Your credibility is one of your most valuable assets.  She (allegedly) squandered hers in exchange for passage into the United States.  As a result, now, in theory she could have been genuinely raped and because of her deception, she might have severe difficulty proving it.  And indeed, one possible result of this incident, whatever precisely happened, is that she might be deported (it’s my understanding that she is just a greencard holder).

The other question that this leaves unanswered: what about Tristane Banon’s allegations?  From an old post on the subject:

A French writer who claims Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her nine years ago is to file an official complaint, her lawyer has announced.

Tristane Banon previously described the attack, which happened when she was in her early 20s, in a television programme in 2007, when she called Strauss-Kahn, whose name was bleeped out, a “rutting chimpanzee.”

She consulted a lawyer at the time, but was persuaded not to take action by her mother, a regional councillor in the Socialist party and friend of the Strauss-Kahn family. Banon is goddaughter to Strauss-Kahn’s second wife.

Those charges appear to still be pending.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

51 Responses to “Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s Get-Out-of-Jail-Free-Card?”

  1. So what are the chances this accuser is now going to be allowed to continue living in Govt subsidized housing and be given a free pass to citizenship? SK could very well be guilty, but she lied. It certainly makes the whole story much harder to believe.

    PatAZ (efd43b)

  2. Pat

    that’s the travesty. she might be telling the truth about him, but no one will believe her.

    i will say that his side of the story is, um, dubious. his scenario only happens in movies.

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  3. Looks like the chimpanzee will win.

    Mike Myers (0e06a9)

  4. As much as I hate that frog, he might be very bery innocent.

    Sponge Bob Square Pants (786e37)

  5. Maybe she got a load of money , why else admit she lied in another case?

    Temper Tantrum (02fe1b)

  6. temper

    maybe the guy who coached her to lie came forward.

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  7. This is very unfortunate if she was in fact raped by SK. Lying on immigration applications can come back to bite you, as Ayaan Hirsi Ali found out in the Netherlands.

    norcal (c37272)

  8. Your right.

    At least Equality Now is criticizing a socialist.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  9. The truly regrettable part is that he probably is a serial rapist, but now another woman, or several more women, will suffer and the next one(s) will be even more afraid to speak against him. Every time he gets away with it, he feels more powerful.

    Sue (24e46b)

  10. I don’t know, I’m humbled by this. I’m wondering if I jumped the gun in assuming his guilt the same way some people jumped the gun with the Duke lacrosse players. It fit into my categories to see a privileged white French guy take advantage of a poor black women while pretending to champion the poor.

    Jim S. (8c59a5)

  11. Why did he almost immediately leave the hotel to board a plane without numerous personal items?

    joe (93323e)

  12. And how did he get the scratches and bruises? Didn’t he also have a big gash from falling or being thrown into a cabinet or something?

    And didn’t he deny any encounter at one point?

    Why are his lies not the focus of any questions, for that matter?

    Bill (b03c23)

  13. 3 possibilities: she was raped. she was paid. she willingly had sex with him because he’s such a hunk.

    #3 isn’t feasible, a maid isn’t going to jeopardize her job to sleep with the likes of him. So… along the lines of the dog not barking, if no money changed hands, can one infer from that she was raped?

    steve (254463)

  14. So either she is falsely accusing him or he got incredibly lucky and raped a woman who had previously falsely accused others or rape, in emotional and convincing false testimony, while under oath.

    Cmate (525edc)

  15. Politics ain’t beanbag. Consider the possibility DSK was set-up so a woman from Chicago could take over as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and DSK would also likely be disqualified for a run to replace Sarkozy.

    ropelight (aec4d9)

  16. no matter what happens really the next president of france is a dirty whore

    you can take that to the bank

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  17. Where’s SC going to get their water?
    (Waiting for the post on SC succession.)

    sockpuppet (b708d3)

  18. So ropelight (15), how did he get the scratches, gashes and bruises?

    How did the conspirators set this up?

    Bill (b03c23)

  19. The leftys will blame palin.

    The left hate her as much as they hate bush.

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  20. Will the DA now go after her coach?

    AD-RtR/OS! (06e272)

  21. Comment by sockpuppet — 7/1/2011 @ 4:36 pm

    We’ll continue stealing it from the Colorado River.
    And, if the “Reagan” counties acquiesce to allowing L.A.Co. to join them, they’re dumber than Babs Bouncer – L.A.Co. is just as much of a problem for the rest of the state as SF & environs.

    AD-RtR/OS! (06e272)

  22. Interesting that the “innocent” man tried to flee the country

    EricPWJohnson (035e34)

  23. Innocent?
    They just haven’t yet discovered what he is guilty of.

    AD-RtR/OS! (06e272)

  24. As much as I hate that frog, he might be very bery innocent.

    Whatever the reality of things, I seriously doubt that last word, unless it’s followed by “…of these specific charges.” 😀

    Smock Puppet, Proprieter, Frog Legs 'r' Us (c9dcd8)

  25. Seems pretty obvious that she lied to get into the U.S., and now those lies have caught up to her. It is very likely that he sexually assaulted her, but that’s the way it goes … lie about rape once, and then you can never be believed about it again. Lies come back like that…

    Of course, it is also obvious that she assumed that she could lie about rape in the 3rd world, a very believeable thing, without a thought that she would ever be raped in the U.S.

    sherlock (62f2cf)

  26. Okay, well lying in an asylum application is bad, and specifically lying about rape in that application is very bad for her credibility, and I’m sure the defense counsel would hammer hard on that during cross-examination.

    But does that make all the other evidence in the case just magically go away?

    I mean, there’s the DNA, which is very hard to explain away consensually unless this maid was in the habit of rushing into rooms and immediately giving BJs to random strangers.

    Didn’t DSK have like actual wounds on his body from where she shoved him into a dresser or something so she could get away?

    What about her contemporaneous accounts to the other hotel workers, and their descriptions of her demeanor at the time?

    What about DSK rushing out of the hotel without checking out, leaving his cell phone behind, and hopping on a flight to Paris for which he had no prior reservation?

    What about DSK’s prior pattern of behavior toward women, specifically Banon, whose account is eerily similar to this case?

    Yeah, the asylum lies are no bueno, but I guess I just don’t get how they cause all that other stuff to immediately cease to exist.

    Major Kong (8c01d8)

  27. So I guess from now Jose Antonio Vargas can’t be a complaining witness in a criminal case.

    Michael (449a4b)

  28. That case is done, she had been ‘working’ in that hotel, in another capacity, at other times, so the similarities to an episode of L&0, SVU is not accidental.

    ian cormac (d380ce)

  29. The NY Post reports that DSK’s accuser was a hooker, part of a scheme that brought in women from Guinea for this purpose:
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/maid_cleaning_up_as_hooker_0mMd759PLuYGYYJyA0RNbI
    Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s accuser wasn’t just a girl working at a hotel — she was a working girl.

    The Sofitel housekeeper who claims the former IMF boss sexually assaulted her in his room was doing double duty as a prostitute, collecting cash on the side from male guests, The Post has learned.

    ian cormac (d380ce)

  30. #18, Bill, the Europeans, especially the French, raised the notion of a set-up from day one. DSK was on his way to Berlin for a conference on ways to rescue the Euro (and the Greeks) when he was accused and taken to jail. For them, it never passed the smell test.

    As events have revealed, it’s turning out not to be quite the cut and dried proposition MSM initially told us all about. We’ll know a lot more soon enough.

    ropelight (549b7a)

  31. Interesting that the “innocent” man tried to flee the country

    He didn’t try to flee the country. He went to lunch with his daughter after the alleged incident, then got on a previously booked flight, for a previously booked meeting with Angela Merkel. The media put out an early narrative that turned out to be mostly false.

    What about DSK rushing out of the hotel without checking out, leaving his cell phone behind, and hopping on a flight to Paris for which he had no prior reservation?

    that turned out to not be true, except the cell phone part. His checkout time was 12:28 pm, widely reported. He then went to lunch, the restaurant has been named lots of places, they reportedly have him on tape. The flight was confirmed to have been booked in advance. He had a meeting in Europe the next day.

    Lisa (607539)

  32. If you don’t want to get dirty, don’t swim in sewers.

    Drink water from your own fountain, clean water from your own well.

    nk (287c8e)

  33. At least DSK was only banging a prostitute instead of tweeting pictures of his junk to women who were not his wife. Give him a break.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  34. It’s interesting that even post-Duke lacrosse team, the spin is it still solidly in place. I suppose it makes for a more titillating read.

    Dana (4eca6e)

  35. Dana – Here it is the reverse Duke lacrosse team spin.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  36. A hooker? Dang. I guess that answers my question about “what kind of woman would walk into a hotel room and immediately engage in sexual relations with a man she just met?”

    Yep. That kind.

    Well, I’m man enough to admit when I was wrong. I really thought he was guilty, but this case is now coming apart like a cheap pair of shoes. More and more, this appears to be a dispute over money between a hooker and a john. A tawdry and sordid affair, but not rape.

    It certainly doesn’t mean that DSK is in any way a decent or admirable man. Men who pay for sex with prostitutes are the primary enabling factor behind human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Being a john may not be as bad as being a rapist. But he’s still a dirtbag, and I will carry on despising him.

    Major Kong (8c01d8)

  37. new york yew nork you
    gotta choose one it’s a tripe
    face boogie all day

    ColonelHaiku (822dce)

  38. don’t like potato
    chips and I can’t take torts but
    guacamole yeah

    ColonelHaiku (822dce)

  39. We know what she said.

    He said, the woman came into his room uninvited and against hotel rules while he was taking a shower. She then pretended to be overcome with passion, and voluntarily honked his horn.

    Then she adamantly demanded a heavy cash payment. When he refused to pay, she attacked him and he was forced to defend himself. After a brief struggle, he managed to subdue her and toss her out of his room.

    Shaken by the blatant extortion attempt, DSK then prepared to check-out of the hotel and to depart for Berlin that afternoon.

    ropelight (8ea8ac)

  40. ropelight – I thought DSK fell and his dick slipped into her butt, or something.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  41. Rocky, that sort of unfortunate accident only happens to Bill Clinton when Hillary isn’t around to keep the bimbos at bay.

    ropelight (8ea8ac)

  42. I suspect this woman is pretty typical of our immigrant flow from Africa.

    We need to go back to th3 1924-1965 immigration law — who we let in should reflect our country’s demographics. It would have the added effect of cutting down on African grifters — and this woman is far from the only one.

    stari_momak (d5f987)

  43. So, why did she speak in Fulani, on the phone, did her dealer know such an obscure language.

    ian cormac (d380ce)

  44. ian, they’re both from the same area and are native speakers of Fulani. Because the language is so obscure they thought no one would be able to decipher their conspiracy.

    Additionally, today’s NY Post reports she was turning tricks while in protective custody.

    “Maid ‘laid’ low as DA paid for digs”

    “She was turning tricks on the taxpayers’ dime!

    The Sofitel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of a sex attack in his suite wasn’t just a hotel hooker — she continued to work as a prostitute in a Brooklyn hotel where she was stashed by prosecutors, The Post has learned.

    The so-called victim, whose web of lies has crippled the Manhattan DA’s case against the former International Monetary Fund boss, played host to a parade of paying male visitors in the weeks after Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, a prosecution source said.

    “While she was under our supervision, there were multiple ‘dates’ and encounters at the hotel on the DA’s dime,” the source said of her paid hotel room. “That’s a great deal for her. She doesn’t have to cover her expenses…”

    ropelight (8ea8ac)

  45. That is suggested, but not spelled out, in the stories, meanwhile, the seeds of a conspiracy
    are being planted:

    /http://www.the daily beast/articles/2011/07/01/dominique-strauss-kahn-rape accuser’s african connections/

    ian cormac (d380ce)

  46. One last comment: it’s slightly amusing that the Manhattan DA is Cyrus Vance, Jr.

    Cyrus Vance, Sr., was, umm… Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of State. (He also served as LBJ’s Deputy SecDef during the Vietnam War).

    The FAIL runs incredibly strong in this family.

    Major Kong (8c01d8)

  47. It does and the ironies don’t end there, the late Cyrus Vance was a blue chip Wall Street establishment baron, because of his Vietnam tie, he was exactly the kind of figure, that Carter
    was supposed to have been anathema for his campaign, just goes to show you,

    ian cormac (d380ce)

  48. ian, Cyrus Vance’s career was varied and complex, and his position on Vietnam shifted dramatically, as did many others during that troubled period. However, you’re correct about his early career as a lawyer at one of NY city’s premier corporate firms specializing in mergers and acquisitions. But he quickly turned his attention to politics.

    The following is from Wikipedia:

    “Cyrus Vance was the Secretary of the Army during the John F. Kennedy administration. He was Secretary when Army units were sent to northern Mississippi in 1962 to protect James Meredith and ensure that the court-ordered integration of the University of Mississippi took place.

    As Deputy Secretary of Defense under President Lyndon Johnson, he first supported the Vietnam War but by the late 1960s changed his views and resigned from office advising the president to pull out of South Vietnam. In 1968 he served as a delegate to peace talks in Paris. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. He was a professor at Georgetown University afterwards.

    As Secretary of State in the Jimmy Carter administration, Vance pushed for negotiations and economic ties with the Soviet Union, and clashed frequently with the more hawkish National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. Vance tried to advance arms limitations by working on the SALT II agreement with the Soviet Union, which he saw as the central diplomatic issue of the time. He was heavily instrumental in Carter’s decision to return the Canal Zone to Panama, and in the Camp David Accords agreement between Israel and Egypt.

    After the Camp David Accords, Vance’s influence in the administration began to wane as Brzezinski’s rose. His role in talks with People’s Republic of China was marginalized, and his advice for a response to the Shah of Iran’s collapsing regime was ignored. Shortly thereafter, when 53 American hostages were held in Iran, he worked actively in negotiations but to no avail. Finally, when Carter ordered a secret military rescue – Operation Eagle Claw – Vance resigned in opposition. Vance felt the rescue attempt was too risky, and did not even wait to see its failure before announcing his resignation. The second rescue was planned but never carried out…”

    ropelight (826b9a)

  49. So here’s a bit of speculation, NYC’s counter terror
    chief, Dave Cohen, was head of Operations during the Clinton administration, and they dealt in West
    Africa, so QED. that’s as logical as anything to come out of nutroots. Problems are of course, Cohen
    had no ops experience, and as we learned from the Plame matter, really no contacts in West Africa,
    that’s why they sent Joe Wilson.

    ian cormac (d380ce)

  50. What looks like an ordinary criminal extortion attempt on the surface could well prove to be a high level political conspiracy to influence the upcoming French presidential elections.

    But with investigations in the hands of NY authorities and/or Eric Holder’s Department of InJustice, it is unreasonable to expect anything but delay, misdirection, obfuscation, and cover-up.

    ropelight (826b9a)

  51. I mention Dave Cohen’s role in this, because Dickey, the one who wrote the piece, wrote a book
    about the City’s counter terror effort, but I include all the caveats, these folks couldn’t organize a one car parade.

    ian cormac (d380ce)


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