He recently spent a week in a cramped cell in New York’s infamous Rikers Island jail, but thanks to another stunning reversal of fortune, Dominique Strauss-Kahn still could end up in the French presidential palace.
The former head of the International Monetary Fund, who was arrested May 14 on charges he sexually assaulted a hotel maid, walked free on his own recognizance yesterday from Manhattan State Supreme Court after prosecutors said an extensive background investigation had raised concerns about the accuser’s credibility.
Later he left his townhouse with his wife and dined at Scalinatella, an upscale restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Reuters reported.
The 62-year-old Frenchman still faces criminal charges, but the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is widely expected to drop the case following revelations that the maid had previously lied about being gang-raped.
The New York Post reported today that the Guinea native also worked as a prostitute at the Sofitel. A source told the paper that foreign chamber maids typically work their way up to elite hotels such as the Sofitel doing "double duty" selling sex.
“There is information ... of her getting extraordinary tips, if you know what I mean,” a source close to the defense investigation told the Post.
The New York Times reported last night she had been recorded talking to an incarcerated boyfriend about how she could make money out of the situation.
In Paris, members of Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist party exulted over the turn of events. Former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin described the developments as a “thunderbolt.”
Before his arrest, DSK, as he is known in France, had been expected to run for president of France in 2012 and polls showed him the likely winner. Strauss-Kahn, who says he is innocent, resigned as head of the IMF to fight the charges, and it appeared that his political career was dead in the water as well.
But the charges haven’t been dropped yet, and the maid’s attorney yesterday accused District Attorney Cyrus Vance of being too chicken to go after a powerful man following two recent, very high-profile losses, including another rape case involving two New York police officers.
Attorney Kenneth Thompson said there is plenty of evidence to support the maid’s allegation that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her when she went to clean his suite at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan.
“She’s not going to hide anymore; she’s going to come out and tell you what happened to her. She’s going to tell you what Dominique Strauss-Kahn did to her,” Thompson told reporters yesterday.
Strauss-Kahn, who arrived at the courthouse in a Lexus SUV, appeared calm as he entered the courtroom in a navy suit, white shirt and vibrant blue tie, accompanied by his wife, Anne Sinclair.
Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon submitted a letter saying investigators have come to believe that the hotel maid lied about some of her activities in the hours surrounding the alleged attack. In the letter, prosecutors said:
In the letter, prosecutors said:
• The maid initially told investigators she fled to the hallway after the alleged attack and waited for Strauss-Kahn to leave the hotel suite, and informed a supervisor what had happened soon after. The woman “has since admitted that this account was false” and that after the incident in Suite 2806, she proceeded to clean a nearby room and then returned to Suite 2806 and began to clean it before contacting her supervisor.
• The maid, a 32-year-old widow with a teenage daughter, admitted she lied about details on her application for asylum in the United States. She said she told a fictitious story about being gang-raped in her native Guinea, acting on the instructions of a “male associate” who had her memorize a tape recording outlining the supposed attack. The maid said that account was false, but that she had been raped in the West African nation “but in an incident different than the one she described in initial interviews.”
• The woman also declared a friend’s child as a dependent for the purposes of increasing her tax returns for the past two tax years.
“Finally, during the course of this investigation, the complainant was untruthful with assistant district attorneys about a variety of additional topics concerning her history, background, present circumstances and personal relationships,” the letter said.
“All of this has caused us to reassess the position that we have advanced to the court about the strength of the case,” Illuzzi-Orbon told Judge Michael Obus.
But Illuzzi-Orbon stressed that forensic evidence proved there was a sexual encounter, and the prosecution is not moving to dismiss the case “at this time.”
The judge announced that Strauss-Kahn could be freed from house arrest on his own recognizance. The Frenchman had previously posted $1 million bail and $5 million bond, which will now be returned. He is allowed to travel within the United States but cannot have his passport back yet.
“In the meantime, there will be no rush to judgment in this case,” said Obus, adding, “I expect the process will go on in a manner that is as fair as can be.”
Strauss-Kahn smiled and said, “Thank you, your honor.”
He walked slowly out of the courthouse with his arm on his wife’s shoulder, smiling slightly at the throng gathered outside.
“It is a great relief,” his lawyer William Taylor told an enormous crowd of journalists outside the courthouse. He said the case underscores “how easy it is for people to be charged with serious crimes and for there to be a rush to judgment.”
Thompson, the lawyer for the alleged victim, gave his own news conference outside the courthouse, recounting the woman’s allegation that Strauss-Kahn grabbed her breasts, forced her to perform oral sex and then tried to rip off her pantyhose before she managed to get away.
Thompson said Strauss-Kahn’s only defense is that the sexual encounter was consensual, and “that is a lie.”
“He grabbed her vagina with so much force that he bruised her,” Thompson said. “Nurses took pictures of the bruises on her vagina and the district attorney has those.”
He said his client cannot read or write, and that she lied on her asylum application because she had been a victim of ritual genital mutilation as a child in Guinea and did not want her young daughter to go through the same ordeal.
“It is clear that this woman made some mistakes, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a rape victim,” Thompson said.
He added that there was security video footage of a “nervous” Strauss-Kahn appearing at the front desk of his hotel as he checked out with toothpaste smeared on his mouth.
Thompson also dismissed as “lies” media reports that his client was involved with a drug dealer.
But the New York Times, quoting unidentified law enforcement officials, reported that the maid was recorded talking by phone with an incarcerated boyfriend in Arizona about a day after she made the allegations. The paper said last night that authorities were shocked when the conversation was translated from the woman’s native language of Fulani.
“She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’” the Times cited a law enforcement official as saying.
DA Vance told reporters that none of the charges had been dismissed. “In this case, as with every case, our commitment to the truth and the facts will govern how we proceed,” he said.
Jean-Marie Le Guen, a Socialist member of the French parliament, said the news from New York means the “end of the nightmare” for Strauss-Kahn, who can now “be present in the presidential campaign.”
The case shone a spotlight on Strauss-Kahn’s reputation as an inveterate philanderer, and sparked a debate in France about how women are treated. Sinclair, a former French TV personality and a multimillionaire heiress, has stood by her husband, as has Strauss-Kahn’s daughter Camille, a Ph.D. student at Columbia University who lunched with her father on the afternoon of the alleged attack.
Another politician, Jean-Louis Borloo, told French TV there was no reason Strauss-Kahn could not run for president if he is exonerated. “What’s stopping him coming back if he has the strength and desire?”
Andra.Varin@thedaily.com
Carmel.Melouney@thedaily.com
The former head of the International Monetary Fund, who was arrested May 14 on charges he sexually assaulted a hotel maid, walked free on his own recognizance yesterday from Manhattan State Supreme Court after prosecutors said an extensive background investigation had raised concerns about the accuser’s credibility.
Later he left his townhouse with his wife and dined at Scalinatella, an upscale restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Reuters reported.
The 62-year-old Frenchman still faces criminal charges, but the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is widely expected to drop the case following revelations that the maid had previously lied about being gang-raped.
The New York Post reported today that the Guinea native also worked as a prostitute at the Sofitel. A source told the paper that foreign chamber maids typically work their way up to elite hotels such as the Sofitel doing "double duty" selling sex.
“There is information ... of her getting extraordinary tips, if you know what I mean,” a source close to the defense investigation told the Post.
The New York Times reported last night she had been recorded talking to an incarcerated boyfriend about how she could make money out of the situation.
In Paris, members of Strauss-Kahn’s Socialist party exulted over the turn of events. Former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin described the developments as a “thunderbolt.”
Before his arrest, DSK, as he is known in France, had been expected to run for president of France in 2012 and polls showed him the likely winner. Strauss-Kahn, who says he is innocent, resigned as head of the IMF to fight the charges, and it appeared that his political career was dead in the water as well.
But the charges haven’t been dropped yet, and the maid’s attorney yesterday accused District Attorney Cyrus Vance of being too chicken to go after a powerful man following two recent, very high-profile losses, including another rape case involving two New York police officers.
Attorney Kenneth Thompson said there is plenty of evidence to support the maid’s allegation that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her when she went to clean his suite at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan.
“She’s not going to hide anymore; she’s going to come out and tell you what happened to her. She’s going to tell you what Dominique Strauss-Kahn did to her,” Thompson told reporters yesterday.
Strauss-Kahn, who arrived at the courthouse in a Lexus SUV, appeared calm as he entered the courtroom in a navy suit, white shirt and vibrant blue tie, accompanied by his wife, Anne Sinclair.
Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon submitted a letter saying investigators have come to believe that the hotel maid lied about some of her activities in the hours surrounding the alleged attack. In the letter, prosecutors said:
In the letter, prosecutors said:
• The maid initially told investigators she fled to the hallway after the alleged attack and waited for Strauss-Kahn to leave the hotel suite, and informed a supervisor what had happened soon after. The woman “has since admitted that this account was false” and that after the incident in Suite 2806, she proceeded to clean a nearby room and then returned to Suite 2806 and began to clean it before contacting her supervisor.
• The maid, a 32-year-old widow with a teenage daughter, admitted she lied about details on her application for asylum in the United States. She said she told a fictitious story about being gang-raped in her native Guinea, acting on the instructions of a “male associate” who had her memorize a tape recording outlining the supposed attack. The maid said that account was false, but that she had been raped in the West African nation “but in an incident different than the one she described in initial interviews.”
• The woman also declared a friend’s child as a dependent for the purposes of increasing her tax returns for the past two tax years.
“Finally, during the course of this investigation, the complainant was untruthful with assistant district attorneys about a variety of additional topics concerning her history, background, present circumstances and personal relationships,” the letter said.
“All of this has caused us to reassess the position that we have advanced to the court about the strength of the case,” Illuzzi-Orbon told Judge Michael Obus.
But Illuzzi-Orbon stressed that forensic evidence proved there was a sexual encounter, and the prosecution is not moving to dismiss the case “at this time.”
The judge announced that Strauss-Kahn could be freed from house arrest on his own recognizance. The Frenchman had previously posted $1 million bail and $5 million bond, which will now be returned. He is allowed to travel within the United States but cannot have his passport back yet.
“In the meantime, there will be no rush to judgment in this case,” said Obus, adding, “I expect the process will go on in a manner that is as fair as can be.”
Strauss-Kahn smiled and said, “Thank you, your honor.”
He walked slowly out of the courthouse with his arm on his wife’s shoulder, smiling slightly at the throng gathered outside.
“It is a great relief,” his lawyer William Taylor told an enormous crowd of journalists outside the courthouse. He said the case underscores “how easy it is for people to be charged with serious crimes and for there to be a rush to judgment.”
Thompson, the lawyer for the alleged victim, gave his own news conference outside the courthouse, recounting the woman’s allegation that Strauss-Kahn grabbed her breasts, forced her to perform oral sex and then tried to rip off her pantyhose before she managed to get away.
Thompson said Strauss-Kahn’s only defense is that the sexual encounter was consensual, and “that is a lie.”
“He grabbed her vagina with so much force that he bruised her,” Thompson said. “Nurses took pictures of the bruises on her vagina and the district attorney has those.”
He said his client cannot read or write, and that she lied on her asylum application because she had been a victim of ritual genital mutilation as a child in Guinea and did not want her young daughter to go through the same ordeal.
“It is clear that this woman made some mistakes, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a rape victim,” Thompson said.
He added that there was security video footage of a “nervous” Strauss-Kahn appearing at the front desk of his hotel as he checked out with toothpaste smeared on his mouth.
Thompson also dismissed as “lies” media reports that his client was involved with a drug dealer.
But the New York Times, quoting unidentified law enforcement officials, reported that the maid was recorded talking by phone with an incarcerated boyfriend in Arizona about a day after she made the allegations. The paper said last night that authorities were shocked when the conversation was translated from the woman’s native language of Fulani.
“She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’” the Times cited a law enforcement official as saying.
DA Vance told reporters that none of the charges had been dismissed. “In this case, as with every case, our commitment to the truth and the facts will govern how we proceed,” he said.
Jean-Marie Le Guen, a Socialist member of the French parliament, said the news from New York means the “end of the nightmare” for Strauss-Kahn, who can now “be present in the presidential campaign.”
The case shone a spotlight on Strauss-Kahn’s reputation as an inveterate philanderer, and sparked a debate in France about how women are treated. Sinclair, a former French TV personality and a multimillionaire heiress, has stood by her husband, as has Strauss-Kahn’s daughter Camille, a Ph.D. student at Columbia University who lunched with her father on the afternoon of the alleged attack.
Another politician, Jean-Louis Borloo, told French TV there was no reason Strauss-Kahn could not run for president if he is exonerated. “What’s stopping him coming back if he has the strength and desire?”
Andra.Varin@thedaily.com
Carmel.Melouney@thedaily.com
