Le Monde has obtained a transcript of Dominique Strauss-Kahn being questioned last month by the French police about his involvement in a prostitution ring. (Earlier this week, after additional questioning about what the press is calling “The Carlton Affair,” he was preliminarily charged with “aggravated pimping,” among other things.) In the document, he cops to using “inappropriate” words to refer to “[people] of the female sex,” though he denies knowing that the aforementioned people were paid to be there.
Among the more colorful excerpts: A text message sent to his bro, a businessman also charged in the case: “Do you want to (can you?) come to a great sexy nightclub in Madrid with me (and some equipment) on July 4?” In other instances, he described women as “luggage,” “gifts,” and “material,” words he admitted were “not very sophisticated,” but “quicker than listing out all the names.” That’s possible (though something tells us DSK probably wasn’t great when it came to remembering the names of these particular women), though it seems unlikely that it was faster than typing, for example, “ladies” or “gals” or “other actual human beings, deserving of respect.” (Well, maybe that last one would have taken an extra minute.)
Meanwhile, in New York today, a judge will begin the process of deciding whether or not to allow Nafissatou Diallo’s civil suit against the former IMF chief to move forward. DSK’s lawyers are trying to argue that he was entitled to diplomatic immunity when he allegedly sexually assaulted the Sofitel hotel maid.
