 Tristane Banon, the 31-year-old god-daughter of Strauss-Kahn’s second wife Brigitte Guillemette |
Posted on 05/16/2011 2:38:28 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
NEW YORK -Dominique Strauss-Kahn's reputation with women earned him the nickname "the great seducer," and not even an affair with a subordinate could knock the International Monetary Fund leader off a political path pointed in the direction of the French presidency. All that changed with charges that he sexually assaulted a maid in his hotel room, a case that generated shock and revulsion, especially in his home country.
Police said the maid picked Strauss-Kahn out of a lineup. Unless the charges are quickly dropped, they could destroy his chances in a presidential race that is just starting to heat up.
The IMF, which plays a key role in efforts to control the European debt crisis, named an acting leader and said it remains "fully functioning and operational" despite Saturday's arrest.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, told The Associated Press that his client will plead not guilty. He and another lawyer went in and out of the Harlem police precinct where Strauss-Kahn was being held early Sunday afternoon, and declined to answer reporters' questions until the arraignment, which was expected later Sunday.
"He denies all the charges against him," Brafman said. "And that's all I can really say right now."
Brafman is one of the city's most high-profile defense attorneys. His clients have included mobsters and such celebrities as Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and ex-New York Giants star Plaxico Burress.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailyfinance.com ...
This is the French idea of “seduction?” Gimme a break.
The French jornalista he tried to rape in 2002 described his assault as that of a “rutting chimpanzee.” Not exactly my idea of the suave French seducer...
I hope his cell mate is a gay guy up on rape charges and the “over worked guards” are “busy”.
A socialist who stays in a $3,000.00 a night luxury hotel. Oh, yeah, he’s the thug at the top of the IMF and is spending other people’s money.
He Would make a great Co-host for SPITZER on CNN!!!
He could have had the highest priced call girl in all of NYC.
What a scumbag rapist.
“A socialist who stays in a $3,000.00 a night luxury hotel. Oh, yeah, he’s the thug at the top of the IMF and is spending other people’s money.”
Typical. The left is the home of hypocrisy.
The socialist who last week was the front runner to replace Sarkozy as Head Frog.
I don’t understand how they can hold him.
He’s a socialist.
Just like Clinton and Al “Sex Poodle” Gore, they make some lame excuse for attempted rape, then the incident gets swept under the rug.
He's just doing what the IMF has been doing to third-world countries for years.
In 1999, Strauss-Kahn was accused of corruption in two financial scandals related to Elf Aquitaine (French oil company) and the MNEF, a student mutual health insurance, and decided to resign from his ministerial office to fight the charges. An investigation into the Paris-based oil company Elf Aquitaine in 1994 usually hidden from view was a chain of fraud and bribery that touched many of the leading politicians in France.
Elf Aquitaine was a trove of scandal: apartments for the mistresses of powerful men; the "retro-commissions" to French business and political leaders that flowed from many big French business deals abroad; Elf credit cards issued to friends of the company, who bought hundreds of meals in Paris's most lavish restaurants; the names of a loose fraternity of intermediaries who arranged payoffs for Elf and other big companies; and the numbers of secret bank accounts in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and other places where Elf's beneficiaries had hidden their payoffs----networks of hidden power woven through the nation's life.
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Strauss-Kahn's alleged womanising appears to have been an open secret in French political circles for years. Thierry Saussez, a former adviser to Sarkozy, who took part in the TV show with Banon, said: "All this stupefaction from people is sheer hypocrisy. Everyone in Paris has known for years he had something of a problem. Not many female journalists are prepared to interview him alone these days."
In 2009, the radio satirist Stephane Guillon dedicated his morning comedy slot on France Inter to Strauss-Kahn's "obsession with females". Some commentators suggested his behaviour was a reflection of French culture. In 2000 French writers Vincent Giret and Véronique Le Billon wrote almost presciently in their biography of him: "There is only one thing this famous man has avoided … a fall from grace."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/16/dominique-strauss-kahn-tristane-banon
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SOCIALISM AND SEX CRAZED STRAUSS-KAHN Strauss-Kahn was expected to step down as head of the International Monetary Fund and announce his run for president and was expected to easily beat out Socialist contenders for the nom: Francois Hollande, Martine Aubry and Segolene Royal.
If Strauss Kahn does not run, incumbent Sarkozy would likely beat French Socialists candidates who are furiously squabbling among themselves.
France’s hardcore left is not happy with Strauss-Kahn (known to all as DSK). DSK is a millionaire who lives in a €4mn Paris penthouse with a €140,000 Porsche parked outside. He is known for wearing suits costing £22,000 (which he denies).
Strauss-Kahn is lambasted by leftists as a champagne Socialist and establishment fat cat.
France’s sullen anti-business, anti-globalisation left must decide whether it wants ideological purity or a candidate who can beat Sarkozy – who, of course is praying every night that DSK won’t run.
NOTE Dominique Strauss-Kahn was born on 25 April 1949 in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is the son of Gilbert Strauss-Kahn, a legal and tax advisor and member of the Grand Orient de France, and Russian/Tunisian journalist Jacqueline Fellus. His family is of mixed Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jewish origin.
Am I the only one to wonder why he is being held in a police precinct in Harlem? The alleged crime occurred in a Times Square hotel, and he was arrested at JFK Airport. Neither of those venues is anywhere near Harlem. Might the cops be jerking him or his lawyers around?
On today’s CNBC, always wanting to remain factual, Steve Liesman emphatically pointed out that the cost of the hotel was $550.00, not $3,000, and Melissa Lee was curious as to why he was still in jail on “some sexual harassment charge”
Were they also wondering why so many people watch FNC instead of CNBC? I’m sure none of their friends do.
Yes, you are the only one, none of the rest of us work in new York inmate housing.
Well, then, what was her problem? Why didn’t she just put out and enjoy it?/sarc
“I don’t understand how they can hold him. He’s a socialist.”
Unfortunately, you are spot on with this comment. Ultimately it will come down to a ‘he said she said’ case, and he’ll claim that everything was consensual, and he’ll walk. If I were a woman I wouldn’t get anywhere near a leftist politician, because they all have get out of jail free cards. Being a leftist is the ultimate ‘immunity’.
"This girl has no family -- nobody knows that she worked here. It'll be as if she never existed. All that's left is our friendship."
Tristane Banon, the 31-year-old god-daughter of Strauss-Kahn’s second wife Brigitte Guillemette |
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