Accuser credibility questions shake IMF sex case

It always seemed like something wasn't quite right about this. He is likely to be released on his own recognizance later today, and recent news highlights that she has close ties to known drug dealers, is involved with money laundering, and received various bank deposits from these outside sources totaling $100,000.00 after the story broke in the news. Under these circumstances, the charges aren't likely to last another month before being dismissed altogether.

Accuser credibility questions shake IMF sex case
Jul 1, 7:08 AM (ET)
By JENNIFER PELTZ and TOM HAYS

NEW YORK (AP) - Prosecutors have serious questions about the credibility of a hotel housekeeper who has accused former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, and he is expected to have his strict bail conditions reduced today, according to people familiar with the case.

Investigators have come to believe that the woman lied about some of her activities in the hours around the alleged attack and about her own background, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The official is familiar with the case but spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public in court.

Prosecutors think she lied about details on her application for asylum in the U.S., including saying she had been raped in her native Guinea, the official told the AP.

"She actually recounted the entire story to prosecutors and later said it was false," the official said.

Prosecutors haven't necessarily reached a new conclusion about the allegations against Strauss-Kahn and have not decided whether to downgrade the charges, the official said.

A court hearing is set Friday for the 62-year-old Strauss-Kahn, who is accused of crimes including attempted rape has been under armed guard in a Manhattan town house after posting a total of $6 million in cash bail and bond. He denies the allegations.

Another person familiar with the case but not authorized to speak publicly about it said earlier Thursday that Strauss-Kahn may get his bail and house arrest arrangement eased at Friday's hearing but would not elaborate. Strauss-Kahn lawyer William W. Taylor would say only that the hearing was to review the bail plan. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment.

A third person who spoke on condition of anonymity told the AP that prosecutors have raised issues about the accuser's credibility in the case against Strauss-Kahn, but also would not elaborate.

The New York Police Department, which investigated the case, declined to comment. The woman's lawyer did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

"There will be serious issues raised by the district attorney's office and us concerning the credibility of the complaining witness," Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer for Strauss-Kahn, told The Wall Street Journal.

The maid told police that Strauss-Kahn chased her down a hallway in his $3,000-a-night suite in New York's Sofitel hotel, tried to pull down her pantyhose and forced her to perform oral sex before she broke free.
If the case collapses, it could once again shake up the race for the French presidency. Strauss-Kahn, a prominent Socialist, had been seen as a leading potential challenger to conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's elections - until the New York hotel allegations embarrassed Strauss-Kahn's party and led to his resignation from the IMF.

"Those who know Dominique Strauss-Kahn will not be surprised by this evolution of events," one of his French lawyers, Leon Lef Forster, told the AP in Paris. "What he was accused of has no relation to his personality. It was something that was not credible."

New doubts about Strauss-Kahn's accuser would also revive speculation of a conspiracy against Strauss-Kahn aimed at torpedoing his presidential chances. Within days of his arrest, a poll suggested that a majority of French think Strauss-Kahn - who long had a reputation as a womanizer and was nicknamed "the great seducer" - was the victim of a plot.
Socialist Party chief Martine Aubry announced her own presidential bid this week, after having long been expected to throw her weight behind a Strauss-Kahn candidacy. French politician Michele Sabban said Friday that the Socialists should suspend the presidential primary calendar because of the new developments.

The New York Times first reported on its website that investigators uncovered major inconsistencies in the woman's account of her background, citing two law enforcement officials. The Times also reported that senior prosecutors and Strauss-Kahn's lawyers are discussing whether to dismiss the felony charges, including attempted rape.
Prosecutors had argued against his release in May, citing the violent nature of the alleged offenses and saying his wealth and international connections would make it easy for him to flee.

"The proof against him is substantial. It is continuing to grow every day as the investigation continues," Assistant District Attorney John "Artie" McConnell told the judge. "We have a man who, by his own conduct in this case, has shown a propensity for impulsive criminal conduct."
In early hearings, prosecutors underscored that they thought the evidence against Strauss-Kahn was formidable. And it appeared so at first, the law enforcement official told the AP.

"In the beginning, it was a strong case. There was a victim and several witnesses and forensic evidence that supported the victim's claim," the official said.

The woman was in Strauss-Kahn's room only briefly before the alleged attack, his semen was found on her uniform, and she quickly reported the alleged assault and told a consistent story about it to investigators and prosecutors, the official said.

Prosecutors have said in court that Strauss-Kahn appeared on surveillance tapes to be in a hurry as he left the hotel, though his lawyers have said he was merely rushing to lunch.

Strauss-Kahn was in New York on a personal trip when the maid made her accusations. During initial bail hearings, prosecutors noted that he was arrested on a Paris-bound plane at Kennedy Airport, and that they could not compel his return from France if he fled.

His lawyers have underscored that it was a long-planned flight and have said he wants to return to court to clear his name.

Defense lawyers have said that the hotel encounter wasn't forcible, and that they have unreleased information that could "gravely undermine the credibility" of the housekeeper. The defense was using private investigators to aggressively check out the victim's background and her story, but the Times reported that it was investigators for the prosecution who uncovered discrepancies.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has said the detectives investigating the case found the maid's story believable.

The woman's lawyer has said she is prepared to testify despite a "smear campaign" against her. The Associated Press generally does not identify accusers in sex crime cases unless they agree to it.

Strauss-Kahn was held without bail for nearly a week after his May arrest. His lawyers ultimately persuaded a judge to release him by agreeing to extensive - and expensive - conditions, including an ankle monitor, surveillance cameras and armed guards. He can leave for only for court, weekly religious services and visits to doctors and his lawyers, and prosecutors must be notified at least six hours before he goes anywhere.

The security measures were estimated to cost him about $200,000 a month, on top of the $50,000-a-month rent on a town house in trendy TriBeCa. He settled there after a hasty and fraught house hunt: A plan to rent an apartment in a tony building on Manhattan's Upper East Side fell through after residents complained about the hubbub created by reporters, police and gawkers.

Under New York law, judges base bail decisions on factors including defendants' characters, financial resources and criminal records, as well as the strength of the case against them - all intended to help gauge how likely they are to flee if released.

Defendants and prosecutors can raise the issue of bail at any point in a case. It's common, if asking a judge to revisit a bail decision, to argue that new information or new proposed conditions change how one or more of the factors should be viewed.

Strauss-Kahn twist may change stakes in France
By Catherine Bremer | Reuters – 29 mins ago

PARIS (Reuters) - News that the sex assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn could collapse hit France like a thunderbolt on Friday, raising prospects of his return to French politics, though probably not to the 2012 presidential race.

Socialists, who saw Strauss-Kahn as their best chance of winning power after years in opposition until his arrest in May, rejoiced at news that prosecutors in New York now doubt the credibility of the hotel maid who alleged he tried to rape her.

The dramatic twist revived anger among his supporters over the way the former IMF chief was paraded handcuffed and unshaven by U.S. authorities, and locked up in the grim Rikers Island prison, before having a chance to defend himself.

But others in France said that even if his name were cleared, too much damage may have been done to Strauss-Kahn's reputation for him to be electable, although he could return gradually to politics and take a lesser post in government.

"Is this the end of the American nightmare for the former Socialist minister? Far from it," mused the conservative daily Le Figaro, as France digested the idea that the man who went in their eyes from possible future president to apparent sexual predator in a matter of hours may have been falsely accused.

Two sources close to the case said the credibility of the hotel maid, a 32-year-old immigrant from the West African state of Guinea, was now in question. The New York Times said the prosecution case was on the verge of collapse.

French Socialists, who have been grappling since the sudden loss of their star candidate to come up with a Plan B to uproot conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, said they were elated.

"Today I am thinking of the integrity of a man that has been thrown to the dogs... and of the news we hope will enable him to restore his honor," said acting Socialist Party leader Harlem Desir.

"We need Dominique Strauss-Kahn, our country needs Dominique Strauss-Kahn. This is an amazing turn for our party and our country," said Socialist lawmaker Jean-Marie Le Guen, one of the former IMF chief's closest political aides, predicting he would be a key player in the months ahead.

Strauss-Kahn was popular among center-left voters as an economically competent, modernizing social democrat with much more international experience than other Socialist contenders.

Yet political analysts say that even if he is cleared and enjoys a wave of sympathy, the stain on his image could linger for months, making it unclear how much he could boost the left in the election.

"There will always be question marks hanging over him," said University of Strasbourg sociology professor Gerald Bronner. "His return could even be poisonous for the Socialists as in the short term the affair would be very uncomfortable for them."

TIMING TIGHT FOR SOCIALIST PRIMARY

Strauss-Kahn, under house arrest in New York, will go back to court on Friday, with prosecutors now discussing whether to drop the serious felony charges against him.
They may still seek to make him plead guilty to a lesser misdemeanor, with questions remaining over whether any sexual encounter was consensual or forced.

Candidates for France's April 22 election have until mid-March to declare themselves meaning that, if cleared, Strauss-Kahn could be back in France in time to run.

However, contenders for the Socialist primary must register by July 13, ahead of an October party vote, and it is unlikely the process could be delayed long enough for him to enter.
Even if a dropping of the charges prompted Strauss-Kahn's supporters to rally behind him, many voters may have been permanently alienated by stories that have surfaced since May of compulsive sexual behavior and pestering of women journalists.

Strauss-Kahn's popularity rating has slid since May by 10 points or more in opinion polls to stand as low as 27 percent in a survey by pollster IPSOS taken on June 17 and 18.

"Many things still count against him, including the calendar. It will take weeks or months to perfect his defense," said Christope Barbier, a political commentator and editor of the weekly L'Express.

"Even if what he did was not criminal, all this is going to take time. There is everything we have learned about him, the damage to his reputation. All this makes the idea he could be a candidate very hypothetical, it's science fiction."

On the other hand, the new turn in the case rekindled talk among French bloggers of the case being a trap set by Strauss-Kahn's enemies, rumors that could hurt his conservative opponents.

MUCK-RAKING DEBATE

Strauss-Kahn's arrest in May sent shockwaves through France, instantly dashing the former finance minister's chances of challenging the center-right Sarkozy in the April election.
Sarkozy consistently declined comment on the case and urged cabinet ministers to keep quiet. His silence helped his approval ratings. His office had no comment on the latest turn of events.

The affair set off a muck-raking debate over Strauss-Kahn's private life and the French media's practice of hushing up alleged sexual misconduct by politicians.

It also sparked anger over the way U.S. law allowed the Frenchman to be paraded before TV cameras in a "perp walk," a practice unknown in France, and a backlash has already begun against a perceived rush to judgment in the U.S. media.

"When you are victim of a media campaign for three weeks and described in the way Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been, you don't emerge unscathed," said Francois Pupponi, Socialist mayor of the Paris suburb of Sarcelles, where Strauss-Kahn was once mayor.

Martine Aubry, who declared her presidential candidacy this week after Strauss-Kahn's fall from grace, voiced relief at the news from New York and sympathy for him on Friday, but did not say whether she believed he could enter the 2012 race.

Socialist Michele Sabban said the party should suspend its primary contest to give Strauss-Kahn the time to enter.

"With the worldwide humiliation he's been through, I think it would be worth waiting," he said. "I hope as much effort will go into clearing his name as it did in destroying it."

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