http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/25/spitzer-federal-reserve-is-a-ponzi-scheme-an-inside-job/
Spitzer: Federal Reserve is ‘a Ponzi scheme, an inside job’
Daniel Tencer
July 25, 2009
The Federal Reserve — the quasi-autonomous body that controls the US’s money supply — is a “Ponzi scheme” that created “bubble after bubble” in the US economy and needs to be held accountable for its actions, says Eliot Spitzer, the former governor and attorney-general of New York.
In a wide-ranging discussion of the bank bailouts on MSNBC’s Morning Meeting, host Dylan Ratigan described the process by which the Federal Reserve exchanged $13.9 trillion of bad bank debt for cash that it gave to the struggling banks.
Spitzer — who built a reputation as “the Sheriff of Wall Street” for his zealous prosecutions of corporate crime as New York’s attorney-general and then resigned as the state’s governor over revelations he had paid for prostitutes — seemed to agree with Ratigan that the bank bailout amounts to “America’s greatest theft and cover-up ever.”
Advocating in favor of a House bill to audit the Federal Reserve, Spitzer said: “The Federal Reserve has benefited for decades from the notion that it is quasi-autonomous, it’s supposed to be independent. Let me tell you a dirty secret: The Fed has done an absolutely disastrous job since [former Fed Chairman] Paul Volcker left.
“The reality is the Fed has blown it. Time and time again, they blew it. Bubble after bubble, they failed to understand what they were doing to the economy.
“The most poignant example for me is the AIG bailout, where they gave tens of billions of dollars that went right through — conduit payments — to the investment banks that are now solvent. We [taxpayers] didn’t get stock in those banks, they didn’t ask what was going on — this begs and cries out for hard, tough examination.
“You look at the governing structure of the New York [Federal Reserve], it was run by the very banks that got the money. This is a Ponzi scheme, an inside job. It is outrageous, it is time for Congress to say enough of this. And to give them more power now is crazy.
“The Fed needs to be examined carefully.”
Spitzer resigned as governor of New York in March, 2008, after news reports stated he had paid for a $1,000-an-hour New York City call girl.
At the time, Spitzer had been raising the alarm about sub-prime mortgages. In the wake of the economic meltdown triggered last fall by sub-prime loans, some observers have suggested that Spitzer may have been targeted by law enforcement because of his high-profile opposition to Wall Street financial policies.
Investigative reporter Greg Palast wrote that federal agents’ revealing of Spitzer’s identity as a call-girl customer was no coincidence.
Palast wrote that the principle of “prosecutorial discretion” is often used to keep the names of high-profile persons out of the media when they are tangentially linked to a criminal investigation. In the case of Spitzer, the Justice Department chose not to invoke prosecutorial discretion.
Funny thing, this ‘discretion.’ For example, Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, paid Washington DC prostitutes to put him in diapers (ewww!), yet the Senator was not exposed by the US prosecutors busting the pimp-ring that pampered him.
Naming and shaming and ruining Spitzer – rarely done in these cases - was made at the ‘discretion’ of Bush’s Justice Department.
Spitzer recently told Bloomberg News that President Obama’s regulatory reforms of the financial sector are “irrelevant” because regulatory agencies have not been enforcing corporate laws to begin with.
“Regulatory agencies already had the power to do everything they needed to do,” he said. “They just affirmatively chose not to do it.”
Showing posts with label David Vitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Vitter. Show all posts
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Will Stormy Daniels Run Against David Vitter?
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/02/will-porn-star-stormy-daniels-run.htmlMonday, February 02, 2009
Will Porn Star Stormy Daniels Run Against Whoremonger David Diapers Vitter?
Will Stormy Daniels beat David Vitter (R-LA)?
In the run-up to his 2010 re-election campaign David Diapers Vitter has been working very hard to distract Louisiana voters from the brouhaha over his multiple sex scandals involving prostitutes in Louisiana and Washington, DC. Vitter, widely viewed as Congress' most hypocritical member, would rather Lousiana voters think of him as Congress' most reactionary member. And he's in a tight competition with South Carolina wingnut Jim DeMint for the title. They are the two who have virtually obstructed every single proposal and initiative that President Obama has made. And the two of them are icons of the neo-Confederate "No on Everything" movement within the Senate GOP caucus.
Given the pathetic state of the Louisiana Democratic Party, Vitter is more frightened of a primary challenge than he is of a general election challenge. Religious fanatic Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (who has already run for the Senate in Louisiana) and neo-Nazi, Jay Dardenne, currently serving as Louisiana's Secretary of State, have both been checking out Vitter's vulnerability on his right flank. All roads point to his reputation as a whoremonger. Petrified that an opponent will keep reminding voters about Vitter's bizarre and perverted sexual history and all the cover-ups, denials, weepy admissions and so on, Vitter is trying to distract them in every way he can. On the first day of the new congressional session, he introduced 34 pieces of diversionary legislation, none of which are considered serious by anyone with a full set of teeth, about all the pet issues on the extreme right, from an anti-stem cell research bill, an anti-immigrant bill, anti-flag burning bill, to a proposal to encourage prayer in public schools. He is understandably eager to be associated with prayer rather than prostitutes and dirty adult diapers.
Unfortunately for Vitter, his opponents have no intention of letting his sex scandals just go away and today's Politico reports on a little shenanigan likely to get plenty of coverage in Louisiana. There is a movement afoot to get porn star Stormy Daniels to run against Vitter. While she hasn't been embraced by the Democratic Party-- which is still trying to recruit ex-Governor Kathleen Blanco-- Stormy, a Baton Rouge Libertarian, would be perfect for the GOP and would be a great countervailing forced against hypocrites like Perkins and Vitter. Could she beat Vitter? According to several prostitutes he's had long-standing arrangements with, that is his exact specialty. Leave it to Louisiana to spice up American politics! Let's just hope Blue Dog Charlie Melancon doesn't jump in looking for a three-way!
Sleeping Around is right up Vitter's alley. But I wonder if he'd bring the same thing to a desert island as Stormy says she would. Anyway, do you think she'd off Vitter serious competition? Let us know what you think.
Labels: David Vitter, Louisiana, pornography, Republican hypocrisy, Senate 2010, Stormy Daniels, Tony Perkins
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Death of 'D.C. Madam' Becomes Rich Ground for Conspiracy
Robalini's Note: Coming to bash the DC Madam conspiracy theory is David Corn, the CIA's main man (along with Mark Cooper) in the establishment left.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353876,00.html
Death of 'D.C. Madam' Becomes Rich Ground for Conspiracy Theory
Thursday , May 01, 2008
By Greg Simmons
WASHINGTON — Police in Tarpon Springs, Fla., said there was "no question" that Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide by hanging Thursday, but that was not enough to stop immediate speculation that the infamous "D.C. Madam" was the victim of murder.
Hustler magazine publisher and free-speech advocate Larry Flynt -- one of Palfrey's staunchest advocates -- was the strongest voice forwarding the notion that Palfrey's death was not by her own hands.
"I think the media should be very cautious in treating this as a suicide," Flynt told FOXNews.com in a telephone interview from his Beverly Hills office.
Asked if he believed Palfrey was murdered, Flynt responded: "I personally believe that's what happened, but I have no proof."
Palfrey was found guilty of federal racketeering charges on April 15 in connection to her prostitution business, Pamela Martin & Associates, which operated out of California but hired Washington, D.C.-area women for its operations.
The case drew wide attention early last year when Palfrey gave media organizations phone numbers of her clients, but not their names, in the hopes that the clients would support her claims that her business was a legitimate escort service.
Flynt was an integral part in keeping Palfrey's story public and worked with her and investigative reporter Dan Moldea to break the story that the phone number of Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was among those numbers in Palfrey's client list. Flynt targeted Vitter because he had campaigned for office on a family-values platform.
Vitter apologized in July 2007 for his name appearing on Palfrey's list, saying, "This was a very serious sin." The senator never explained his relationship to Palfrey's business. His office did not respond on Thursday to a phone message seeking comment.
The Palfrey case also contributed to Randall L. Tobias' resignation from a position at the State Department after a news report identified him as a Pamela Martin client. A receptionist reached Thursday at Tobias' Indianapolis foundation said, "There will be no comment."
Flynt said he met Palfrey around the time of her indictment in March 2007 and discussed her case with her on several occasions.
Palfrey's defense relied on an argument that her business was a "sexual fantasy" business but did not involve paid sex -- at least none that Palfrey was aware of.
But Flynt outright dismissed that notion. Asked if she knowingly sold sex for money, Flynt said there's "no question."
But she also was an intelligent woman, he said.
"She did not have the demeanor of the type of person that would carry certain signs of suicide, like being withdrawn or depressed," Flynt said. "You know, those are the kinds of signs that you look for. She didn't display any of those traits. ... She was very friendly. ... Very bright. She was by no means a dummy. She knew what she was doing."
Flynt said he believes that in her quest to avoid prison time -- her sentencing hearing had been scheduled for July -- Palfrey was prepared to release one or two final names connected to her case.
"She had a lot of names, and I know she was holding on to them for a reason," Flynt said. He said he knew some of the clients' names, and they include big-hitters in the political and media worlds. None of those names came to light, though, because they didn't fit the mold that Flynt was pushing for: politicians who said one thing and did another. Only Vitter, Flynt said, appeared to match that description.
But Flynt hinted at much juicier material to be unearthed.
"Let me put it this way, there were more Democrats on it than Republicans," he said, supporting his theory that the only reason this case was of interest was because of the number of Democrats who could be targeted by the Bush administration.
But Flynt said his conversations with Palfrey were off the record, and if any investigators come knocking on his door for names, they'll have to look elsewhere.
Flynt said the only person who might know more about those conversations with Palfrey is Moldea, who was working with Palfrey on a book. Flynt said he has no financial stake in that book.
While Flynt's version of events might be the most intriguing, they are not the only version. Many believe justice ran its course -- however misguided -- and the case won't have any lasting effect, said David Corn, Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones magazine and a Washington-based journalist who reported on the case.
"I met her once -- and it was not in a sordid fashion -- as a reporter, and I kept asking her, 'You know, if you had any famous, high-profile clients.' And she said, 'Well, not really. A lot of people wouldn't recognize these people anyway,' " Corn recalled on Thursday.
He said it struck him as odd that the prosecution focused on her case, rather than any of the other "escort services" that can be found in the local phone book. Corn said Palfrey seemed to have a "why me?" attitude.
Corn did not question that Palfrey had taken her own life.
"There's a certain sad element to this -- anytime there's a suicide," Corn said. "She went to her grave, her death, not fully understanding why hers became the only escort service to be targeted for such prosecution."
And he said he did not think her death was the result of any sort of conspiracy.
"You hate to say this about anybody, but Jeane's death won't have any consequence to Washington," he said. "She's not taking any secrets with her. She seemed to not have them in the first place."
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington did not return a phone call Thursday, and Palfrey's defense attorney, Preston Burton, was not available for comment. He issued a statement through a colleague at his firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
"This is tragic news. My heart goes out to her mother," Burton said, according to Orrick attorney John Pitts.
FOX News.com's Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353876,00.html
Death of 'D.C. Madam' Becomes Rich Ground for Conspiracy Theory
Thursday , May 01, 2008
By Greg Simmons
WASHINGTON — Police in Tarpon Springs, Fla., said there was "no question" that Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide by hanging Thursday, but that was not enough to stop immediate speculation that the infamous "D.C. Madam" was the victim of murder.
Hustler magazine publisher and free-speech advocate Larry Flynt -- one of Palfrey's staunchest advocates -- was the strongest voice forwarding the notion that Palfrey's death was not by her own hands.
"I think the media should be very cautious in treating this as a suicide," Flynt told FOXNews.com in a telephone interview from his Beverly Hills office.
Asked if he believed Palfrey was murdered, Flynt responded: "I personally believe that's what happened, but I have no proof."
Palfrey was found guilty of federal racketeering charges on April 15 in connection to her prostitution business, Pamela Martin & Associates, which operated out of California but hired Washington, D.C.-area women for its operations.
The case drew wide attention early last year when Palfrey gave media organizations phone numbers of her clients, but not their names, in the hopes that the clients would support her claims that her business was a legitimate escort service.
Flynt was an integral part in keeping Palfrey's story public and worked with her and investigative reporter Dan Moldea to break the story that the phone number of Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was among those numbers in Palfrey's client list. Flynt targeted Vitter because he had campaigned for office on a family-values platform.
Vitter apologized in July 2007 for his name appearing on Palfrey's list, saying, "This was a very serious sin." The senator never explained his relationship to Palfrey's business. His office did not respond on Thursday to a phone message seeking comment.
The Palfrey case also contributed to Randall L. Tobias' resignation from a position at the State Department after a news report identified him as a Pamela Martin client. A receptionist reached Thursday at Tobias' Indianapolis foundation said, "There will be no comment."
Flynt said he met Palfrey around the time of her indictment in March 2007 and discussed her case with her on several occasions.
Palfrey's defense relied on an argument that her business was a "sexual fantasy" business but did not involve paid sex -- at least none that Palfrey was aware of.
But Flynt outright dismissed that notion. Asked if she knowingly sold sex for money, Flynt said there's "no question."
But she also was an intelligent woman, he said.
"She did not have the demeanor of the type of person that would carry certain signs of suicide, like being withdrawn or depressed," Flynt said. "You know, those are the kinds of signs that you look for. She didn't display any of those traits. ... She was very friendly. ... Very bright. She was by no means a dummy. She knew what she was doing."
Flynt said he believes that in her quest to avoid prison time -- her sentencing hearing had been scheduled for July -- Palfrey was prepared to release one or two final names connected to her case.
"She had a lot of names, and I know she was holding on to them for a reason," Flynt said. He said he knew some of the clients' names, and they include big-hitters in the political and media worlds. None of those names came to light, though, because they didn't fit the mold that Flynt was pushing for: politicians who said one thing and did another. Only Vitter, Flynt said, appeared to match that description.
But Flynt hinted at much juicier material to be unearthed.
"Let me put it this way, there were more Democrats on it than Republicans," he said, supporting his theory that the only reason this case was of interest was because of the number of Democrats who could be targeted by the Bush administration.
But Flynt said his conversations with Palfrey were off the record, and if any investigators come knocking on his door for names, they'll have to look elsewhere.
Flynt said the only person who might know more about those conversations with Palfrey is Moldea, who was working with Palfrey on a book. Flynt said he has no financial stake in that book.
While Flynt's version of events might be the most intriguing, they are not the only version. Many believe justice ran its course -- however misguided -- and the case won't have any lasting effect, said David Corn, Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones magazine and a Washington-based journalist who reported on the case.
"I met her once -- and it was not in a sordid fashion -- as a reporter, and I kept asking her, 'You know, if you had any famous, high-profile clients.' And she said, 'Well, not really. A lot of people wouldn't recognize these people anyway,' " Corn recalled on Thursday.
He said it struck him as odd that the prosecution focused on her case, rather than any of the other "escort services" that can be found in the local phone book. Corn said Palfrey seemed to have a "why me?" attitude.
Corn did not question that Palfrey had taken her own life.
"There's a certain sad element to this -- anytime there's a suicide," Corn said. "She went to her grave, her death, not fully understanding why hers became the only escort service to be targeted for such prosecution."
And he said he did not think her death was the result of any sort of conspiracy.
"You hate to say this about anybody, but Jeane's death won't have any consequence to Washington," he said. "She's not taking any secrets with her. She seemed to not have them in the first place."
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington did not return a phone call Thursday, and Palfrey's defense attorney, Preston Burton, was not available for comment. He issued a statement through a colleague at his firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
"This is tragic news. My heart goes out to her mother," Burton said, according to Orrick attorney John Pitts.
FOX News.com's Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Arrest Clouds Idaho Senator's Future
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/AR2007082800122.html
Arrest Clouds Idaho Senator's Future
By MATTHEW DALY
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is a conservative Republican who has voted against gay marriage and opposes hate crimes legislation that would extend special protections to gay and lesbian crime victims.
In the wake of Craig's guilty plea on misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis airport, his political future is in question.
The three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He hasn't said if he will run for a fourth term in 2008 and was expected to announce his plans this fall.
A spokesman, Sidney Smith, was uncertain late Monday if Craig's guilty plea would affect his re-election plans.
"It's too early to talk about anything about that," Smith said.
A political science professor in Idaho said Craig's political future was in jeopardy. And a spokesman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Hannah August, said Craig's guilty plea "has given Americans another reason not to vote Republican" next year.
The married Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he has engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated. Craig has denied the assertions, which he calls ridiculous.
The arrest changes that dynamic, said Jasper LiCalzi, a political science professor at Albertson College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho. He cited the House page scandal that drove Florida Rep. Mark Foley from office.
"There's a chance that he'll resign over this," LiCalzi said. "With the pressure on the Republican Party, he could be pressured to resign. If they think this is going to be something that's the same as Mark Foley _ the sort of 'drip, drip, drip, there's more information that's going to come out' _ they may try to push him out."
Already Craig has stepped down from a prominent role with Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. He had been one of Romney's top Senate supporters, serving as a Senate liaison for the campaign since February.
"He did not want to be a distraction and we accept his decision," said Matt Rhoades, a Romney campaign spokesman.
According to a Hennepin County, Minn., court docket, Craig pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge on Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor interference to privacy.
The court docket said Craig paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year. A sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed.
Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, which first reported the case, said on its Web site Monday that Craig was arrested June 11 by a plainclothes officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the airport.
Minneapolis airport police declined to provide a copy of the arrest report after business hours Monday.
Roll Call, citing the report, said Sgt. Dave Karsnia made the arrest after an encounter in which he was seated in a stall next to a stall occupied by Craig. Karsnia described Craig tapping his foot, which Karsnia said he "recognized as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."
Roll Call quoted the Aug. 8 police report as saying that Craig had handed the arresting officer a business card that identified him as a member of the Senate.
"What do you think about that?" Craig is alleged to have said, according to the report.
Craig said in a statement issued by his office Monday that he was not involved in any inappropriate conduct.
"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions," he said. "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."
Craig joins other GOP senators facing ethical and legal troubles.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is under scrutiny for his relationship with a contractor who helped oversee a renovation project that more than doubled the size of the senator's home.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., acknowledged that his phone number appeared in records of a Washington-area business that prosecutors have said was a front for prostitution.
Craig, a rancher and a member of the National Rifle Association, lives in Eagle, Idaho, near the capital of Boise. He was a member of the House for 10 years before winning election to the Senate in 1990. He was re-elected in 1996 and 2002.
Last fall, Craig called allegations from a gay-rights activist that he's had homosexual relationships "completely ridiculous."
Mike Rogers, who bills himself as a gay activist blogger, published the allegations on his Web site, http://www.blogactive.com/, in October 2006.
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, an advocacy group, on Monday called Craig a hypocrite.
"What's up with elected officials like Senator Craig? They stand for so-called family values and fight basic protections for gay people while furtively seeking other men for sex," Foreman said.
___
Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and John Miller in Boise contributed to this story.
Arrest Clouds Idaho Senator's Future
By MATTHEW DALY
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is a conservative Republican who has voted against gay marriage and opposes hate crimes legislation that would extend special protections to gay and lesbian crime victims.
In the wake of Craig's guilty plea on misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis airport, his political future is in question.
The three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He hasn't said if he will run for a fourth term in 2008 and was expected to announce his plans this fall.
A spokesman, Sidney Smith, was uncertain late Monday if Craig's guilty plea would affect his re-election plans.
"It's too early to talk about anything about that," Smith said.
A political science professor in Idaho said Craig's political future was in jeopardy. And a spokesman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Hannah August, said Craig's guilty plea "has given Americans another reason not to vote Republican" next year.
The married Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he has engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated. Craig has denied the assertions, which he calls ridiculous.
The arrest changes that dynamic, said Jasper LiCalzi, a political science professor at Albertson College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho. He cited the House page scandal that drove Florida Rep. Mark Foley from office.
"There's a chance that he'll resign over this," LiCalzi said. "With the pressure on the Republican Party, he could be pressured to resign. If they think this is going to be something that's the same as Mark Foley _ the sort of 'drip, drip, drip, there's more information that's going to come out' _ they may try to push him out."
Already Craig has stepped down from a prominent role with Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. He had been one of Romney's top Senate supporters, serving as a Senate liaison for the campaign since February.
"He did not want to be a distraction and we accept his decision," said Matt Rhoades, a Romney campaign spokesman.
According to a Hennepin County, Minn., court docket, Craig pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge on Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor interference to privacy.
The court docket said Craig paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year. A sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed.
Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, which first reported the case, said on its Web site Monday that Craig was arrested June 11 by a plainclothes officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the airport.
Minneapolis airport police declined to provide a copy of the arrest report after business hours Monday.
Roll Call, citing the report, said Sgt. Dave Karsnia made the arrest after an encounter in which he was seated in a stall next to a stall occupied by Craig. Karsnia described Craig tapping his foot, which Karsnia said he "recognized as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."
Roll Call quoted the Aug. 8 police report as saying that Craig had handed the arresting officer a business card that identified him as a member of the Senate.
"What do you think about that?" Craig is alleged to have said, according to the report.
Craig said in a statement issued by his office Monday that he was not involved in any inappropriate conduct.
"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions," he said. "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."
Craig joins other GOP senators facing ethical and legal troubles.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is under scrutiny for his relationship with a contractor who helped oversee a renovation project that more than doubled the size of the senator's home.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., acknowledged that his phone number appeared in records of a Washington-area business that prosecutors have said was a front for prostitution.
Craig, a rancher and a member of the National Rifle Association, lives in Eagle, Idaho, near the capital of Boise. He was a member of the House for 10 years before winning election to the Senate in 1990. He was re-elected in 1996 and 2002.
Last fall, Craig called allegations from a gay-rights activist that he's had homosexual relationships "completely ridiculous."
Mike Rogers, who bills himself as a gay activist blogger, published the allegations on his Web site, http://www.blogactive.com/, in October 2006.
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, an advocacy group, on Monday called Craig a hypocrite.
"What's up with elected officials like Senator Craig? They stand for so-called family values and fight basic protections for gay people while furtively seeking other men for sex," Foreman said.
___
Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and John Miller in Boise contributed to this story.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Flynt is tracking congressional sex scandal leads
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/flynt-is-tracking-20-congressional-sex-scandal-leads-2007-07-11.html
Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads
By Elana Schor
July 11, 2007
Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the “D.C. Madam,” said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals.
As Vitter remained missing in action for two Senate votes on defense policy, Flynt insisted that he exposed the conservative lawmaker’s sexual indiscretions only because they contradicted Vitter’s longtime defense of the “sanctity of marriage.”
“If someone’s living a life contrary to the way they’re advocating ... then they become fair game,” Flynt told reporters. “I don’t want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the area of morality.”
In addition to the phone records of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of prostitution and racketeering by federal authorities, Flynt is mining responses to an ad he placed last month in The Washington Post. The ad promised a million-dollar reward for anyone providing evidence of illicit encounters with members of Congress.
The 20-plus new leads, Flynt said, come from the newspaper ad and not Palfrey. The Hustler publisher, arrested and jailed multiple times during his decades-long career, vowed to provide clear proof and only out lawmakers whom he perceives to be hypocrites.
“You guys always know, [from] the past, I deliver,” Flynt said. “And if I fail to, the mainstream media will crush me like a bug.”
The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles. Flynt, an unabashed Democrat, acknowledged that the GOP provides him with easier targets.
“Republicans are more fun because they get caught so easily,” Flynt said. “They’ve been living a repressed life all their life. Democrats are liberal — they wear it on their sleeve. Their sex life is what it is. They don’t spend their whole life trying to cover it up.”
Flynt released the particular wireless phone bill containing Vitter’s phone number on Palfrey’s calling list, confirming that the Louisianan contacted the escort service while serving in the House. Flynt also claimed to have testimony from five New Orleans prostitutes about their sexual encounters with Vitter, adding that that quintet would likely share the $1 million bounty with Palfrey.
Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads
By Elana Schor
July 11, 2007
Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the “D.C. Madam,” said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals.
As Vitter remained missing in action for two Senate votes on defense policy, Flynt insisted that he exposed the conservative lawmaker’s sexual indiscretions only because they contradicted Vitter’s longtime defense of the “sanctity of marriage.”
“If someone’s living a life contrary to the way they’re advocating ... then they become fair game,” Flynt told reporters. “I don’t want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the area of morality.”
In addition to the phone records of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of prostitution and racketeering by federal authorities, Flynt is mining responses to an ad he placed last month in The Washington Post. The ad promised a million-dollar reward for anyone providing evidence of illicit encounters with members of Congress.
The 20-plus new leads, Flynt said, come from the newspaper ad and not Palfrey. The Hustler publisher, arrested and jailed multiple times during his decades-long career, vowed to provide clear proof and only out lawmakers whom he perceives to be hypocrites.
“You guys always know, [from] the past, I deliver,” Flynt said. “And if I fail to, the mainstream media will crush me like a bug.”
The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles. Flynt, an unabashed Democrat, acknowledged that the GOP provides him with easier targets.
“Republicans are more fun because they get caught so easily,” Flynt said. “They’ve been living a repressed life all their life. Democrats are liberal — they wear it on their sleeve. Their sex life is what it is. They don’t spend their whole life trying to cover it up.”
Flynt released the particular wireless phone bill containing Vitter’s phone number on Palfrey’s calling list, confirming that the Louisianan contacted the escort service while serving in the House. Flynt also claimed to have testimony from five New Orleans prostitutes about their sexual encounters with Vitter, adding that that quintet would likely share the $1 million bounty with Palfrey.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
GOP senator admits link to escort service
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0707/4850.html
GOP senator admits link to escort service
By: Carrie Budoff
July 9, 2007
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) acknowledged Monday night that his number appears on telephone records of the alleged D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, and issued an apology.
“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible,” Vitter said in a statement released by his office.
“Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling,'' he added. "Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there -- with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way.”
Vitter did not disclose exactly when the incidents took place, but said it was before he ran for the Senate in 2004.
Vitter, 46, then became Louisiana’s first Republican senator since the end of Reconstruction and has built a reputation as a solid conservative, opposing abortion rights, same-sex marriage and gun control. Last month, he took a leading role in efforts to kill the comprehensive immigration overhaul bill.
A Harvard graduate and former Rhodes Scholar, he was elected to the House in 1999, filling the seat vacated by Rep. Bob Livingston, who was headed toward the House speakership in 1998 when he was forced to reveal his marital infidelities.
In 2000, Vitter was included in a Newhouse News Service story about the strain of congressional careers on families.
His wife, Wendy, was asked by the Newhouse reporter: If her husband were as unfaithful as Livingston or former President Bill Clinton, would she be as forgiving as Hillary Rodham Clinton?
“I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary,” Wendy Vitter told Newhouse News. “If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”
“I think fear is a very good motivating factor in a marriage,” she added. “Don’t put fear down.”
Vitter’s revelation Monday comes a month after Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt offered $1 million for information about illicit sexual relations with members of Congress. Flynt made a same pitch in October 1998, playing a role in Livingston's outing.
Palfrey posted the complete phone records of her client list on the Internet Monday night. The list for Pamela Martin and Associates dates back to 1994.
She is accused of running a prostitution ring catering to Washington’s elite. She faces federal racketeering and conspiracy charges based on allegations that she earned $2 million operating a prostitution service from 1993 to 2006.
Palfrey, however, has said that her company was a legal operation that offered sexual fantasy services.
Her lawyer, Montgomery Sibley Blair, began distributing copies of the phone records to the media last week after a judge lifted an injunction that had previously prevented Palfrey from doing so.
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