Strauss-Kahn: when you're one of the super-rich elites, how easy it is to discredit the story of an immigrant hotel housekeeper

all you need to know about the case is contained in the first sentence of the second paragraph...

from the nyt...

The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials.

Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn [emphasis added], a French politician, and the woman, prosecutors now do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself.

Since her initial allegation on May 14, the accuser has repeatedly lied, one of the law enforcement officials said.

Senior prosecutors met with lawyers for Mr. Strauss-Kahn on Thursday and provided details about their findings, and the parties are discussing whether to dismiss the felony charges. Among the discoveries, one of the officials said, are issues involving the asylum application of the 32-year-old housekeeper, who is Guinean, and possible links to people involved in criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will return to State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Friday morning, when Justice Michael J. Obus is expected to consider easing the extraordinary bail conditions that he imposed on Mr. Strauss-Kahn in the days after he was charged.

Indeed, Mr. Strauss-Kahn could be released on his own recognizance, and freed from house arrest, reflecting the likelihood that the serious charges against him will not be sustained. The district attorney’s office may try to require Mr. Strauss-Kahn to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, but his lawyers are likely to contest such a move.

even when faced with "unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter", never for a moment underestimate the capacity of our super-rich elites to sidestep accountability and make the legal system bend to their will...

make no mistake, it wouldn't matter who made the accusation against dsk, we would be seeing a wholesale destruction of the accuser's case... now, far be it from me to blindly defend an individual who is involved in a corrupt scheme to bring down an important global official, but none of the following passes my smell test...

[T]here were inconsistencies in the accuser’s asylum application when she came to the United States, unusual financial transactions into her personal accounts, and she had contacts with an incarcerated drug suspect. The day after she allegedly suffered the Strauss-Kahn assault, she was recorded talking to the suspect in jail about the possibility of getting money by proceeding with the charges against Strauss-Kahn.

[...]

While the accuser’s ties to these alleged criminal elements did raise serious doubts, law enforcement sources say they have not come across anything to suggest a premeditated conspiracy.

and this just in...

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest on Friday as the sexual assault case against him moved one step closer to dismissal after prosecutors told a Manhattan judge that they had serious problems with the case.

g-e-e-e-eez...

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The Spin is Dead, Long Live the Spin

And so finally, the Prince of Spin Tony Bliar.. I'm sorry.. Blair, departed Number 10 after his Rada-esque tears and quivering lips at both Party Conference and PM Question Time, allowing a no frills, no-nonsense, 'no spin' Chancellor to bring in a new era of conviction politics...and if you believe that, then you deserve what you get - and that is spin,spin,spin,lies, deceit,spin,spin,spin...

Gordon Brown was embroiled in another row about "spin" last night after telling MPs he may pull all of Britain's troops out of Iraq before he calls an election.

The Prime Minister said he was planning to reduce the total number of troops from 5,500 to 2,500 by next spring and held out the possibility of a total pull-out of British troops by the end of 2008. That would enable him to fight the next general election – now expected to be held in 2009 – with no troops in Iraq, neutralising the damage done to the Government by Tony Blair's decision to go to war.

He said the decision about more troop withdrawals would be taken in spring next year as Britain switched to an "over-watch" role with Iraqi forces, and it would depend on the advice of the military chiefs. But his claims were greeted with scepticism.

Mr Brown was accused of cynical media manipulation last week when he used a trip to Basra during the Conservative Party conference to imply that 1,000 British troops would be brought home by Christmas after the transfer of more tasks to Iraqi forces. It later emerged that the total included the withdrawal of 500 troops which had been previously announced.

This is a tiny HINT of what is to come. Already he threatened to call an early general election for this autumn, then seemed to change his mind at the last minute following a surprising post-Conference surge in the polls for Cameron's Tories. He will not have the quivering lips and solemn teary-eyed gazes of his thespian predecessor, but he will deceive and manipulate by different means, precisely because he appears to be lacking in histrionics. Those who are hoping for better from Brown - you have been warned!

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