DSK says ‘weak flesh’ the cause of sex scandal
A new book purports to give his version of events that unfolded with a maid in a New York hotel suite.
In DSK Affairs: The Second Inquiry, Strauss-Kahn’s biographer says when the maid locked eyes with the then head of the International Monetary Fund after he emerged naked from a shower, he interpreted her allegedly seductive body language as a proposition.
The one-time French presidential contender has not spoken out on the May 14 encounter, which led US police to charge him with attempted rape, and the book is being marketed as his much-anticipated side of the story.
“Nothing would have happened if I hadn’t had this consensual, but stupid relationship with Nafissatou Diallo,” Strauss-Kahn is quoted as saying in the book. “That day, I opened the door to all the other affairs.”
Lawyers for the maid immediately dismissed the book — by Strauss-Kahn biographer Michel Taubmann — as “complete fantasy.”
In key excerpts published in Paris Match magazine, Taubmann alleges Diallo acted seductively upon bursting in on a naked Strauss-Kahn.
Upon seeing the then IMF leader, she “started walking toward the exit. But she wasn’t in any hurry,” the excerpt reads. “She stares him in the eyes. Then, she looks openly at his genitals.”
The excerpt continues: “The flesh is weak. Dominique Strauss-Kahn saw a proposition. The situation amuses him. Rarely in his life has he refused a moment of pleasure. He does not resist the temptation to receive oral sex. The act is fast, very fast.”
Diallo’s version of event differs wildly from those described in the book.
She has alleged that Strauss-Kahn violently attacked her when she arrived to clean his suite, forcing her to perform oral sex on him before she quickly left the hotel.
Investigators found physical evidence, including bruises on her vagina and traces of semen in the room, but the criminal case against Strauss-Kahn was dismissed when prosecutors said they had lost faith in Diallo’s credibility.
The excerpts also suggest that Diallo might be behind the alleged theft of Strauss-Kahn’s work Blackberry. Taubmann says phone records show Strauss-Kahn last used the IMF Blackberry around the time the incident took place and suggests Diallo was one of a handful of people who could have taken it.
The possible robbery of the phone, Taubmann suggests, might have been part of a political plot to bring down Strauss-Kahn — a Socialist who was then widely seen as the top contender in France’s upcoming presidential race in April and May.
The book’s author said he has met the politician at least six times since the May 14 incident, and also had extensive email and phone contact with him.
After the criminal charges against him were dropped, Strauss-Kahn returned to France in September. In his single public appearance since his return — a live TV interview — he acknowledged “moral failings” but did not provide any details about what exactly happened behind the closed doors of the hotel suite.
Since his return, he has been plagued by other scandals, including allegations by a French writer that he sexually assaulted her during a 2003 interview and claims he was linked to a hotel prostitution ring.
Diallo’s lawyers Kenneth Thompson and Douglas Wigdor said that the allegations in the book were absurd.
“Strauss Kahn’s absurd claim that Diallo was told to steal his Blackberry and (she) somehow looked at him seductively and consented to his violent and abusive sexual acts is complete fantasy,” the lawyers said in a brief statement.
“We look forward to questioning him at trial about the sick and deranged acts he committed against Diallo” as part of her pending civil case.
The book is out on December 8.
The media furore around Strauss-Kahn has not stopped with the Diallo case. His name has appeared in media reports on a judicial probe into a prostitution ring in the north of France, known as the Carlton Affair.
That case involves a prostitution ring, discovered this year, that operated in the luxury Carlton Hotel in the city of Lille.
Strauss-Kahn last month asked to speak to investigators in the case to try to end the “dangerous and malicious insinuations.”
“In the press, they link my name to prostitution. It’s unbearable,” he is quoted as saying in the book. “I did go to sex parties, it’s true, but usually those who came to these soirees were not prostitutes.”
