"Not God but a swastika, So black no sky could squeak through. Every woman adores a Fascist. The boot in the face, the brute, brute heart of a brute like you." --Sylvia Plath, "Daddy." From "Ariel", 1966.
Washington D.C.--It's beginning to look like Christmas in May. Beginning Friday, we're going to see Deborah Jeane Palfrey month, starting at ABC. Tony Blair is leaving office this month. Also, a 20/20 segment has already been taped with Palfrey's interview--and more names of clients who used her prostitution service.
Now, more of these "Johns" are coming forward through their attorneys to quash them being named. Some, it is being reported, are offering Ms. Palfrey out of court deals and inducements. We can only guess what they would be. If they don't include immunity from prosecution or funds for her defense, she isn't going to be interested.
Ms. Palfrey is a petite lady, and we all know what that means: hot-blooded, vindictive, with a knife gripped in her teeth. Big girls are friendlier. The unidentified John's attorney--Steven Salky--must have a lot to lose. One has to wonder if he's another Bush administration member, or if he is a she. Any hints at their identity are to be regarded as suspect. Forget the glass-ceiling...this is the ass-ceiling.
One thing we do know is that there were many-many members of the Pentagon's officer class involved. A multi-part series on the scandal can be expected from ABC, based on the scope of the scandal. The Washington Post is reporting today that Palfrey's lawyer Montgomery Blair Sibley has estimated (before his replacement) 1,000 former-clients have been identified, with five to ten of them being slated to be "publicly identified" soon:
ABC News spokesman Jeffrey W. Schneider said yesterday that such estimates are premature. Although the program is being promoted with excerpts on ABC's Web site, he said "20/20" has not finished its reporting. "I don't think anybody can tell you what we're going to do," Schneider said. He declined to comment on how ABC will determine whom to name, but he said it typically would consider the public interest and possible hypocrisy by public officials. (Washington Post, 05.03.2007)It doesn't appear that there are any solid inducements coming from Palfrey's former clients, or any testimony from many of them that her business was legitimate--unless you count Randall Tobias who resigned from his State Department post last Friday.
His example is probably the reason why Deborah Jeane Palfrey is only being contacted through attorneys, but the D.C. madame illustrates a good understanding of the law. She should, she has a Bachelor's in pre-law and a nine month paralegal certification. She's done her homework on this, and she's not the type to go down quietly. Somehow, we all knew the GOP's reign would end like this, but that's because its all happened before in other eras. Human venality is timeless and unalterable. There are only so many ways to be corrupt. Knowing this, Palfrey kept a staggering 46 pounds of phone records, which she has put in the custody of ABC so as to avoid a court injunction against her releasing them. ABC gets the scoop while she gets the satisfaction of releasing the names anyway.
It's all her gambit to save herself by pressuring the former-clients into coming to her assistance. Palfrey's former lawyer--Sibley--has also alleged that a current-or-former-Naval Academy Instructor was an employee of the madame. Another one caught this writer's attention, but there are no specifics whether they are a standing Bush administration economist, or a former one:
ABC plans to air a report about Palfrey on Friday night on its “20/20” newsmagazine. The network has said that the list of Palfrey’s customers also includes a Bush administration economist [Ed.-my emphasis], a prominent chief executive officer, the head of a conservative think tank, lobbyists and military officials. Also, Randall Tobias resigned last week from a senior State Department post after ABC confronted him about his use of the service. Tobias confirmed to ABC that he used the service but denied that he had sex with the escorts. (AP, 05.03.2007)If the individual named as "A Bush administration economist" falls into the "former" category, his name could be current Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels. I always wondered where he got that scar on his right-cheek. Maybe he got it as a mob enforcer collecting gambling debts. Watching "our man bitch" fall could be very satisfying to this native of Indiana. The state has been a proving-ground for neocon privatization, a model slated for the rest of the country; his downfall would aid the common good beyond the confines of the state.
Many Hoosiers are more-than-ready for this to become a reality. It should also be noted that federal investigators moved on this case right before the 2006 midterms, with the U.S. Attorney firings in the backdrop. It could mean someone was trying to put out a lot of fires, though it's doubtful any of them were U.S. Attorneys. Palfrey has created a legal defense fund site for herself, and is posting a selection of her 1996 phone records. There aren't any names, but what she's listed is 124 phone numbers with the city-of-origin listed beside them, the times, the duration of each call, and the charge for each.
This is hard evidence, and allows the clients to peruse them for their own (previously unlisted?) number(s). Give them a call, it's easy. I'm sure several of them are defunct, but it's certain a few aren't. Several might get you a line at the Pentagon, or even the White House. Others will likely get you a lobbyist's office, while others will take one down the rabbit hole. I'm happily surprised by ABC's decision to do this story, it's real journalism, the juiciest kind. Your best bet is watching ABC's blotter online.
A new story surrounding the case today is the fact that a legal secretary who worked for the D.C. law firms Akin Gump Strauss Houer & Feld LLP also did some moonlighting for Palfrey's escort business, ostensibly manning phones and servicing the clients. It seems nobody pays decent wages anymore. It might behoove many such firms to do so, since loyalty is at-a-premium these days.
This is how influential Akin Gump is:
Considered one of the most powerful firms in Washington, Akin Gump partners make up a who's who of Washington insiders, including Vernon Jordan, former Speaker of the House Tom Foley, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and co-founder Robert Strauss, an adviser to numerous presidents. (ABC, "The Blotter", 05.03.2007. Don't take the brown acid.)One has to speculate if this is all a front for a system of rewards (prostitutes, money & boardroom ghost-jobs) to politicos who follow the agendas of lobbyists, the RNC, and the string-pullers behind them all. Carrots and sticks don't cut it anymore. Add-to-the-mix the fact that the FBI's enforcement of white-collar crime has plummeted, and you understand better why it's the IRS who initiated this whole case.
ABC's "The Blotter" Today:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/in_newsletters_.html
AP Today: http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/NEWS01/70503029/1002
The Washington Post Today: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202537.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Want to read some of Deborah Jeane Palfrey's phone records from 1996?: http://www.deborahjeanepalfrey.com/
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/05/in_newsletters_.html
AP Today: http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/NEWS01/70503029/1002
The Washington Post Today: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202537.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Want to read some of Deborah Jeane Palfrey's phone records from 1996?: http://www.deborahjeanepalfrey.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment