Wednesday, May 09, 2012

DC Madam account: "Why don't you...?"


Ed.--I was recently contacted by one of Jeane's former escorts, a first I might add, since most of them have kept a low-profile for years now. I know all of their names, every single one, because several lists are in my possession from defense materials. That doesn't matter to me. Many of those names came out in the research of the phone records from numerous writers and sites, no one really gives a shit from what I can gather.  A French documentary team might be speaking with some of them, but I seriously doubt that they're being that thorough.

Also, this being America, there seems to be some confusion/conflation over what a historical account or a chronicle is, and what a book about an event by a non-participant constitutes. Because of the nature of the case, you would have to be God and been everywhere at once to have truly experienced, maybe possible at the NSA, not possible for the rest of us mortals. Hey, not everybody had a course in historiography, so let me make it clearer for those who haven't: the book is an account by someone who was a participant in other areas of the story. At one point there was only Jeane, me, and my co-researcher. After the firing of Montgomery Blair Sibley there was no one for a time, then she proceeded pro se with Preston Burton, her court appointed counsel who came back for seconds (he won out and got to travel to the estate salad bar for limitless trips in the end).

Around five days ago I got this comment from the someone claiming to be one of Palfrey's former escorts (see my responses):

Andrea Detty said...
I very much hope that your book is not filled with conspiracy theories. I worked for her and was in the trial. I'm so sick of people that know nothing, come to these "of[f] the wall" ideas. I was not the biggest fan of her. The only thing I agree with everyone, is that the trial was a complete waste of time, money, and resources. But if you were writing a book about her and the trial, shouldn't you have contacted people that were actually involved with it?
Friday, May 4, 2012 3:11:00 AM EDT

Yeah, you don't have to hope, there won't be any of that bullshit in it and do your homework some time. And really, that's all great Andrea...so why not drop me a line and fill me in on what you know? All of it, for truth, for the historical record, for the future. 

Or is setting the record straight unimportant here? Detty testified at Palfrey's trial in her favor, that Jeane was unaware of her soliciting, but to be blunt, the defendant was "guilty as shit" as one inarticulate Los Angeles attorney put it, the fact. The truth is, I have no idea if this is Detty at all. If they want to contact me, go through TOR, some third party service, encrypt it, do it, or forever hold your peace. Were they serious I'd have gotten an email from them and that's yet to happen, will almost certainly never happen. This is possibly someone trying to cause confusion about a book they've never read, that's not even out. Angela, I never heard of you either until I read the trial transcript. There was no need for me to spend good money to have someone lie to me, they can do that via cell phones, Blackberrys, iPads, email, etc., the upside of the technology and common sense. Yes, the trial was a "complete waste of time, money, and resources," and so was going to speak with her in person for reasons I'm sure you're familiar with if you are who you claim to be.

Put up, or shut up, spread 'em, now, not later. No? I thought so.

As I told this person in my responses in comments, I've put appeals out to the former escorts of PMA years ago with no response whatsoever. Am I alone? Are you fucking kidding me? No one has gotten to speak with any of them outside of a handful like Abby Cather ("Jennifer"), Detty, but nothing tangible. One escort attempted to contact journalist Ken Silverstein back in the spring of 2007 about Shirlington Limo that she'd been taken to appointments by them, information that could have linked Jeane and Pamela Martin & Associates to Chris Baker, maybe Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes, then to Hookergate itself. 

If any of the former escorts had anything to say to me or to others they would have by now (serious inquiries only). They haven't because most of them are scared shitless from legal harassment. You could write twenty books on this case and never get close to describing it fully. That's how writing about an event goes. Additionally, the public isn't going to sit through thousands of pages. The account contains literally hundreds of pages of primary information from the case. Beyond that, I suppose I need to write about who the attending janitorial staff was during the trial. 

I repeat: this book isn't like Tom Wolfe where he wasn't a part of the story, where everything was second-hand. There is that--a lot of that--because so much of this case took place in cyberspace, where an information war was fought against the defendant, for starters. Have you noticed that almost everything is mediated these days, indirect, because of the technology? No, of course not, that would be to understand the nature of the historical moment we live in. You know, I'm sorry, it's true, I was unable during the proceedings to go post-human and have my mind encoded on a microchip, then uploaded onto the web, sorry, my mistake there. Put up, or shut up, don't fuck me around. I'm absolutely sure it's going to be the latter. "I would have talked with you, but you got up in my shit"--bullshit, you have no serious intention of setting the record straight, none of you former PMA escorts have but a small handful. I'm very serious, as a heart attack, as the club of a riot cop crashing down on a dissident's skull. No one needs to remind me that I learned the true meaning of "lying whore" from all of this.
 "Why don't you blah-blah-blah?" Kiss my ass? Why yes, yes you should.

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5 comments:

  1. Matt,

    I have someone claiming Jeane was prosecuted for tax evasion in comments under my last post on the blog. I responded, but know you could do it better...

    Any ETA on the book yet? I hope all is well with you and didn't want to bother so you could finish that project!

    Vicky

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  2. Heya Vicky, all is well and we're in the final days of the book. Moving on to the index and table of contents revisions. Cover art's done, no later than early July. Rest assured before the national elections so it can sink in good. ;0)

    I'm wondering what Jack Burkman's up to these days besides chasing women in Georgetown? Dick Morris? Vitter? It's safe to assume that they're still out doing what they always do: screwing the world up.

    Jeane wasn't prosecuted for under-reporting, in fact: http://chickasawpicklesmell.blogspot.com/2008/09/from-palfrey-trial-transcript-april-9th.html

    I go into this in the book, it went unreported in the mainstream press and most places. No need to wonder why. Seems to me that would have made for a good appeal since they completely fucked up procedure, hard call.

    Jeane was going to kill herself to get the abatement on her assets if she lost, period. It explains a lot and is never referred to by the conspiracy crowd saying she was "suicided."

    As of yet, I haven't seen one shred of evidence that would jibe up against my experience in the case.

    I literally worried for this woman's life for ten months straight, from almost day one. Even before that, watching her in the footage on the news, the interviews, and in her language, it was clear to me that something was very wrong with her demeanor.

    It still boggles my mind that she came to me for help, but there it is, she did.

    Yes, there has been a lot of work, but it will show in the text. There are over 23,000 lines of text, so you can imagine the workload. It won't be perfect. It will be direct and comprehensible, accessible.

    The difference between mine and Sibley's is that his is more linear and focuses on the legalistic side, which is fine, as it should be. I go into that, but also into the narrative side of things, cultural analysis (nothing too heady), some historical context, themes in the scandal and how it was a part of Hookergate, background on contractors, and many emails between Jeane, me, and others, some of which came in chains that were accidentally attached and sent to me!

    There will be court documents, but not so many it's torture. Lots of key, primary documents, many in full, including the final settlement of the case in 2010 with the estate. That's a key one. Jeane knew what she was doing and was part-victim, part-villain, like the rest of us.

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  3. I anticipate its availability Matt! I think you're a perfectionist and I'm sure it is already perfect.

    Too true... I suppose that I was also part villain and part victim. I'm tired at this point though... not interested in doing much except go for a walk on the beach.

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  4. Thanks Vicky, and I agree: a walk on the beach, definitely. I WISH it was perfect, but that will never be. You keep finding things that make your hair turn...whiter. ;0)

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  5. PS: I hope your energy renews. We're all victims and oppressors under bad systems.

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