US News
Escort service was used by thousands of Washington's elite
May 5, 2007, 4:51 GMT
Washington - An escort service run for 13 years in the US capital was used by thousands of officials from international and national agencies, according to US broadcaster ABC, which was handed copies of phone records by the woman who started it all.
But in a report highly anticipated among Washington's elite political scene, ABC said the names 'just aren't newsworthy' enough to be released. Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the DC Madam, had handed phone records over to ABC that would lead to the identification of all her service's clients.
The network said the list included chief executives, officials from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, US space agency NASA and five military officers, yet did not provide any new names - a surprising reprieve for the many clients whose lawyers had reportedly called Palfrey in the hopes that some arrangement could be worked out.
Only two names had previously been released, one of which was Randall Tobias, a deputy secretary of state responsible for US foreign aid and international development, who resigned last week after his name was revealed. The other, Harlan K. Ullman, is a consultant for the Defence Department.
Palfrey has been charged with running a prostitution ring - out of an apartment in California - but in the interview with ABC said none of her actions had been illegal and threatened to expose all her clients, expecting them to testify in order to keep her out of jail.
'I will bring every last one of them in if it's necessary,' she said.
Palfrey said many of the women she employed were college graduates, and insisted that none of them were paid for sex. Instead they received 275 dollars for 90 minutes to attend functions with the clients - what Palfrey called 'fantasy sex.'
'We are not talking about selling their bodies. We are talking about selling services,' she said.
ABC's news correspondent Brian Ross said many of the people who used the service held positions of some authority in and outside of Washington, but added that their names were, frankly, 'dull' and unrecognizable to the public.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Powerful people pay for prostitutes!
This is not news.
It is, after all, the 'oldest' profession.
It's not very nice, but it's not news.
Why president Clinton did not use the service is because of me, the nation should be thankful to me.
When two dogs have sex nobody bothers, why the elite should be subjugated to this scrutiny. They are all part of the lowest of the low!!!
So they just attended functions withy them. Come on! This is not credible. The deputy secretary of state already admitted that he received massages. Yeh, right. Only a massage--but with a surprise at the end. Washington elites really think the American people are stupid. They have lied so much that they don't even realize that they no longer have any credibility.
one thing we do know. dick cheney didnt use their services. if he did do you think this woman would still be alive? where does he get his pink meat? on hunting trips. he has to see something die to get off. but in the end what is dying are the lives of our troops. and those that survive have such bad PTSD that when they come home they become homeless and psychotic, or beat their wives and kids and create a whole cycle of abuse. instead of this ridiculous war we could have put solar energy systems on every single home in the united states and gotten free winter heat for every one instead of having 3 dollar a gallon heating oil. what is it going to take to see this man is an anti christ?
what is an anti christ? someone who makes wars to create business and make money, in stead of christ who made peace and fought against the moneymakers. its that simple.
the world is an animal world and christ tried to seperate humanity from survival and put it in the realm of divinity. cheney and bush seek to rip it from divinity and throw it back to the wolves, where we tear each other apart in the so called free market which is no more than survival of the most cruel and vicious. its nazism inside the american system, inside the american constitution, and inside the church and synagogue. it will lead to only one thing; a cataclysm. but the fundamentalists will be shocked to find that the armageddon they are trying to usher in, will not necessarily contain salvation in it. they have faith misplaced. faith in greed leading to prosperity for all. thats only a small piece of it.
if i am only for myself why bother
if i am only for others i will be exhausted
if i am for both then this is civilization at its highest. balanced and true. let us begin now, before its too late.
I would question the integrity of anyone who would stoop to doing this and not realizing this would get out sooner or later - real intelligent thinking!
I did not realize Monica wore a tinfoil hat. I can actually think of one practical reason...
SP 4 should take the name 'tinfoil hat' since it seems to be such a favorite word. I question the statement that there were 'thousands' of customers.
People use amounts too loosely -think about it!
Who gives a shit, really? Why is it SUCH a BIG deal for a man to pay for sex, or for a woman to be paid for sex? I know, I know, I've heard all of the 'it degrades the women' arguments, but in the US, really, how many women turn to prostitution because they are force to? How many because it's a damned lucrative business? Right up there with drugs - legalize all 'vices' and tax the crap out of them. That's what I'm talking about.
Oh, and one more thing....
Healinghanz, you are a LOONY! Where do people like you come up with the rubbish you write? We have an all volunteer force in the US. Every one of us who have served in the 'war on terror' did so because we believed in it - most more than we believe in the imaginary delusion known as Jesus. Get over it.
Oh c'mon even if the list is dull I'm sure that half of it consists of evangelical christians who work for 'socially conservative' causes. So why ABSTAIN at just naming two people ???
Wandering Dave,
Taxing the poop out of people is cruel and unjust punishment. You have expressed your freedom of speech, though crude, and others may express their freedom of religion (though condemning).
I totally agree that we are in a huge battle against the enemies of our country, but we tore up Iraq because of false intelligence, one huge mistake, and Iraq violating one UN resolution after another. It is wise to listen sometimes to what our friends are saying than to just bully our opinions onto them and others. We give an inch but then we try to take back a foot. Our foreign policy is in a shambles and it would take a better person than me to right the ship.
Some of those ‘vices’ you espouse could ruin families and personal lives for years to come. Do you not give a whip about them? Anyhow, may we strive to be grounded in our Constitution.
I am skeptical of ABC's declaration that these names are not newsworthy. There are probably a bunch of liberals on there that ABC chooses to protect. And I'm not at all surprised that World Bank and IMF names are on it. International diplomats are the biggest perverts there are. I bet Kofi Annan was on that list.
My problem with withholding names is that soliciting from a prostitute is as much a crime as prostitution. It is unfair to expose the alleged madame without exposing the alleged johns. Double standards are wrong.
As for claiming it was only for a massage...C'mon, are we idiots?--those who want serious massages do NOT get them from escort services but from masseusses (pardon the incorrect spelling).
Publish the list; let the public decide whose names are newsworthy and whose aren't!
page: 1
wondering ?May 5th, 2007 - 05:35:49
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm---
PRESS RELEASE: Boeing Director Nanula Resigns From Board >BA
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
May 4, 2007 6:40 p.m.
CHICAGO, May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Richard D. Nanula today resigned from The Boeing Company's board of directors. Nanula, former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Amgen, had served on the board since January 2005.
'We are grateful to Richard for his service to the board and we wish him well,' said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney.
SOURCE The Boeing Company
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