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Investigative Journalist Implies DSK Was Set Up By Sarkozy's Party
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 27, 2011
Modified Nov 27, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Nov 27, 2011
Modified Nov 27, 2011
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Was Dominique Strauss-Kahn framed by Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party? Journalist Edward Jay Epstein sure seems to think so, and lays out several "mysteries" in the New York Review Of Books surrounding the downfall of the man who many believed would be the next president of France.
Anonymous sources (whose identities he shared with his editors) told Epstein that DSK was warned by a "woman friend temporarily working as a researcher at the Paris offices of the UMP" that a personal email to his wife had recently been read there, and that his Blackberry was bugged. Another warning from "a friend in the French diplomatic corps" suggested that "an effort would be made to embarrass him with a scandal." That Blackberry is the same one that DSK used for IMF and personal business, and that he believed he lost at the hotel. According to Epstein, it was never found.
After the maid, Nafissatou Diallo, alleged that DSK sexually harassed her, the security team called John Sheehan, who works as a security director for Accor, the French company that owns the Sofitel. His boss has ties to Ange Mancini, who is now Sarkozy's coordinator for intelligence. Sheehan is allegedly seen on surveillance footage with an unidentified man who accompanied Diallo to the hotel security celebrating shortly before police arrive: "The two men high-five each other, clap their hands, and do what looks like an extraordinary dance of celebration that lasts for three minutes."
One of DSK's attorneys, William Taylor, who claims to have seen the footage, tells the Post, "They could have won the lottery. It seems directly related to speaking with Diallo and calling the police." He continues, "We know [the maid] isn’t telling the truth,” he said. “But now we have to wonder whether the hotel and the French government are telling the truth."
Accor claims it has reviewed the hotel surveillance and didn't find the dance, and the UMP's secretary general told reporters, "To imagine that what happened to Mr Strauss-Kahn was the object of any kind of involvement by the UMP, excuse me, but let me say that it's a bit obvious as a manipulation" on the part of DSK and the Socialist Party.
Epstein's article is packed with other riddles (who stayed in the suite across from DSK's that Diallo lied about entering? Why did a bell boy enter DSK's suite while he was showering? Who is that unidentified man?) but he's no stranger to stoking conspiracy theories. He's written extensively on JFK's assassination and "mysteries" surrounding the 9/11 Commission. It's more likely that we'll never know exactly what happened in DSK's room in those 6-7 minutes other than the two spilled their semen and saliva. Look for DSK at a theater near you in 2013.
Tagged
crime
dominique strauss-kahn
dsk
france
nicolas sarkozy
sexual assault
socialist party
sofitel
UMF
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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