The lurid tale of
Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s
alleged ‘pimping’ parties
Washington Post
Strauss-Kahn has acknowledged participating in group sex, but denied being involved in prostitution. “I challenge you to tell the difference between a naked prostitute and a naked woman of the world,” his lawyer, Henri Leclerc, said in 2011, according to the Guardian.
French judges described Strauss-Kahn as the “king of the party” — the “linchpin” who orchestrated what amounted to “carnage on a pile of mattresses on the floor,” where Strauss-Kahn allegedly partook in “pure sexual consumption.” These were no ordinary swingers’ parties, a French legal document reported by the Telegraph said. It was “factory line sex” and “orders for services.”
But beyond its salacious aspects, the case is something of a crossroads for French society. Bolstered by strict privacy laws, French journalists long prized themselves on their discretion when it came to the personal lives of public figures. Leave the sensational sex scandals to the Americans and the Brits. Personal lives — like Strauss-Kahn’s — that brim with the lurid should stay in the shadows. Until it becomes a legal matter.
Guardian
Strauss-Kahn has vehemently denied all charges of pimping, describing them as “dangerous and malicious insinuations and extrapolations”. At the time of the alleged offences, the former finance minister was tipped to be the next Socialist presidential candidate and was part of a celebrity power couple with his now-ex wife, the journalist Anne Sinclair.
He has admitted he took part in group sex but denied knowing that women at the orgies were prostitutes. “I challenge you to tell the difference between a naked prostitute and a naked woman of the world,” his lawyer, Henri Leclerc, said in 2011.
Some sex workers said they had been instructed not to mention they had been paid; others said it was impossible for him not to know. One sex worker, whose testimony to investigators was quoted in the Journal du Dimanche, said that as an “escort” it was rare to meet someone who displayed such a lack of respect as Strauss-Kahn.
The investigating magistrates said the case was not a moral crusade, arguing there were concrete indications that Strauss-Kahn was the “central pivot” of sexual encounters that favoured prostitution. Prostitution involving people over 18 is not illegal in France but pimping and living off the benefits of it is against the law.
The charge of proxénétisme aggravé, which translates as aggravated procuring for the purposes of prostitution, covers a wide range of crimes, including aiding, abetting, organising, encouraging or assisting in the prostitution of others. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. All 13 people in the dock with Strauss-Kahn, including small businessmen and a senior police chief, have denied the charges. The case will be heard by three judges but no jury.
The case, known as the Carlton Affair, began in 2011 as an investigation into an alleged prostitution network at the Hotel Carlton in Lille.
Strauss-Kahn was not involved in any alleged activity at that hotel, but his name was mentioned by sex workers in interviews with investigators and the inquiry was widened.
His high profile and the others in the dock with him have made the case one of the trials of the year. Those who will be in court with the former IMF leader include Dominique Alderweireld, a portly, cigar-chewing owner of hostess bars in Belgium who goes by the name Dodo the Pimp and said he had prepared for the case by getting his teeth whitened in Spain.
In Shakespeare's phrase , one may "Seal a bargain with a kiss"
but M. Dominique Kahn in business has had better luck.
His modus operandi has been this:
doing so with a f---.
Power and Money plus
Sex always make a potent brew
and, it has been ever thus,
as Harvard Historian Kissinger could confirm to you,
But, when not tempered by good humor, manners and elegance
and at least a touch of amour
it seems that even in that broad minded country France
it shouldn't be done on the job by a whore.
hzl
1/2/15
Henry Kissinger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_KissingerWikipediaHe was quoted as saying "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." ..... Best Book of the Year: New York Times Book Review; Newsweek; San Francisco Chronicle) ...- nfs.sparknotes.com › No Fear Shakespeare › Romeo and JulietArms, take your last embrace. And, lips, O you. The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss. A dateless bargain to engrossing death. (kisses JULIET, takes out
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