Case Against Strauss-Kahn ‘on the Verge of Collapse’ Due to Witness Credibility Issues
The hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault reportedly told her imprisoned boyfriend in a recorded phone conversation about the benefits of pursuing charges.
The call, made within a day of Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, was made to a man accused of possessing 400 pounds of marijuana, the New York Times reports. He and others have deposited cash totaling $100,000 into the woman’s bank account over the last two years, the story says. The Times broke the news, relying on information from two “well-placed” law enforcement officials.
The case against Strauss-Kahn, the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, “is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper,” the Times says.
The woman also told prosecutors she had been gang raped in her home country of Guinea, then later said she made up the story, a source told the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
Defense lawyers are expected to ask a New York judge today to end house arrest for Strauss-Kahn and release him on his own recognizance. The story notes DNA provides “unambiguous evidence” of a sexual encounter, but “prosecutors now do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself.”
