Lawyer for Strauss-Kahn Accuser Says She Didn’t Raise Money Issue in Recorded Prisoner Call
A lawyer for the hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is disputing leaked assertions that she told an imprisoned friend about the financial benefits of pursuing charges.
Lawyer Kenneth Thompson says his client, housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo, wasn’t the first to raise the issue and she had told the prisoner to stop talking about it, the New York Times reports.
According to a report by the New York Times last month, a tape of the conversation revealed Diallo said words to the effect, “Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing.” Thompson disagreed with that account after listening to the tapes with Diallo on Wednesday.
Thompson says the prisoner had asked Diallo if she was safe, and Diallo responded that she was going to see a lawyer. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” she had said. At another point, Thompson says, the prisoner suggested Diallo could make money from the case, and Diallo told him to stop; the lawyer would deal with it.
“Ms. Diallo never said, ‘I am going to get this guy’s money’ or anything about scheming to get his money,” Thompson said.
