Strauss-Kahn slams media over sexy SMS revelations
Laywers for former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn have asked for him to be questioned by judges investigating an alleged prostitution ring, after media reports linked him to the case. Strauss-Kahn claims he is the victim of a "media lynching" over allegations he took part in orgies with prostitutes in Washington and Paris.
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With the scandal still making daily headlines, the lawyers say their client would like to be interviewed "as quickly as possible."
Strauss-Kahn is said to have attended these parties at a Paris luxury hotel and in Washington, where he was joined by friends from France and prostitutes flown out to provide entertainment.
This week, the French daily Liberation published what it said were text messages sent by Strauss-Kahn to Fabrice Paszkowski, a northern businessman who has been charged with pimping and racketeering and detained in custody.
In one of the texts, which the paper said dated to 2009, Strauss-Kahn allegedly wrote: "I'm taking a girl to do the nightclubs in Vienna on Thursday May 14. Do you fancy bringing a little miss along?"
In another he told his friend: "Reserve the suite with the pool."
Later in the year, Strauss-Kahn allegedly suggested that Paszkowski "come and discover a magnificent sexy nightclub in Madrid with me," and then planned a trip to Ghent, in Belgium.
"For Ghent," Strauss-Kahn allegedly wrote, "you have to tell me what we're dealing with. Is it a club or a private party?"
The lawyers said the press reports and the text messages could only have come from the inquiry and demanded that the leaks stop and that Strauss-Kahn be allowed to give judges his side of the story.
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