Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Sarkozy to IMF chief in 2007: Control yourself

International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, right, shakes hands with French President Nicolas Sarkozy as he leaves the presidential Elysee Palace after talks Nov. 17, 2010, in Paris.
(Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

While the International Monetary Fund's chief waits in New York's Rikers Island jail for his next court date on charges that he tried to rape a maid in a posh Manhattan hotel, news reports have detailed numerous other allegations of impropriety toward women on the part of the Frenchman.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's reputation in France for aggressively pursuing women was apparently so bad that French President Nicolas Sarkozy personally warned the former finance minister to control himself in Washington before he left France in 2007 to head the IMF, the British newspaper The Times reported ($) Wednesday.
"Over there they don't joke about this sort of thing," The Times quoted Sarkozy saying to Strauss-Kahn then. "Your life will be passed under a magnifying glass. Avoid taking the lift alone with interns. France cannot permit a scandal."

IMF head under constant watch while behind bars
Maid's lawyer: IMF sex assault case no setup
Geithner: Strauss-Kahn not in position to run IMF

After news broke Saturday that the New York Police Department arrested Strauss-Kahn at John F. Kennedy International Airport on suspicion of attempted rape, Sarkozy aides told The Times that the French president rolled his eyes.
"We did warn him," Sarkozy said, according to his aides.

Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty Monday to the charges. News reports indicate his attorneys will pursue a defense that the IMF chief and the maid had sex but that it was consensual.

Jeffrey Shapiro, the maid's attorney, told "Early Show" co-anchor Chris Wragge Wednesday that there was nothing consensual about Saturday's incident.

"There was nothing about any aspect of this encounter between this young woman and the defendant which was remotely consensual or could be construed as consensual, either physical contact or sexual contact," Shapiro said.

Shapiro characterized Strauss-Kahn's possible strategy as "spinning."

"In effect, what his defense amounts to is attempting to accuse the victim and so she can't step forward," Shapiro said.

No comments: