When stories fall apart – Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Dave Ross Commentary – Listen: When stories fall apart – Dominique Strauss-Kahn

The case made him the first head of the IMF whose name everybody knew. The reports we got about Dominique Strauss-Kahn — and what he did to that hotel maid — left no room for doubt. Remember?

“She entered to clean Strauss-Kahn’s room when he came out of the bathroom naked and threw her to the ground,” said one report.

Slam dunk!

“Prosecutors describe the evidence against Dominique Strauss Kahn as getting stronger by the day,” said another report.

SO of COURSE we jumped to conclusions! We were told he was The Great Seducer, Remember?

“Strauss-Kahn also had a reputation as a predatory womanizer,” said one report.

We mentioned him so often we had to start calling him DSK to save time.

New York hotel maids demonstrated against him.

And now — we’re being told that was all wrong? Well, not quite. Something happened. The question is whether it was consensual, and who the jury is going to believe:

“There was nothing which was remotely consensual,” That’s what the maids attorney said at the time. But to prove that in court, the jury has to believe the maid. And it turns out she has a history of lying and has banked suspiciously large sums of money.

Yes, that was DSK’s DNA on the maid’s uniform, but the question is whether it got there by mutual consent.

I can think of several general lessons from this:

Old lies have a habit of coming back to haunt you, reporters should always say “allegedly” until there’s a verdict, and consensual or not, powerful businessmen would be wise to refrain from spilling DNA on the maid. Perhaps hotels could post a little sign near the bathroom.

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