WASHINGTON, July 10, 2007
Senator Caught In "D.C. Madam" Scandal
Louisiana Republican David Vitter Apologizes For 'Very Serious Sin' In His Past
-
-
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., seen here speaking at a Port of New Orleans news conference, March 30, 2005. (AP (file))
-
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called "D.C. Madam," leaves federal court in Washington with her attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, center, and federal public defender A. J. Kramer, right, on March 9, 2007. On July 5, a judge granted her permission to distribute thousands of pages of her phone records. (AP Photo/Chris Greenberg)
-
-
Interactive Political Scandals Politics can be a strange and dirty business. Check out some of the biggest missteps and mishaps in recent history.
"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said Monday in a printed statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there — with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."
The Republican senator's spokesman, Joel Digrado, confirmed the statement Monday evening in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
It said his telephone number was on old phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates before he ran for the Senate.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey is accused by federal prosecutors of racketeering by running a prostitution ring that netted more than $2 million over 13 years, beginning in 1993. She contends that her escort service, Pamela Martin and Associates, was a legitimate business.
Louisiana's Democratic governor, Kathleen Blanco, issued a statement saying she was "disappointed" over the revelation and hoped it wouldn't hurt the state's efforts to secure federal funding for rebuilding homes damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"I will travel to Washington in the coming weeks to continue my conversations with congressional leaders, and I hope this scandal will not lessen their critical support of our recovery," Blanco said.
A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, the 46-year-old Vitter was elected to his current office in 2004, becoming the first Republican from Louisiana elected to the Senate since Reconstruction. He represented Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2004.
In the House, Vitter succeeded GOP Rep. Robert Livingston, who was in line to replace Newt Gingrich as speaker until Livingston admitted to extramarital affairs and quit Congress. Livingston had been a critic of President Clinton, calling on him to resign over his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Vitter and his wife, Wendy, live in Metairie, La., with their four children.
Vitter said his wife has forgiven him, but CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports she seemed less forgiving in an interview in 2000 when President Clinton's adultery was in the news.
"I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary," she said. "If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."
Lorena Bobbitt, in a 1993 case that drew worldwide attention, cut-off her husband's penis during an argument.
Vitter, a first-term senator, has a prominent role in the campaign of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is leading the Republican field in national polls.
As Giuliani's regional campaign chairman for the South, Vitter could prove another headache for Giuliani, who has faced a spate of bad news, including the federal cocaine indictment of his South Carolina chairman, state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel. Giuilani has also been under fire for refusing to fire Monsignor Alan Placa, a Catholic priest and childhood friend suspended from the church over abuse allegations, from Giuliani's security consulting firm.
Palfrey's attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, told the AP, "I'm stunned that someone would be apologizing for this." He said Palfrey had posted the phone numbers of her escort service's clients online Monday, but that he had not been aware Vitter's number was among them. Vitter's statement was sent to the AP's New Orleans bureau Monday evening.
Until Vitter's admission, the most prominent client of Palfrey's to emerge was senior State Department official Randall Tobias, who resigned from his post in April after ABC confronted him about his use of the service.
Palfrey's Web site contains several pages phone records, but no names, dating from August 1994 to August 2006. Palfrey wrote on the Web site that she believed a disk containing the records had been pirated, and said she was posting the records "to thwart any possible distorted version and to ensure the integrity of the information."
Palfrey revealed details of her escort service on ABC's news magazine "20/20" on May 4. At the time, ABC said it could not link any information in records from 2002 to 2006, provided by Palfrey, to members of Congress or White House officials but did find links to prominent business executives, NASA officials and at least five military officers.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More From U.S.
The secrets of tennis legend 
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
... - 18
- next
See all 346 CommentsListen to what his ******* wife said in 2000 about what she would do if she ever found that he had cheated on her (used as an opportunity at the time to bash the Clintons).
http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=PressRoom/VittersView&ID=45877250-6d36-4e4c-814d-d2037f75b51f
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/10/29/lousiana_race/index.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/42264168/DC.Madam.phone.list.01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/42262830/DC.Madam.phone.list.02.rar
DW
:)
At this point, none of us should be gloating...this could get ugly...
BTW, I haven't heard anyone berating Vitter's wife for obviously forgiving him and not divorcing him. But people are still jumping all over Hillary because she chose that same path...there's just no pleasing some people.
Equally hypocritically, the social advantages of being a US Senator's wife in Washington mellowed out her threatened surgical response to the unfaithfulness Hillary faced. Those invitations helped heal the hurt.
The GOP leadership is probably relieved. Vitter's hookers were both adults and female. After Foley's pedophilia and the hypocrisy of both the drug use and Haggard's ****-Hooker finally, there's a heterosexual GOP scandal.
At least Vitter spared us the added hypocrisy of a tearful, sobbing confession and plea for forgiveness or going into hooker rehab.
The only good thing to come from Mr. Vitter's "sin" (which apparently took place over a five year period in two different cities) is that he is one more nail in the neocon evangelical coffin that gave us George W. Bush Jr. and the trillions of dollars of problems and hatred that will take decades to change.
The next time someone promises you a check to vote for them, 'just say no.'
Posted by processor2 at 05:10 PM : Jul 10, 2007
Nope. Not liberals' words just RandalDS'. People who do not care what others do or who they harm usually feel that way because they can empathize (put themselves in the perps place) and somehow feel comfortable with it. When it comes to adultery, they disregard not only how much this person harms their spouse and family, but what that capability says about that person and his motives and actions. Like he is a callous, calculating person. Those capable of this--are usually cut from the same cloth and do not respect or care about anyone or anything except themselves and their pleasure (families and others be damned) I certainly do not condone what either man has done and I don't care what job he does for the country or how good--that one act, which could/should have been done after a divorce, shows me what a person is capable of--and man or woman, I'd like to think my standards and choices in humans runs to better than those without regard for others.
Despite the "good job" either man is doing, surely someone with enough class and self respect to keep his prick out of strange holes can be found for the job. People only rise to the level of our expectations. My own are higher than a male w h o r e who thinks mostly with his little head and operates like an animal with no self respect or respect of for his own marriage---instead of using his real brain. A person who disrespects his own marriage has no self respect. (since they think so little of the lives they will harm with their acts if they get caught, catch a disease, get blackmailed or divorced) and a person who cannot respect himself usually can not respect anything or anyone else and will d1ck, lie and cheat on them as well--given the opportunity.
MOST DEMOCRATS I KNOW COULD CARE LESS AND WOULD LIKE ALL THIS STUFF TO REMAIN OUTSIDE OF THE POLITICAL DIALOGUE. Posted by JonStorm at 11:54 AM : Jul 10, 2007
Well... I am an Independent not a Democrat (you know, that pivotal group....) and I DO care about whether my rep is honest or not. Adulterers are not honest and do not honor their vows --if they can break ones as significant as to their spouse and family, they certainly will not think twice about fvcking over the public who are strangers. There is a sayin:
"if you want to know what kind of husband a man will be--watch how he treats his mother. But if you want to know what kind of integrity a man truly has, just watch how he treats his wife" The acts of both men are despicable and I note that most who are magnanimous about such sickness are also men. Despite the "good job" either man is doing, surely someone with enough class and self respect to keep his *** out of strange holes can be found for the job. People only rise to the level of our expectations. My own are higher than a male *** who thinks mostly with his little head and operates like an animal with no self respect or respect of for his own marriage---instead of his real one.
*************************
Now, ain't he just the sweetest thing. These goofy Republicans will support anyone as long as that person peppers their conversation with Jesus. These far-right Republicans are the most gullible group I have ever seen.
This was during and after he called for Livingston and Clinton's resignations for marital infidelity and campaigned on family moral values.
That's true. If I owned Microsoft (and had an ironclad pre-nup) I think just about any wife would be very forgiving indeed.
Now I just have to hope the light of my life doesn't read this blog.
;-)
Posted by DecentIQ at 05:24 PM : Jul 10, 2007
You're right...I'd go after her in a heartbeat. She is HOT. The only problem is that with my wife it'd be my last heartbeat. LOL!
He really is a pretty good mayor and I think he'll be re-elected with no problem. This IS L.A. after all where cheating on one's spouse is more popular then football.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
... - 18
- next
See all 346 Comments