NEW ORLEANS, July 16, 2007
Sen. Vitter Denies Prostitution Charges
Louisiana Republican Apologizes For Past Actions, Says He Will Return To Work This Week
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Play CBS Video Video Sen. Vitter Issues An Apology CBS News RAW: With his wife standing by his side, Sen. David Vitter apologizes for his past actions in the wake of the "D.C. Madam" scandal.
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Sen. David Vitter, R-La., speaks to the media with his wife, Wendy, in Metairie, La., on July 16, 2007. (CBS)
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Jeanette Maier, former madam of a high-priced New Orleans brothel, poses for a photograph in Gretna, La., on July 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Also last week, Jeanette Maier, the former madam of a New Orleans brothel that was shut down several years ago claimed Vitter was a client in the 1990s. However, her defense lawyer and a U.S. attorney who prosecuted her said Vitter's name never came up in that investigation.
The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans also reported that Vitter had used the services of another New Orleans prostitute.
Vitter, 46, referred vaguely to the New Orleans-based reports but said that "those stories are not true."
At a coffee shop near where the news conference was held, Anthony Martina, 55, said he didn't vote for Vitter in the last election but probably would in the next.
After the 2005 hurricanes, Martina said he was having trouble negotiating the bureaucracy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency but Vitter and his office helped him get the recovery aid he was due.
"The man's doing his job and the people who work for him are doing their job," Martina said. "He's a man," he continued. "It (the situation) doesn't change the politics of what he's doing for the state. ... He's a human being just like anybody else. That's a family issue that I think he and his wife have to deal with. If it was a political issue, then the people would have to deal with him."
The first-term Republican said he has worked hard on his marriage and on living by the values he has long espoused as a politician.
"I believe I received forgiveness from God. I know I did from Wendy," Vitter said. "Since then, I've gotten up every morning, committed to trying to live up to the important values we believe in. If continuing to believe in and acknowledge those values causes some to attack me because of my past failings, well, so be it.
"Unfortunately, my admission has incurred some longtime political enemies and those hoping to profit from this situation to spread falsehoods, too."
Vitter did not take questions, but Wendy Vitter stepped to the podium and called her husband "my best friend."
"When David and I dealt with this years ago, I forgave David and made the decision to love him and recommit to our marriage," she said. "To forgive is not always the easy choice, but it was and is the right choice for me."
Vitter, a Harvard University graduate and Rhodes Scholar, was elected to Congress in 1999 to fill the vacancy left when Rep. Robert Livingston, R-La., resigned amid disclosures of marital indiscretions. Vitter was elected to the Senate in 2004.
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she would have no comment on the matter until she speaks with Vitter.
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See all 237 CommentsPosted by didntinhale at 04:58 PM : Jul 17, 2007
Sheeeeeet, she could rock my world anytime!(looking around to see if wife is watching the keyboard)
Posted by didntinhale
Gee, I really never considered myself a liberal but after reading this I'm just wondering - does Anne have a sister?
By the way, I can't stop laughing . . .
Posted by toldyouso21
A high percent of republicans have **** critters or have been treated for them.
That is one reason not to date a republican.
(for reference see Ann Coulter)
You might want to let your hamster run across your keyboard. Your posts would be more logical.
From her hubby having unbridled beastie *** with prostitutes?
Hmmmmmmm. Wendy Bobbitt? ...er we mean Vitter---how's that HIV testing coming along?
Vitter, Clinton, Haggert, Foley, Bakker, all of them are hipocrites.
But I don't think Clinton has been in the news lately for his sexual indescretions. Vitter, the "Family Values Guy" has.
Posted by tejasdemo at 12:01 PM : Jul 17, 2007
Hell, he probably just had his secretary. Didn't her resume say she worked at the bunny ranch or some such drivel.
you are an absolute scum.
Please have your wife tested for the AIDS virus once a month.
You may want to explain to the children why daddy is taking mommy to the clinic.
Solution: Quit paying hookers for s/x.
Posted by wadyaknow at 10:25 AM : Jul 17, 2007
Spewed hate? Sounds like you might be doing some spewing there yourself.
Who is Professor Harold Hill?
His poor wife hauled up their on stage to be humiliated...
I feel sorry for her and all of the genuine relgious people duped by these phonies- Mark Foley and the Dennis Hassert cover-up, Ted Haggard, etc. Add Sen. Vitter now-
Pretty pathetic- "family values" to these guys means they look great in publicity pictures-
You can find the a copy of the letter at, go to http://www.vitter.senate.gov/forms/abstinenceLetter.pdf.
It seems like for 50 million dollars, he could find hookers for all the teenagers.
Actually, I'm the senator who lives in Louisiana, is back every week, and holds town hall meetings in every parish in the state.
Because traditional marriage is such a core social institution that predates both government and organized religion, I think this is about more than "two guys in love filing joint tax returns" -- like the way we raise children, meet the most basic of their emotional needs and transmit values to the next generation.
When marriage means anything or everything, it means nothing. It's trivialized and weakened as an institution. When it's all about adult individual rights, the interests of children and society suffer.
But then again, maybe the liberals are right.
Family stability, child-rearing, the transmission of values -- how trivial.
David Vitter
U.S. Senator
NOTE: I THINK THE VALUES HE TRANSMITTED TO HIS CHILDREN THIS PAST WEEK ARE WORSE THAN ANYTHING ANY GAY COUPLE WOULD TRANSMIT TO THEIR CHILDREN.
Washington
Hypocrites must be revealed and those infected with it must be excised.
If I were Vitter's wife, I'd get an AIDS test then divorce him
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See all 237 Comments