Sen. Vitter Spared Stand In Escort Trial

Louisiana Republican Will Not Testify About Ties To Upscale D.C. Prostitute

(AP)  Sen. David Vitter will not have to testify about his ties to an upscale Washington escort service, a defense attorney said Monday, sparing the Louisiana Republican an embarrassing trip to the witness stand.

Vitter has been on notice for more than a week that he could have to appear during the prostitution trial of Deborah Palfrey. Palfrey's attorney, Preston Burton, said he would rest his case Monday without calling Vitter or any other witnesses.

Vitter has acknowledged being involved with Palfrey's escort service and has apologized for what he called "a very serious sin." He has since avoided most follow-up questions.

That would have been tough to do on the witness stand. During the weeklong trial, men have testified about how they found the service, how often they called, what they were hoping for and whether they got it during their 90-minute, $250 visits.

Prosecutors kept Vitter off their witness list but he was named on Palfrey's defense list. It is unclear exactly what Vitter would have said to help the defense. Her previous attorney had said he wanted to question the first-term senator about what services he paid for and whether any of his visits included illegal activity.

Palfrey maintains that her firm offered fantasy services, not sexual ones. During the weeklong trial, most of the former escorts testified that they had sex with most of their clients. Under cross-examination, however, they acknowledged that was a decision they made privately with their clients.

The senator was elected in 2004 after representing Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2004. Vitter and his wife Wendy have four children.

Prosecutors were expected to rest their case Monday without calling any more witnesses, Burton said.

That means the case would also likely conclude without the testimony of military strategist Harlan Ullman or Randall Tobias, a former senior State Department official. Both men had been named among possible witnesses.

Palfrey is charged with racketeering and money laundering for allegedly running a prostitution service for years.

[mcvet]

Posted by TheGateway1 at 12:54 AM : Apr 15, 2008
+ report abuse

Question? Which party ran on "Family Values"? Which party promised to restore "Moral''s" to American Government? I know it rough on you fascist these days but if you are going to dance to the tune you have to pay the piper!! Sieg Heil Bush!

[jjp735i]

Well at least someone did not spend another $50 million to prove he had s.e.x. outside of marriage.

Both the Republican and Demodrates have been found to break the law on a regular basis. Neither side can throw stones at the other on this subject.

The only difference is that on the Republican side, it is the neocons and right wing nuts, you the know the ones who shove Family Values down our throats, who get caught, say they are sorry and are forgiven. Yet when another other person get caught, those same nuts want their heads, sorry or not.

[byeneocons]

Vitter is just more proof that idiot neocons will vote for anyone who invokes Jesus, anti-abortion, and family values. While he was banging hookers, he spent 50 million taxpayer dollars funding abstinence education throughout America.

Vitter should be the poster child for the hypocrisy of the past eight years.

[stupidrules3]

Wouldn''t it be easier if they reported on the ones who didn''t do anything wrong? Oh yeah..... we wouldn''t have anything to read at all and all those reporters would be unemployed. Throw the bums out and atart over. Vote against all incumbents.

[brianbwb-2009]

"I don''''''''t think any of our politicians care about honesty or morality." Posted by daynina

Coming from a porn site spammer, that caries a lot of nothing, take it elsewhere.

Reported, again.

[brianbwb-2009]

So we should expect all those pundits and politicians who were baying for Clinton''s head, to apply the same high moral standards to any public officials caught in extra-marital escapades, right?

Where are you, Newt Gingrich, Pats Robertson and Buchanan, Robert Novak, Rudy Giuliani, and Rush?

Oh, I forgot, Newt was outed, Pat is busy advocating assassination, Buchanan is still hanging with the David Duke crowd, Rudy was, well Rudy, and Novak is laying low, trying to avoid accessory to treason charges.

[gmond]

What is wrong with having an escort? Great gas mileage.

[flajoe1]

Unless, of course, you''''re a Democrat:
---
Posted by TheGateway1 at 12:54 AM :

And the Dems can run off a list of Repubs just as long. So what''s your point?

Oh.. this is for CBS. S. E. X. hehehehehehehehehehe

[termtex01]

"...Paying a prostitute for *** is illegal and should be prosecuted no matter who they are.Posted by Flajoe1 at 12:06 AM : Apr 15, 2008"
Unless, of course, you''re a Democrat:
"Barney Frank - - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts since 1981. Admitted to paying Stephen L. Gobie, male prostitute, for s.e.x and hiring Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used Frank%u2019s Washington apartment for prostitution; James McGreevey - - New Jersey Governor, Admitted to having a g.a.y affair. Resigned after allegations of sexual harassment, rumors of being blackmailed on top of fundraising investigations and indictments; Jesse Jackson - - Democratic candidate for President, Admitted to having an extramarital affair and fathering a illegitimate child; Gerry Eastman Studds - - U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1973 to 1997, The first openly g.a.y member of Congress, Censured by the House of Representatives for having sexual relations with a teenage House page; Neil Goldschmidt - - Oregon governor, Admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old teenager while serving as Mayor of Portland; David Giles - - candidate for U.S. Representative from Washington in 1986 and 1990,Convicted in June 2000 of child rape; Allan Turner Howe - - U.S. Representative from Utah, Arrested for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute; Joseph Waggonner Jr. - - U.S. Representative from Louisiana, arrested in Washington for soliciting a policewoman posing as a prostitute%u201D

[imnho]

ow he can get to the serious business of lookig for another escort service to satfy his needs. The funny thig is that he will ru on family value at election time.