Nafissatou Diallo, Accuser In Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case, Breaks Silence
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- After nearly two months of silence, the woman accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her at a luxury Manhattan hotel is speaking out.
In a Newsweek and network TV interview, Nafissatou Diallo details what she said happened inside the presidential suite at the Sofitel in May.
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The 32-year-old hotel housekeeper claims she walked into room 2806 to clean it not knowing it was still occupied.
She said Strauss-Kahn suddenly appeared naked, grabbed her breasts, slammed the door and then wrestled her to the bedroom.
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"I said, sir, stop this. I don't want to lose my job," Diallo said. "He pulls me hard to the bed."
Diallo goes on to say she kept pushing him away but he moved her to the bathroom where she was allegedly sexually assaulted -- forced to perform oral sex.
The housekeeper says after the attack, "I run to the hallway. I was so nervous; I was so scared. I didn't want to lose my job."
Diallo insists she's telling the truth about Strauss-Kahn and adds, "Because of him they call me a prostitute."
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Earlier this month, she filed a lawsuit against the New York Post accusing the publication of libel after running stories labeling her a "hooker," "prostitute" and saying she "traded sex for money." (Click here to read a copy of the lawsuit.)
"I want him to go to jail. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money," she said.
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Diallo insists she didn't know Strauss-Kahn was a high-profile French politician until seeing reports on the television.
"I said, 'Oh, my God.' I was crying. 'They're going to kill me. I'm going to die'," she said.
Strauss-Kahn's attorney calls the interviews a last-ditch effort by the housekeeper to extract money from his client.
"We believed from the beginning that this case was not what it appeared to be," attorney Benjamin Braffman said.
The former International Monetary Fund chief's attorneys say Diallo is trying to persuade prosecutors and released a statement saying, "Her lawyers know that her claim for money suffers a fatal blow when the criminal charges are dismissed, as they must be."
A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance had no comment on the interview.
Prosecutors have been questioning Diallo's credibility after saying earlier this month that she lied about her life story and had inconsistencies in recalling the events after the alleged attack.
Do you believe Diallo? Let us know below...
