Speed Dial: The DC Madam's Little Black Book

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Speed Dial: The DC Madam's Little Black Book — Jul 10th 2007

By Corey Spring

Late last night, Jeanne Palfrey (below), dubbed the "D.C. Madam" by the media, released 13 years worth of phone records associated with her escort business. Shortly after the records became publicly available on her website, Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana) released a statement apologizing for "a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible." Needless to say, Vitter's phone number was among the thousands of entries associated with Palfrey's business.

This is hardly Vitter's first brush with scandal. In 2002, he was accused of having an affair with a prostitute, a charge he vehemently denied, suggesting that the radio host, who he had defeated in a congressional race, was out for "revenge." Later that year Vitter backed away from a run for governor, citing strains on his marriage, and entered marriage counseling. The current revelation, however, could have repercussions for Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid, given that Vitter is serving as the southern regional chair of Giuliani's campaign team.

Vitter isn't the first government official to have been "outed" as a former customer of the D.C. Madam. In April of this year, ABC News (working off a partial list of the phone records) discovered that Randall L. Tobias, the Deputy Secretary of State, was a frequent patron of the escort service. Tobias, a strong supporter of "abstinence-only" programs, denied that any sex ever took place. He resigned one day after confirming his involvement with the escort service.

And who else has made use of Palfrey's services? The vast majority of the phone records are associated with either cell phones, hotels, or unlisted numbers. However, our own informal search of a relatively small sample of the phone records last evening was still able to return names matching a wide range of officials--including a NASA program director and a writer from the arch-conservative American Spectator. Another trio of entries originating from Dale City, Virginia, on December 2, 2004, seems to point to an assistant district attorney for Washington, D.C. (Dale City is a suburb just outside the capital.)

For her part, Jeanne Palfrey has denied that her business ever engaged in any illegal prostitution, a charge she is currently fighting in court. Palfrey did also threaten to release the records earlier this year, and it was only five days ago when an injunction barring her from releasing the information was lifted.

With 13 years of telephone records purported to weigh in at over 40 pounds, it will be an arduous task to track down the escort service's significant customers. Indeed, Palfrey herself notes on her website that deciphering the raw data "will take a small army of people skilled in computer and phone technology, investigation as well as factual knowledge regarding the significance OR non-significance of identified persons."

At the same time, with all this information now freely available to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection, it shouldn't be long before more officials like Randall Tobias and David Vitter are publicly scolded for deeds they would much rather have kept private.

Tags: David Vitter, Jeanne Palfrey

30 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

TimALoftis — 12:49PM on Jul 10th 2007

1. This is only the beginning and could get quite interesting.

alexia — 1:44PM on Jul 10th 2007

2. Let hypocrisy-outing begin.

Ken Lamb — 8:38PM on Jul 10th 2007

3. I love news like this. It makes for a human world again.

ajb3 — 10:06PM on Jul 10th 2007

4. Let he who is without sin casteth the first stone.

Gary Glenewinkel — 10:06PM on Jul 10th 2007

5. I see executive priviledge all over again, away to keep the White House clear of troubles> They ought to Inpeach everyone of them starting with Bush!!

Gary Glenewinkel — 10:07PM on Jul 10th 2007

6. I see more problems for Bush

Corey Spring — 10:08PM on Jul 10th 2007

7. I don't know ajb3 - maybe if our leaders wouldn't portray themselves as being without sin so much in the first place we wouldn't have to shine a light on them every now and then.

mary — 9:50AM on Jul 11th 2007

8. This is not a new discovery...they (the politicians) should know that they would get caught one day...sooner than they think. This made me laugh so hard. This is truly hypocrisy (Hippo Crispy) to its fullest tilt!

Robert Berkowitz — 9:51AM on Jul 11th 2007

9. Republican Sen. Vitter said "God and my wife forgave me." How can "God" forgive someone for breaking at least three of the Ten Commandments? Sen. Vitter wasn't thinking of getting caught, so he decided to have sex with a woman who wasn't his wife, and only thought of using "God" after he got caught. Even though I don't believe in an imaginary man in the sky, and I, of course, don't believe in heaven and hell. But for Sen. Vitter, I hope there is a biblical hell.

The Mage — 9:51AM on Jul 11th 2007

10. This type of activity should not be frowned upon. It's an American culture thing to look down at it. Other countries do not cast this into a bad light and prostitution is legal, safe and government controlled

bcrocket — 9:51AM on Jul 11th 2007

11. Hypocrites, I don't care where they've been dipping their wicks as long as they're doing a good job. What really pisses me off is they've become puppets of the religious right. They are promoting a set of beliefs that they personally don't hold in a cynical bid to gain and hold political power. It's come down to men in power living a Gay life style and propositioning male congressional pages while publicly condemning homosexuals as abominations. This Randall L. Tobias pisses me off too telling the rest of us to be abstinent while he's having fun with prostitutes. I'd vote for anybody that would say "Ya I sleep around, so what? Did you see my health care proposal?"

Paul — 1:44PM on Jul 11th 2007

12. Have you noticed how easy it is for people to confess sins and ask forgiveness after they get caught???

Joe — 1:09PM on Jul 11th 2007

13. How long has this been going on? Who was the president at the when this started?

treblei — 10:20AM on Jul 13th 2007

14. It will be interesting to see the party break down of frequent customers. With any luck, we can get rid of both Democrats and Republicans and finally get some much-needed third-party candidates into office!

Sooz — 1:58PM on Jul 11th 2007

15. We the people pay the politicians salaries with our hard earned tax dollars. That makes them our employees.We the people should have a say so on how our money is spent. I would fire an employee that was unethical & immoral.
We the people don't want to have our money pay for prostitutes or have Billions of our money misplaced in Iran.........
Spend our money on OUR country !!!!!

A.G. Hopkins — 1:58PM on Jul 11th 2007

16. Joe:
How long has this been going on? Who was the president at the when this started?

Who cares? What does this matter? The president has nothing to do with whether or not an escort service is in operation, or whether Senators and Representatives have been partaking of the service.

The only part of this story which makes it even remotely newsworthy is the hypocrisy of those being outed as customers who have been claiming the moral high ground, and harassing others for doing the same things they have been doing. Kind of like Foley giving Clinton a hard time about an extramarital affair while he was trying to boink young male pages. get your dictionary out and look up hypocrisy. It's what makes politics fun.

lowell — 1:58PM on Jul 11th 2007

17. Printing names of offenders using the service in their local newspapers may prove embarassing while at the same time inform spouses who are being lied to. The political figures that make the rules should be penilised at least as much as non public figures for thier infractions of those laws. The worst thing about the whole situation is only the peaple with the least power will probably get ousted but the ones with power will get covered up.

Bob — 5:36PM on Jul 11th 2007

18. It is amazing that basically all our pious elected officials men and women prmote prostition by soliciting escort services (male and female alike)but have a hard time legalizing it.Make deals under the table adding boko revnue to their secret bank accounts, off the tax payers backs and have nemurous skeletions in their closits all of which is not the AMERICAN way or is it? Guess you have to belong to the good ole boys/girls club to justify immoral actions.Then they stand high and mighty and staunchly refuse to recognize and pass laws and give rights to the tax paying,law abiding,legal citizens that are gay/lesbien.Professing that life style is immoral.They should all take a good long look in the mirror.

towpro18 — 11:09PM on Jul 12th 2007

19. who cares this is not news using an escort service is a way of life in louisana. the only thing wrong about it is it is noe legal... But then again laws are designed for the state to make money... prostitution is only illegal because politians haven't figured out how to tax it yet.
as for as david vitter is concerned this is a matter between him god and his wife. as faor as escorts services g i think on my trip to denver later today i just might use one... what two consenting adult do behind closed doors is their business and no one elses... so get it before they tax it

Barry — 11:10AM on Jul 12th 2007

20. keep parting Ladies / Men we need more of you

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