D.C. Madam Update: Vitter, Tobias, Ullman spared long-anticipated (and well-deserved) humiliation
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In anticipation of the trial of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey (subject of a lengthy profile in the San Francisco Chronicle a couple of weeks ago), speculation began about whether or not diaper-loving David Vitter would be forced to testify for the defense:
An attorney who has represented Sen. David Vitter, R-La., told a federal judge … that a client of his who was subpoenaed by the defense to testify in the so-called D.C. Madam case would assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination if the court insists he appear as a witness.The attorney, Henry Asbill, did not name his client in his brief appearance Friday before trial Judge James Robertson in Washington, D.C., District Court.
After his appearance, he said he was “not commenting” when asked if he is still representing Vitter. …
Vitter’s office, asked for comment, issued a brief statement that did not confirm whether Asbill was representing the senator at Friday’s court hearing.
“I want to reaffirm how sorry I am to have hurt the people I love so deeply, starting with my family and certainly including the people of Louisiana,” Vitter said. “I continue to work every day to make up for that.”
Nobody was fooled; of course the mystery client was Vitter:
Defending herself against a sortie of felony charges stemming from running an alleged interstate prostitution business, Deborah Jeane Palfrey has subpoenaed Sen. David Vitter, R-La., to testify. …Through his lawyer, Vitter has said he will not testify.
At a last-minute hearing Friday, U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson appeared to reject an argument by a lawyer who has represented Vitter that his client’s testimony would be “totally inappropriate,” reported Legal Times. The judge declined to nullify the subpoena.
On April 7, the first day of the trial:
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of running an upscale prostitution service for a white-collar clientele in the Washington area, went on trial in federal court … as a prosecutor warned jurors that they will hear “embarrassing” explicit testimony from call girls and customers, most of them appearing reluctantly under court orders and grants of immunity.“You’re going to hear from clients, johns, who perhaps haven’t told their families … about their involvement with this agency,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Connelly said. Describing the witness chair in U.S. District Judge James Robertson’s courtroom as “the hottest seat in D.C. this week,” she told the jurors they could “rest assured that very few” of those called to testify are looking forward to the experience. …
Palfrey’s attorney, Preston Burton, said in court … that his witness list includes two names that have previously surfaced in the case: Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who has publicly apologized to constituents without saying what he had done wrong; and Randall L. Tobias, who resigned as a deputy secretary of state after acknowledging to ABC News that he used Palfrey’s service for massages.
Connelly said her witness list includes Harlan K. Ullman, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who developed a military doctrine that he called “shock and awe.” Ullman’s attorney, who was observing in court yesterday, would not comment on his client’s involvement. Palfrey has identified Ullman as a customer.
But by Monday, April 14, we were cheated out of the delightful spectre of Vitter squirming in the hot seat:
Sen. David Vitter was spared the embarrassment of testifying in the D.C. Madam trial Monday when the defense rested without calling any witnesses.Vitter and Randall Tobias, a former senior State Department official, had been on defense attorney Preston Burton’s list of possible witnesses in the federal racketeering case against Burton’s client, Deborah Jeane Palfrey.
But Palfrey’s trial ended Monday without testimony from a single high-profile witness. Palfrey had said the thousands of clients who used her former “high-end erotic fantasy” escort service included the rich and powerful.
Instead, the trial was dominated by testimony from 13 former escorts, all prosecution witnesses, who related what they did in private with clients. Prosecutors hoped their testimony would prove Palfrey was the mastermind of a lucrative sex-for-pay scheme. …
Burton said after the trial ended he didn’t call any witnesses because, “I don’t think they (prosecutors) proved their case.”
Political analyst Elliott Stonecipher said Burton’s decision spared Vitter major damage to his political career. ..
Stonecipher said Vitter likely would have invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination had he taken the stand. His critics would have used that to accuse Vitter of being hypocritical about his commitment to family values, a cornerstone of his campaigns, Stonecipher said.
“I think it’s a huge deal that he sidestepped that,” he said.
Pffffffffffft! He didn’t sidestep it. He is a hypocrite. And a laughingstock.
Conservative radio host Lee Fletcher said Vitter has done enough to redeem himself.“He’s taken responsibility for it,” Fletcher said. “He’s made a mistake and he’s moved on.”
Like the Rabid Right Republicans have forgiven Bill Clinton his mistake, and allowed him to move on?
Rrrrrrrrrrright.
