The Hindu : International : "DC Madam" to expose elite client list

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Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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International

"DC Madam" to expose elite client list

Suzanne Goldenberg

Washington: The mighty and wealthy of Washington were braced for scandal on Monday after the woman known as the DC Madam said she hoped to expose dozens of clients of her exclusive escort service at her trial. Deborah Jeane Palfrey appeared in court on charges of running a prostitution ring that operated among the upper echelons of the U.S. capital for 13 years.

The scandal has already claimed its first scalp in political Washington, with the resignation last Friday of Randall Tobias, who headed the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Ms. Palfrey told reporters she felt sorry for Mr. Tobias, but chided him for not coming forward earlier because it might have helped her defence.

Mr. Tobias confirmed to ABC television that he used the services of the DC Madam, but insisted these did not include sex, but only massages. She claims her company, Pamela Martin & Associates, was a ``sexual, albeit legal, business''.

It offered what it described as exclusive escort services to high profile clients, employing only women with college degrees. She says her firm had a client list of more than 10,000, including political officials, chief executive officers and other members of the Washington elite.

The prosecution says she ran more than 132 prostitutes out of her California home, charging $300 an hour for their services.

The DC Madam's looming legal costs appear paramount in her deliberations about her telephone records. She earlier sought to sell the list of numbers, which she claims weighs in at 46lb (21kg).

After the federal judge barred the sale, she decided to hand them over to ABC television. It went on to out Mr. Tobias.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007

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