Sen. Vitter's Madam Problem One of the strangest things about Monday's late-breaking revelation that Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) was a client of the "D.C. Madam" was the way in which the senator himself disclosed it. Turns out, it maybe had to do with the threatening phone call Vitter got from Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, AKA the D.C. Madam. (AP photo)A lawyer for the D.C. Madam told The Sleuth that Flynt, "through his agents," contacted Vitter Monday morning telling him that the senator's phone number showed up in the phone records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the Madam herself (a tip of The Sleuth's hat to ABC for posting the Flynt connection first.)
Vitter, 46, issued an apology eight hours later to the Associated Press and the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The statement did not come from the senator's official press shop. Instead, it was sent from the e-mail address "Senator@Vitter2004.com" and did not have an official Senate seal at the top. That's why the Associated Press called Vitter's spokesman, Joel DiGrado, to confirm authenticity of the statement.
Some reporters and Louisiana politicos speculated that perhaps Vitter wrote the release and sent it himself. Here is the press release in its entirety:
DAVID VITTER
For immediate release July 9, 2007 Vitter Issues Statement U.S. Sen. David Vitter made the following statement today about his telephone number being on the old phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates prior to his running for the U.S. Senate. He respectfully requests that the statement be used in full without editing or paraphrasing.
"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there-with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way," Vitter said.
The Sleuth wondered what Vitter's priest, Rev. Andrew Taormina, thought of the news, since he may well have been on the receiving end of that confession Vitter mentions in his statement. And we wondered whether Father Taormina would continue to allow Vitter to serve as a lector at his family's parish -- Saint Francis Xavier Church in Metairie, La. (Vitter's wife, Wendy, is also a lector at the church, according to the senator's bio on his Senate Web site.)
So we called Father Taormina to ask, but he declined to comment.
We also called Montgomery Blair Sibley, Palfrey's attorney. He was a lot chattier, calling Vitter's apology "excellent spin."
Sibley, who is trying to make the case that his client's escort service, Pamela Martin and Associates, conducted a legal operation, said he and his investigators will be calling Sen. Vitter to see if he might help them.
Sibley contends that his client's firm provided "legal sexual services." And what better character witness to help buoy their case than a United States senator? "Senator Vitter will definitely get a call here in due course from investigators to see whether he'd be a suitable witness," Sibley told us.
Also worth noting, in an ironic twist of fate, a Louisiana reporter who wrote a few years back about allegations that Vitter had an extramarital affair with a prostitute is now running for the Louisiana state legislature and issued a press release today claiming he is "vindicated" by the Vitter revelations.
The candidate, Christopher Tidmore, reported in the Louisiana Weekly newspaper in the summer of 2002, after Vitter dropped out of the race for governor, that Vitter, a state representative at the time, had allegedly engaged in an 11-month affair with a prostitute. At the time, Vitter dismissed the allegations as a political smear campaign by rival Republicans.
Tidmore released a statement today saying, "Mr. Vitter has used his considerable power to attempt to silence those who knew the truth. Those who attempted to expose hypocrisy and corruption early on were met with threats and disdain. ... Mr. Vitter's actions have harmed Louisiana at a time when we could not afford any further loss of influence in Washington."
Meanwhile, it's unclear where Vitter is spending the day. Cameras were waiting for him on Capitol Hill today, but the senator didn't show up as scheduled this morning at an Environment and Public Works subcommittee hearing. Committee aides heard he had stayed home in Louisiana.
"The big game right now is, where is he?" one Democratic aide said, adding, "No one has seen him. He's the Howard Hughes of the Senate."
By Mary Ann Akers | July 10, 2007; 4:24 PM ET