If the charges from the weekend don't end his public career, the new older claim from France may begin to tip the scales. Most voters in France care little about affairs by politicians - they almost expect it - but rape is another story. The older story is from 2002 and though she never went public, it has similarities to the story from this past weekend. If any other stories like this emerge, DSK is going to finish his career in disgrace and possibly more. The Guardian:
A local official of the Socialist party claimed that Strauss-Kahn had attacked her daughter, who is goddaughter to Strauss-Kahn's second wife, in 2002.On the other spectrum of this story is an article in Le Monde that mentions a tweet by a "UMP youth"(UMP is Sarkozy's center-right party). Amazingly enough, he tweeted about the DSK being picked up from the Air France flight minutes after the arrest. Pretty good timing considering the tweet was from someone in Paris. What are the odds?
Tristane Banon was in her 20s and writing a book when she approached Strauss-Kahn for an interview in 2002. In a TV programme in 2007, in which Strauss-Kahn's name had been bleeped out, Banon allegedly described him as a "rutting chimpanzee" and described how she was forced to fight him off. "It finished badly … very violently … I kicked him," Banon said. "When we were fighting, I mentioned the word 'rape' to make him afraid, but it didn't have any effect. I managed to get out."
Banon consulted a lawyer, but did not press charges. "I didn't want to be known to the end of my days as the girl who had a problem with the politician."
