The Week: Most Recent political-scandals

Was Dominique Strauss-Kahn framed?

The Week — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:11:00 -0500

In a thorough investigation published in the New York Review of Books, journalist Edward Jay Epstein raises provocative new questions about what really happened between one-time International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the maid who alleged that DSK sexually assaulted her in a New York hotel room. The criminal case was dropped earlier this year when the accuser's credibility eroded, and now Epstein's report seems to suggest that DSK was entrapped as part of a plot to kill his prospects in France's 2012 presidential race. Epstein's evidence? The maid, Nafissatou Diallo...

Does Dominique Strauss-Kahn deserve an apology?

The Week — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:16:00 -0400

On Tuesday, a New York judge dismissed all sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn after prosecutors cast doubt on the reliability of the alleged victim's story and their own ability to prove DSK's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus ended what the former International Monetary Fund chief called "a nightmare for me and my family" during which prosecutors and the media seemingly presumed his guilt, costing him his job and reputation. After all that he's been through, does the man who once seemed likely to be the next president of France deserve an apology?

Yes. The press should...

Can Dominique Strauss-Kahn still beat Nicolas Sarkozy?

The Week — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:25:00 -0400

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will return to France a free man, probably in the next week or two, after New York City prosecutors asked a judge on Tuesday to drop criminal charges that he raped a hotel maid in Manhattan. Before his dramatic arrest in May, the one-time French finance minister was the odds-on favorite to beat President Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2012 election. Recent polls show that 53 percent of French voters want Strauss-Kahn's Socialist Party to win the presidency next year, and the Socialists are jubilant about his release. Is there any chance DSK...

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's rape charges to be dropped? 5 lessons

The Week — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:41:00 -0400

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is widely expected to formally drop rape charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn at a court hearing Tuesday, effectively ending a legal case that has roiled French politics, international finance, and the New York City legal world. Former prosecutors speculate that Vance believes the credibility of Strauss-Kahn's alleged victim, Sofitel hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, has been so compromised by a number of apparent lies and contradictions that he can't win a conviction. What lessons can we draw from this high-stakes...

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser goes public: 5 takeaways

The Week — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:54:00 -0400

The embattled hotel housekeeper who rocked the global political world in May with accusations of sexual assault against Dominique Strauss Kahn — then the International Monetary Fund chief and a likely candidate to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France — has broken her silence in a tearful, three-hour interview with Newsweek, and an on-camera interview with ABC News to air Tuesday night (Good Morning America broadcast a preview on Monday). In recent weeks, the prosecution’s case against Strauss-Kahn, who pleaded not guilty, has begun to unravel, as investigators say...

Should the New York Post pay for calling Strauss-Kahn's accuser a 'hooker'?

The Week — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:45:00 -0400

The sexual assault case against former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn appears to be unraveling, allegedly because of his accuser's credibility problems, but the legal and media circus shows no sign of abating. In the latest legal salvo, the hotel maid who accused Strauss-Kahn is suing the New York Post and five reporters for a series of thinly sourced stories claiming she is a "hooker" who only turned on Strauss-Kahn when he refused to pay her, and that she continued turning tricks while housed by the Manhattan district attorney. The new lawsuit says those claims are unequivocally false and "constitute...

Can Dominique Strauss-Kahn make a political comeback?

The Week — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:53:00 -0400

New York prosecutors are preparing to drop sexual assault charges against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the New York Post reported on Tuesday. With the credibility of the hotel maid who accused him of rape collapsing, nearly half of French citizens said in a recent poll that Strauss-Kahn, who was once considered a strong candidate to unseat French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012, should return to politics. But Strauss-Kahn faces a new accusation of attempted rape back home, and his name has been dragged through the mud for weeks. Does he really still...

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's 'stunning change of fortune': 3 lessons

The Week — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:55:00 -0400

Since Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged with raping a New York hotel maid in mid-May, he's been placed under house arrest, been accused of sexual assault by another woman, had his hopes to become France's next president all but dashed, and been replaced as International Monetary Fund head by Christine Lagarde — all before the case went to trial. Now, in what's being called a "stunning change of fortune" for Strauss-Kahn, The New York Times reports that the case against him is falling apart, with his accuser looking increasingly unreliable. Investigators say she's been caught in a number...

Why the French think IMF's Strauss-Kahn was framed: 4 theories

The Week — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:54:00 -0400

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, jailed in New York on charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid, resigned as managing director of the International Monetary Fund late Wednesday. He still maintains his innocence, however, and the French, it seems, agree. In a French poll, 57 percent of respondents said Strauss-Kahn is the victim of a plot; when the tally is restricted to members of Strauss-Kahn's Socialist Party, the number jumps to 70 percent. Conspiracy theories are flourishing, but why does so much of France believe them?

1. The French are anti-American
"I am staggered by this poll," says Michael Streeter...

7 political wives who stood by their scandal-stained husbands: A slideshow

The Week — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:18:00 -0400

While Europe grapples with the economic and political repercussions of the rape accusations against International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at least one person appeared unconcerned: Anne Sinclair, third wife of the embattled politician. The American-born Sinclair — a successful TV personality who has been called France's Larry King — jumped to her husband's defense Monday, after he was arrested for the alleged rape of a New York City hotel maid. Perhaps Sinclair's support shouldn't come as a surprise. Women have defended philandering husbands "since...

Will Dominique Strauss-Kahn resign from the IMF?

The Week — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:14:00 -0400

As he sits in jail under suicide watch, pressure is mounting on Dominique Strauss-Kahn to resign as the International Monetary Fund's managing director. Charged with sex crimes for an alleged Saturday attack against a hotel maid, Strauss-Kahn, 62, is being held without bail at New York's Rikers Island. Among those who suggest it would be best for the global economy if Strauss-Kahn stepped down are several European finance ministers, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and even an IMF board member. Can Strauss-Kahn hang onto power?

Guilty or not, he can no longer lead: It's "just a matter of...

Will the IMF rape scandal hurt the U.S. economy?

The Week — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:46:00 -0400

A New York judge has denied bail for International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid on Saturday. As lurid details of the alleged attack circulate, calls have erupted for Strauss-Kahn to resign. Officials inside the IMF said the scandal is a "disaster" for the organization and its efforts, led by Strauss-Kahn, to resolve Europe's debt crisis. Could this feed the financial turmoil overseas, and drag the U.S. economy back into recession?

Yes, it is that bad: Strauss-Kahn has been "particularly flexible with Greece during bailout talks...

The latest tweets on 'Dominique Strauss-Kahn'

The Week — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:45:00 -0400

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's rape scandal: The fallout

The Week — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:19:00 -0400

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund and an expected challenger to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2012 French presidential election, is heading to court Monday to face charges that he tried to rape a maid in his $3,000-a-night New York City hotel suite on Saturday. Police yanked Strauss-Kahn out of the first-class cabin of an Air France jet this weekend moments before it was scheduled to take off for Paris. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers say he was eating lunch with his daughter at the time of the alleged attack, but the 32-year-old maid picked him out in a police lineup. The shocking...