D.C. Madam speaks out
The week's news at a glance.
Washington, D.C.
The owner of a Washington escort service this week made an unusual public request for former clients to come forward to help her beat a prostitution charge. Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 50, claims she ran a “legal high-end erotic fantasy service” staffed by $300-an-hour female escorts who signed employment agreements that required them to perform only lawful acts. Prosecutors contend that Palfrey encouraged her escorts to have sex with clients. Now Palfrey is asking clients, who she says reach “high into the echelons of power in the United States,” to testify that they didn’t have sex with her employees. She has also turned over reams of phone records to ABC News’ 20/20 program. One person who is named in the phone records, Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias, resigned last week after ABC asked about his use of Palfrey’s service. Tobias, who oversaw the Bush administration’s global AIDS policy, acknowledged hiring Palfrey’s escorts, but only for massages.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'His story should be here'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Not cross buns': the row over recipe revamps
Talking Point New versions of the Easter favourite have sparked controversy but sales are soaring
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
The England kit: a furore over the flag
Why everyone's talking about Nike's redesign of the St George's Cross on the collar of the English national team's shirt has caused controversy
By The Week UK Published