Strauss-Khan Maid Risks All With Exclusive Interviews
Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Khan of sexual assault, has spoken of her attack in an interview with Newsweek and ABC News – a move commentators say could threaten the legal case against the former IMF head.
Sources at the Manhattan district attorney’s office have described Diallo’s interview as “risky.” One source said, “There’s so many inconsistencies now it’s incredible.”
Right after the attack Diallo told hospital counselors that Strauss-Khan did not speak to her during the assault.
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However, speaking to Newsweek she described that after seeing the naked man in the room she apologized saying, “I am so sorry.”
She alleges Strauss-Khan replied, “You don’t have to be sorry.”
Then Diallo says he grabbed her breasts and shut the suite door.
It was then alleged that Strauss-Khan said, “You’re beautiful,” as he pushed her toward the bedroom.
Diallo reports that she told him to stop saying “Sir, stop this. I don’t want to lose my job.”
This dialogue is one such discrepancy that causes the New York Post source to question Diallo's credibility: “It’s like multiple choice – pick a version.”
Some commentators are now saying that doubts have been raised in her story and that prosecutors might abandon the case. This is the reason why Diallo has now gone public.
Numerous lawyers have immediately pointed out the unique turn of events that an alleged victim would speak to the media while the case was still being investigated.
Defense lawyer and former deputy chief of the Manhattan district attorney’s trial division, Raymond R. Castello said, according to The Times, “My expectation is that she’s now speaking to the press because she has an expectation that the prosecution is not going forward with her case.”
It is now believed that the contradicting accounts by Diallo may discredit the witness at trial.
The former chief of the Manhattan district attorney’s sex crimes unit, Linda A. Fairstein said according to the NYT, “I think that’s a very bad move for the criminal case, but at the end of the day, while it makes the prosecutors’ job more difficult, I haven’t read anything that changes the facts of what she said happened in the room.”
