Dominique Strauss-Kahn Defense Team Seeks Advice From Firm Run By Former CIA Officers

May 20, 2011 10:58:19 PM

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The legal team defending former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn against sexual assault charges has informally sought public relations advice from a Washington consulting firm run by former CIA officers and U.S. diplomats, Reuters has learned.

TD International is the same company Strauss-Kahn, then a private citizen, hired in 2007 to advise him on how to navigate international and Washington politics in his bid to become managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Documents filed in 2008 with the Foreign Agents Registration section of the U.S. Justice Department show that Strauss-Kahn, who is French, retained TD International as his ''U.S.-based communications resource.''

Strauss-Kahn, 62, who was seen as a front-runner for the French presidency until his arrest, has been charged with trying to rape a hotel housekeeper in New York. He has denied the charges and his lawyer has said he will plead not guilty.

A person familiar with the work TD International did for Strauss-Kahn in 2007 said his representatives consulted the firm informally after his arrest last Saturday and asked for advice related to his predicament.

If the firm at some point becomes formally involved in his defense, the source said, its role will be in helping other Strauss-Kahn advisors, including Paris-based public relations experts, engage in ``crisis management.''

But the source, who asked for anonymity, said the firm had not been formally engaged. A lawyer for Strauss-Kahn did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for TD International told Reuters on Friday: ''We don't comment on client relationships and activities. However, our past work with Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accurately reflected in (Justice Department) filings.''

WORKING THE MEDIA

A contract between TD International and Strauss-Kahn, dated July 18, 2007, shows he hired the firm to ``conduct a specific public relations campaign'' and ``work is to begin immediately and continue until ascendancy of client to head of IMF.''

The contract says Strauss-Kahn was to pay the firm 20,000 euros, then equivalent to about $27,600.

According to the source, TD International helped advise Strauss-Kahn on U.S. and international political maneuvering related to the choice of a new IMF chief.

The global lender has always been headed by a western European but the former French finance minister's bid for the post was being challenged by Russia and a group of developing nations, who were strongly pushing their own candidates.

In addition to advising Strauss-Kahn on political matters, TD International introduced him to journalists from media such as the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

The 2007 contract was signed on TD International's behalf by Ronald Slimp, who the firm's website says was a former U.S. diplomat and trade negotiator.

The website describes the firm's founder, William Green, as a former diplomat who is fluent in French and ``participated in the management of the Anglo-American and U.S.-Canadian intelligence relationships when posted to Washington.''

The website identifies two other partners in the firm as former CIA officers.

Justice Department filings show TD International was also registered as the U.S. representative of Yulia Tymoshenko, a leader of the ``Orange Revolution'' in Ukraine and a one-time prime minister.

A 2007 press release posted on the firm's website says it was the ``registered representative of Ms. Tymoshenko's political party.'' (Additional reporting by Basil Katz, Brian Grow and Glenn Somerville; Editing by David Storey)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[morgan1]

05:24 AM on 05/23/2011

There is a lot of money behind this man. My prediction is his posse will drag this out as long as possible, and the case will go away when the woman refuses to testify. This same posse will drag her name and history through the MSM trash pile until she her reputation is destroyed. This is what the moneyed elite do. They will destroy her if she cannot be bought off. He has a history of sexual misconduct (Just like others up there in that thin air--Arnold the Terminator a perfect example), and he has a following who have chosen to ignore his conduct.

[swainfrankc]

03:43 PM on 05/21/2011

"To my mind, advised the chairman of the bench etc. ;" consult with the prosecutors of the case.

[mazaza]

01:34 PM on 05/21/2011

The only interesting part of the article is that journalists from reputable newspapers can be approached through such a firm.

Also, private hands manage political careers across the globe and hence have access to a lot of information that is kept secret from ordinary citizens.

Now, go on and figure how many people from the middle-class have access to top-notch political careers? And then think that the most urgent problem is to know whether DSK is awaiting trial in an apartment (he is paying for) instead of a prison cell (you're paying for).

Obviously, this firm is probably not conducting business just for individuals. With the wealth of information and contacts they have, it is likely governments do business with them too.

And everybody is pissing all over themselves because DSK has gotten out on bail.

No wonder those guys are always winning considering the brain power the "ordinary folks" are displaying.

[rbenjamin]

01:33 PM on 05/21/2011

Wrong choice in law firms. Should have picked the firm of ex Mission Impossible Operatives.

[redsongia]

04:13 PM on 05/22/2011

I'm sure once the trial is over, it will make a great episode of law and order, where counsel introduces a controversial defense, that since rape of a chambermaid is not illegal in France, the resonableness of defendant's actions should be evaluted within his own cultural standards.

[Rosalee Harris]

04:47 PM on 05/23/2011

Either that or the viagra defense. Its been linked to deafness next in will be linked to some form of psychosis or mental break

[NKLSWRTH]

01:08 PM on 05/21/2011

A consulting firm run by ex-spooks (who are actually stupid enough to announce that fact) and diplomats? Is that who he feels most comfortable with instead of an ala OJ defense attorney? Are they plotting his defense or his disappearance?

[DrakeUnlimited]

12:28 PM on 05/21/2011

So he's illumaniti right?

[munki]

11:45 AM on 05/21/2011

We treat every human as a human-being,,,
Man, Woman regardless... social status?
Differentiating people of social status - more so in Europe...

[BillyClub]

08:34 AM on 05/21/2011

Maybe this legal/justice ordeal will teach the Bankster, DSK, some humility?

[Rosalee Harris]

06:15 AM on 05/21/2011

Oh good grief if former CIA is involved you know this is OVER. He is either going to get out of the country or walk.

Wealth and power really does have its PERKS

[redsongia]

05:18 PM on 05/22/2011

Before you call the game, you should google the New York DA.  His father was JFKs secretary of the army and then secretary of state under Carter. 
 
The NY DA is often a stepping stone for people with Senate and Presidential aspirations, not just some local country prosecutor with no skills...in other words, it ain't Los Angeles.

[lovemycivicduty]

06:06 AM on 05/21/2011

A contract between TD International and Strauss-Kahn, dated July 18, 2007, shows he hired the firm to ``conduct a specific public relations campaign'' and ``work is to begin immediately and continue until ascendancy of client to head of IMF.''

So this group of former CIA and Justice Department people (TD Int.) can help wealthy people buy positions of powerful influence???

[mazaza]

01:37 PM on 05/21/2011

That is exactly what it says. Notice that the wealthy people already in place pay firms to help them decide who, of the applicants to new positions who have paid same/alike firms, should be elected.

The subcontracting into private hands of duties (inquiring, protecting) that should be solely detained by governments (elected) is.... Orwellian?

[Denizio1]

03:47 AM on 05/21/2011

Bet he heads for Canada and then France first chance he gets

[democles]

08:30 AM on 05/21/2011

He'd have to hire a paramilitary group to get him on a private plane to Paris. We have an extradition treaty with Canada.

[Denizio1]

09:13 AM on 05/21/2011

Oh yeh, what about all those draft dodgers that Canada refused to extradite? They were finally pardoned by the USA. Canada never did extradite them. No, you're right though, Canada would give the banker back to us.

[Rosalee Harris]

01:02 PM on 05/21/2011

Cant he go to Canada and then to the French embarassy there making it impossible for Canada to hold him? I dont think he is going to run he is going to make some kind of deal with powerful people I heard that he has dirt on the Bush Administration. He is a goner he is just trying to find the right people to show his hands to. We are going to hear that the case was dropped because the woman decide not to press charges.

[frenchfrog]

03:06 PM on 05/21/2011

And do what in France? Stay stuck there? He has no interest in fleeing to a country when he knows he'll never be able to travel abroad... Fleeing would also be an admittance of guilt in the public opinionHe'll face trial and either come back a hero and sue the tabloids for defamation and go back to teaching or resume his political career or will rot in jail, depending on the jury's decision. Or depending on how trial goes, he might make a deal with the DA. He has no interest in fleeing whatsoever.

[Hajnal]

11:56 AM on 05/21/2011

One can't. But a jury of AB-SO-LU-TE-LY unbiased yankee peers will make sure he gets what a frog deserves, won't it.

[unique]

12:33 PM on 05/21/2011

Get the guys from Wall Street, they will be happy to find hin NOT GUILTY.

[Heraklia]

02:24 AM on 05/21/2011

What proof is there that this is actually her photo? According to news reports, the rape victim in the DSK case is a Muslim who always wears a head scarf. The photo is of a woman showing her hair and wearing Western type clothing. Furthermore, the woman in the photo looks much younger than 32.

Makes me furious that the French are so upset about DSK's privacy being violated by the American press, but the French press is eager to expose a rape victim's identity. Hypocrites.

[Romains]

07:22 AM on 05/21/2011

This woman's testimony alone has destroyed a man's life.
It's only natural that people wanna know more about her.
She's an alleged rape victim. But DSK is apparently already guilty.
You're the hypcorites here. There's 2 sides of the story here, not just one.

[democles]

08:34 AM on 05/21/2011

In West Africa most Muslim women don't wear head scarves, and trust me they do not have our weird Judeo-Christian sexual hangups.

[cityprole]

10:14 AM on 05/21/2011

Congratulations..you just broke the law..and obviously, don't care..
Victims are not to be identified, and even alleged victims have the right of protection here..
you suck..but with a identifier like yours, shouldn't surprise anyone, your darkness is of the soul

[lenoiriste]

01:14 AM on 05/21/2011

NAFISSATOU DIALLO, is her name

[plaidsportcoat]

01:48 AM on 05/21/2011

Do you work for dsk's pr team?
Oui, oui
Spin Spin

[R2D2-51]

12:56 AM on 05/21/2011

What is this a witness prosecution intimidation strategy, or what? Reminds me of JFK, RFK era mumbo jumbo.