Astonishment at the editorial staff of the JDD and change of title of the front page. Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York for sexual assault. It’s an earthquake. It was almost 8 p.m. last night when two daily newspapers, the New York Post et The New York Timesrevealed the information. Dominique Strauss-Kahn was apprehended by the American police on board the Air France plane which was to bring him back to Paris. Flight AF 23 was due to take off from JFK Airport about ten minutes later when three police officers boarded and asked the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to follow them.
« L’arrestationspecifies Alexandre Duyck for the JDD, follows a complaint filed moments earlier with the police by a chambermaid at the Sofitel hotel in Times Square. » We know Strauss-Kahn’s reputation and his problem with women. It’s a known fault but one that no one in France talks about.
In France, DSK is considered. He himself does not hate his status as a prodigal and unpredictable son. He plays it most often, smirking. He is a magnificent exile. Since November 1, 2007, he has headed the IMF and no one seems to be able to slow down his destiny. A calculated distance from political politics, a label of bon vivant, of dilettante, sticks to his skin. There was indeed this relationship with a Hungarian employee of the IMF, but DSK had been cleared, after investigation, of accusations of a possible abuse of power.
Favorite for the Élysée
All the polls attest to this: DSK is the only one among the opposition candidates who can win at the expense of Nicolas Sarkozy in the next presidential election in 2012, assuming, of course, that the favorite wants to run. And Strauss-Kahn maintains the suspense. He thus obtained, in 2009, 52% of favorable opinions against 33% for François Bayrou, 22% for Ségolène Royal and… 17% for François Hollande.
The maid said she entered the IMF director’s room around 1 p.m. and was immediately attacked
Tonight, everything is called into question. This is a thunderclap for the French socialists, none of whom, as yet, have wanted to speak out. The maid told the police that she entered the IMF director’s room around 1 p.m. and was immediately attacked. DSK allegedly left his room, leaving his cell phone and personal effects behind. “It looks like a forced escape to the airportâ€added a police spokesperson.
At the time when the JDD was wrapping up its edition, DSK was still being questioned without being “Formally to blame”. The series would stretch over several months, the images of DSK handcuffed would shock the whole of France; Nineteen months later, on December 10, 2012, Nafissatou Diallo, the maid, received a check for more than a million dollars. And Judge McKeon validated the transaction between DSK and the plaintiff.
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