Sen. Vitter Apologizes for Number Showing Up on Phone Records of Alleged Prostitution Ring

FOXNews.com ^ | 10 July 2007

[Aussie Dasher]

WASHINGTON — Louisiana Sen. David Vitter apologized Monday for his telephone number showing up on the old phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, the alleged prostitution ring run in the nation's capital by Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said in a statement.

"Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there --with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way," he wrote.

The acknowledgment from Vitter, a Republican who recently won praise from conservatives for his opposition to the immigration reform bill, comes days after U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler lifted a restraining order, allowing Palfrey, 51, to distribute pages of phone records that she and her attorney said contains up to 15,000 names.

On Monday, she released the numbers on her Web site.

[Aussie Dasher]

He asked forgiveness. He got it. Why drag this up now????

[stephenjohnbanker]

Good question!

[bahblahbah]

Would anyone be interested in setting up a live thread for freepers looking into these phone records?

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Sad. Maybe these public humiliations will make others think twice before they do something similar.

[mngran]

This from Politico.com:

"In 2000, Vitter was included in a Newhouse News Service story about the strain of congressional careers on families.

His wife, Wendy, was asked by the Newhouse reporter: If her husband were as unfaithful as Livingston or former President Bill Clinton, would she be as forgiving as Hillary Rodham Clinton?

“I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary,” Wendy Vitter told Newhouse News. “If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”

Heh, heh. Don't think Vitter will be sleeping easily tonight.

[rljv]

Something about his vote against the stupid amnesty bill, most likely. The media and their puppet masters are reeling from the realization that we out here can and do think and that we are growing more unimpressed with them.
In fact this type of admission and character reparation was all the public had wanted from the icky former President but the masters and the media still don’t get it. They’re gonna be pissed to find that this story goes nowhere.
More to come, I predict.

[rljv]

Not to excuse sleazy behavior at all- that’s a different subject from “why now?”, I assume.

[rhinohunter]

This will be the end of his career.

Sad.

However, if he was a rat it would be a resume enhancement.

[Tzimisce]

...no mention of party. He’s a Dem I take it?

[mngran]

Nope, an R with a pretty conservative record to boot.

[durasell]

Is it too late to assume that he was just polling his constituents?

[GretchenM]

Well, I am so confused. How could he need to ask forgiveness when the owner of the escort service says nothing illegal was going on?

/sarcasm

[csvset]

Fwiw, his Bio.

He's anti-amnesty and is the first Politician to get thrown under the bus.

[furquhart]

She released all of the records and he, knowing that he’d be somewhere in there, conducted a pre-emptive strike. At least, that’s the way I read it - since I don’t see any mention of anyone “discovering” his phone number or anything of the sort.

[rfp1234]

Is this a pre-emption by the RATS, i.e. what OTHER names are there that will make the RATS look bad?
(BTW any reference to Slick Willie is irrelevant, he’d gain popularity if he was outed as a Palfrey John).

[rfp1234]

OK, Vitter should wait until a GOP Gov. (Bobby Jindal) is elected, then resign before the expiration of his term (2010 I believe).

[The Duke]

Well, after all, he *is* from Louisiana. I wonder what everbody else’s excuse will be?

[NRA2BFree]

I had hoped they'd catch a bunch of RATS and RINOS, but NOOOOO, all they caught was a Republican. LOL We can't win. I beginning to believe that the GOP is a party of corruption!

That said, wasn't he one of those who voted for shamnesty along with Bush and the other traitors?

[taxesareforever]

He asked forgiveness. He got it. Why drag this up now????

Because he's a Republican. Need one really have to ask?

[taxesareforever]

Put this incident against the mayor of Los Angeles and his shenanigans. Who’s going to get the bad press? Oh, that’s a tough one. NOT!

[Aussie Dasher]

Fair point.

[Savage Beast]

If somebody’s smart enough to serve in the U.S. Senate shouldn’t he be smart enough to use a pay phone?

[Savage Beast]

Yes. MESSAGE TO VITTER: Sleep on your stomach.

[taxesareforever]

If somebody’s smart enough to serve in the U.S. Senate shouldn’t he be smart enough to use a pay phone?

1. This happened before he ran for the Senate. 2. Let me see, you are equating "smart" and "Senate"? Think Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Patty Murray, etc.

[Savage Beast]

Hey, why did this woman want to make the records public?

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Put this incident against the mayor of Los Angeles and his shenanigans. Who’s going to get the bad press? Oh, that’s a tough one. NOT!

The one who patronizes prostitutes, of course - it is illegal, after all. The LA mayor has acknowledged an affair, but as far as I know that's not breaking the law.

Of course, I don't believe that matters between adults such as prostitution should be illegal, but it is and the politicians who vote on the laws should be exemplary in obeying those laws. I'd guess that with his talk about God and sin, this guy Vitter is publicly and fervently opposed to prostitution - if so, he's a hypocrite of the first rank.

[Savage Beast]

No, I said should. That eliminates lots of senators.

[samtheman]

I don’t partake in the services of prostitutes so maybe my question is naive, but here it is:

Why would a John give a prostitute his phone number?

[Savage Beast]

Er...uh...at least...uh... No, I don't think the senators are smart. I think they should be smart...if they're to be senators... Uh...at least, I think that's what I think... So should posters, huh?

[ran20]

Thats the thing if these guys weren’t preaching on family values it would not be so bad. That was part of the issue with Clinton.. he ran as a family values dem, and saying he was a great family man. Also pushing sexual harrasement laws on the rest of us.

If there is one thing people universaly hate its hypocracy. Even my independent friends who were worried about global warming pretty much lost interest when it turned out Gore was the worst carbon offender they’d ever heard of. They brought it up with me.. oh did you hear about Gore? Hard to take him seriously now was the gist of what they said since then.

[Savage Beast]

"Why would a John give a prostitute his phone number?"

That's what I meant to say. One would think that anybody qualified to serve in the Senate would be smart enough and circumspect enough not to reveal his identity.

[ClaireSolt]

All the hoopla ab out hypocrisy is just doublespeak for the fact that liberals have no morals.

[Savage Beast]

It's hard to take any of these "public servants" seriously. Hypocracy is a fundamental to politics. Those who claim altruistic motives--especially the ones who "want to give back"--are the worst. These people are driven by self-interest. And these are the people who love to impose laws on everyone except themselves--on "the little people" (that's us).

[Rummenigge]

Why is public the place to discuss a politicos sex life ?

[arjay]

Why do we care if a politico visits a prostitute when the vast majority of them ARE prostitutes in one way or another?

[ran20]

All the hoopla ab out hypocrisy is just doublespeak for the fact that liberals have no morals.

It seems like many conservatives are only a few steps behind in the no morals race.. And gaining ground.

[durasell]

Why is public the place to discuss a politicos sex life ?

---

Entertainment value.

[Rummenigge]

Lol - I guess there are far more entertaining sex lifes (with all respect).

[ran20]

I agree with you its incredible how greedy some of the ‘altruistic’ leftwing politicians are when it comes to their personal money. Like hiring illegal alien contractors because the union labor was too expensive when putting an expansion on their vacation house.

[browardchad]

He asked forgiveness. He got it. Why drag this up now????

So people can demonstrate moral superiority and faux outrage.

[flaglady47]

I hope the Pubs somewhere are sifting through these phone numbers, because I can assure you that the Dems are, looking for Republican officials of any sort. We better be looking too to check out any Dem gov’t types who may also have participated in the “good life”, so we can fight fire with fire. Dem Underground is probably already having at it. Or Huffington blog, etc.

[nathanbedford]

Let's see ...

The Supreme Court has ruled that sex in the privacy of one's home between cornholeing adults is a constitutionally protected act. It is a constitutionally protected act shielded by the "penumbras" of privacy.

I live in a country, Germany, where a " poof" is an entirely legal enterprise. One Cannot Drive into our county seat without crossing over the river Inn and observing immediately to the left a building with a giant symbol of a heart affixed to the outside wall. This is the local whorehouse. I am told that it is decently run and hygienic. It is only after years of living here that I find this establishment as unremarkable as do the rest of the good burgers in my very conservative and Catholic area.

Why is it that the right of privacy has come to hold such a distorted meaning ?

[Goldie Lurks]

The LA mayor has had more than one affair as been reported. It is public knowledge he had another affair while his wife was seeking treatment for thyroid cancer. Been also reported he is devoted to his family. The Mayor’s wife is seeking a divorce. Two of their children are from a previous relationship of the Mayor’s.

Salinas is being investigated for a possible breech of journalistic ethics. Did she slant media coverage of the Mayor? The Mayor’s PR staff has done a great glossy cover up with photo ops etc. He has been made to look as if he were working feverishly but has accomplished very little while in office. He is pro amnesty and political buddy to Bill Clinton.

Vitter is no better, but he and his wife at this time are attempting to work through their problems. Strange his number would appear after the illegal immigration legislation failed. Anyone could have been vindicative enough after legislation failed to make sure only his name was released.

Then again, Palfrey could be after any Republican at this time because of the racketeering and money laundering charges brought against her. Palfrey’s website stated it crashed after the phone list was posted. How convenient/sarc. Notice she is from the Bay Area of California? Not exactly conservative in nature herself.

Not shocking, but out of all those names on the phone list seems only members of the Republican Party are being outed.

[Mila]

I'm flabbergasted! My mouth is hanging open! Of ALL of the pols I could have imagined who would possibly be on this list, David Vitter would be the very,very, very last. In fact when I saw the article posted here, I originally thought it was some sort of spoof. What was he thinking?

[Aussie Dasher]

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

[DreamsofPolycarp]

He asked forgiveness. He got it. Why drag this up now????

Because a public servant surrenders many of his rights to privacy when he takes public office, whether he is a Democrat or a Republican. I am glad he sought (and apparently obtained) forgiveness from the people who matter, God and his family. Now he has to deal with the effects from the "other people." It is just life, and choices have consequences.

[Ken H]

What was he thinking?

And what was he thinking it with?

[DreamsofPolycarp]

Why is public the place to discuss a politicos sex life ?

Because publicly discussing their spending our money and infringement on our liberties is so damn depressing.

[elli1]

Why drag this up now????

Because it's not 'News' until it's discovered. The list was just released yesterday.

[mewzilla]

I hope the Pubs somewhere are sifting through these phone numbers...

FWIW, I rather doubt Palfrey released all of them. She started up her business in 1993 after all...