Lawyers arranged for payments to kids jackson had fiddled around with (forum speak). Just the same.

We shall never know the truth but he will still be rich and powerful, I would bet on it

Understandable in Jacksons case, but I don't see this as being the same.

Any evidence or links to back your payment claim regarding Strauss ?

Surely if any deal had been done then the maid would have dropped the charges by now, rather than trying to continue in vain as appears to be the case.

Actually, the kids father contacted Jacksons lawyer before he even bothered to contact the police.... does that sound like the actions of a reasonable, wronged parent? It was this action that led to the farce that was the trail... I for one, if I were a parent, would have NEVER contacted the accused persons lawyers and demand an out of court settlement first... that for me, damned them.

Yes the Father was as despicable as jackson. There were a few other pay offs too to parents. Parents were lining up to shove their kids at him!

I think he would lose the Presidency, but not so sure about losing votes, extra marital affairs and the like don't seem to matter in France, they love it. His wife is standing by him, would yours? The French are horrified with the way he has been treated, handcuffed like a common criminal!

I suspect there has been a flurry of activity in diplomatic circles

Looking at the evidence dispassionately, this appears to be a case where the chambermaid agreed to give a guest a blow-job for money. After she cleaned another room, she returned to DSK's one and found from evidence lying around that he was the head of the IMF, an important person.

At that stage she reported the alleged rape, hoping for the financial jackpot. She may still get it with newspapers queuing up for her story, but the guy deserves his acquittal. There's no fool like an old fool.

I don't know why I want to persist on this thread, but I need to say that I have some experience of speaking to people from west Africa. I was going to be nice, but the truth is that they are lying bastards, it's in their genes
.
Their perception of the truth is nothing like ous.

If we are to be believed what is being reported at the moment she allegedly called someone in another state and said "This one is very rich, don't worry, I know what I am doing"

Odd thing to say IF she said it.

So the people from W. Africa are all lying bastards...not like all these Mr. nice guys in the west, shagging every woman they can and deceiving their wives, fiddling their taxes and expenses. Thank God for the honest Europeans setting a good example

isnt that the guy she foned in prison, where they record all the telephone calls

The Times was also saying today she had a "funny bank account" where drug money (IIRC) was dumped - but she says she had no benefit from it.

seems DSK also managed to have a meal with his daughter before getting on the Air France flight he was pulled from.
but left all sorts of things in the hotel room in a mad rush to leave

this is like the Diana & Dodi affair, all smoke and mirrors, everyone telling lies or just plain obfuscating. Meanwhile the prosecution leaks evidence like they have more than enough to go round.

From what was reported at the time he left a phone in particular, which the press made a big thing of, but as his closest friend came out and said when it happened he actually owned about 9 phones.... well I have lost my phone about 4 times in the last 2 years, if I had 9 my insurance company would have disowned me by now!

According to a report I read,the maid could find herself doing time for perjury and also possibly money laundering.

I wonder how an identical case would have panned out in the UK ?
For instance surely the CPS would have refrained from deciding whether Strauss had a case to answer until such time as the maids story had been fully checked out and they felt fairly certain that there was sufficient indisputable supporting evidence.

Also, even had a charge been made, would all these details about the maids actions and previous background have been as freely available under our sub-judice laws.
In the US all the sordid details are hung out to dry like dirty washing, long before the trial ever begins and Joe Public has already decided what the verdict should be.
Even so, as we have seen in the OJ and Jackson trials the judge and jury can easily be persuaded otherwise.

It's the same in the UK. Remember the Joanna Yates murder in Bristol? Her landlord (Jeffries) was vilified by the media when he was taken for questioning. I think he is sueing some newspapers.

It was a bit rough in that guys case as he was wrongly in the frame for quite a long time, though there was nothing like the same amount of the brown stuff being chucked about as in this case.