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DOOL Discussion Group
A couple of weeks ago, there was a big story about a prostitution ring led by a mother of 4 in Manhattan...the woman comes from a town across the river and was leading an ordinary life, except for being a madam. The names of the johns apparently were very well known, but they had not been released...until now.
Boy, he must have liked getting his hair messed up...
John Edwards used Soccer Mom Madam Anna Gristina to hook up with prostitute in 2007: report
Former Sen. John Edwards allegedly used the services of a call girl employed by accused Soccer Mom Madam Anna Gristina while he was running for President, according to a report.
The woman told investigators that Edwards paid her for sex during a 2007 visit to New York to raise money for his failed White House bid, DNAinfo reported Thursday.
Edwards’ lawyers did not comment, the website said.
The alleged hookup took place in an upper East Side hotel suite, DNAinfo said.
Gristina, a mother of four who lives in upstate Monroe, is accused of running a multimillion-dollar New York City prostitution ring with a client list of powerful, wealthy and well-connected individuals.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/john-edwards-soccer-mom-madam-anna-gristina-hook-prostitute-2007-report-article-1.1048795#ixzz1prHkiqk2
Disgraced senator John Edwards today denied allegations he had any involvement with one of the high-class hookers working for alleged Manhattan Madam Anna Gristina after it was claimed he paid for sex while in New York during his presidential bid in 2007.
Edwards is the first high-profile name to come out of Gristina's alleged black book of clients after he was identified today by the website that originally exposed the prostitution ring scandal.
Anna Gristina, 44, from Monroe County, was arrested on February 23 accused of running a million-dollar brothel empire for the last 15 years for wealthy and powerful clients - who are said to be panicking they may be outed ever since.
The former senator's attorney released a statement on behalf of his client today saying: 'Mr Edwards categorically denies that he was involved with any prostitute or any such service. These allegations are false and defamatory and will put those who publish or report them on notice that they are acting with actual malice by reporting or repeating them.'
He is in the process of demanding a complete retraction from DNAInfo, who first reported the accusations.
Sources claimed to the website that the former senator spent one night with the call girl while he was in New York raising money for his campaign, before his shameful and public fall from grace after his affair with videographer Rielle Hunter was exposed.
It is the latest in a long line of scandals to hit the 58-year-old since his extra-marital affair and subsequent love child were discovered.
The prostitute is said to have given investigators a detailed account of her alleged tryst with Edwards in 2008 after the Manhattan's DA office were first tipped off about Gristina's prostitution ring.
The source claimed: 'Most of the women don’t have any idea about the identities of the men they sleep with. How would they know a money man from Wall Street or the face of a lawyer or banker who shows up?
'But the face of the national politician? She knew.'
An aide of the former Democratic presidential hopeful familiar with Gristina's operation allegedly organised the fling, which is claimed to have taken place at an Upper East Side hotel rather than the alleged brothel.
During his trips to the city, Edwards usually stayed at the plush Loews Hotels Regency - on the Upper East Side - the same hotel he met Rielle Hunter.
The 58-year-old is currently waiting to face federal trial in North Carolina, which has been postponed until March 26 due to a serious heart condition he is said to be suffering from.
He is accused of using nearly $1million in campaign donations to cover up his affair and love child with Hunter during his 2008 run for president while his wife was battling with cancer.
Each of the six counts he is charged with carries a maximum five-year prison term and $250,000 fine.
At the time the hooker was questioned, investigators allegedly found her to be a 'credible witness' but they did not see a reason to notify the feds during a time when Edwards' campaign trail was at its peak and he was seen as a family man with a squeaky-clean image, according to the source.
They confirmed he was in New York raising money at the time of the alleged encounter.
When she was interviewed in Rikers Island prison, where she is being held on $2million bond, Gristina said she would rather bite her own tongue off than tell authorities anything, after they presented her with a list of ten names.
A judge has three times refused her bail as she is considered a high-flight risk. It is believed that because she has a British passport and a home in Canada, she would flee the country with the help of wealthy clients who are trying everything to avoid their names being leaked.
Sources told DNAinfo that the Millionaire Madam’s 'black book' of clients included, a Middle Eastern sheik, an international billionaire financier, a nightclub impresario, dozens of Wall Street hedge fund and investment bankers, and a network of lawyers.
Gristina, a suburban soccer mom who moved to New York 20 years ago from her native Edinburgh, was arrested after a five-year investigation during which undercover police taped more than 100 hours of audio where she bragged about her high-end clients, how she had contacts in law enforcement who would tip her off and even how she used underage girls for some of the trysts, according to explosive court documents.
The divorcee lives in suburban Monroe, north of New York City, with her children and a number of rescue animals.
The five-year-long investigation was run by a Manhattan district attorney's office unit that pursues cases against police and other uniformed city workers, according to a transcript of her February 23 arraignment.
During hundreds of hours of surveillance, Gristina was heard saying that 'she has connections in law enforcement who are poised to help her out, to let her know if there is trouble on the front that she needs to be concerned about', District Attorney Charles Linehan said, according to the court transcript.
Neighbours say a steady stream of young women - usually of Eastern European descent - would come and go from the second-floor apartment, as did a number of suited business men.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2118729/Disgraced-senator-John-Edwards-outed-Manhattan-Madams-clients.html#ixzz1praySOFR
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