politics | MY RAGE. MY. FUCKING. RAGE IS DEEP AND WIDE AND ALL ENCOMPASSING (Reply)

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ontd_politicsRecordings Prove DSK Accuser Never Said She Wanted Money

As you may recall, when the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn began to unravel, reports attributed to a "well-placed law enforcement official" were published in the New York Times. The source claimed that prosecutors no longer considered Nafissatou Diallo a credible witness because, among other concerns, she said in a phone call to an incarcerated friend, "Don't worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I'm doing."The quote was used to paint Diallo as nothing but a sleazy criminal looking to make some money after a consensual encounter with a wealthy man. Now it turns out that's not what she said at all. Oops!

Today Diallo and her lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, spent eight hours with prosecutors in their first meeting since authorities publicly declared that they doubt her credibility. The Associated Press reports that during the meeting, they listened to two tapes of Diallo's conversations with her friend, which were conducted in the West African language Fulani. Thompson says the recordings prove that in the first conversation, Diallo describes the attack and makes no mention of Strauss-Kahn's wealth. In the second conversation she does mention that he's "powerful and rich," but only to convey that her attacker is influential. She says, "I know what to do" much earlier in the discussion, meaning that she'd gone to the authorities and hired a lawyer.

Now that it appears authorities fed the press incriminating lies about an alleged rape victim, they're feeling much less chatty. Today Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance told reporters they wouldn't discuss the case because:

"This is a pending criminal case. We will have no comment on evidence, or on any meetings between prosecutors and witnesses, civil attorneys, or defense counsel."

Diallo's next hearing date has been postponed from August 1 to August 23, and prosecutors may announce then whether or not they'll be going forward with the case. Thompson called prosecutors "gracious" for agreeing to Diallo's request to hear the recording, but that's just about the last word that comes to mind right now.
Lawyer: Strauss-Kahn Accuser, DA Meeting Went Well [AP]
Lawer: Strauss-Kahn Maid's Remarks Misportrayed [AP]

Misportrayed?!!?? MISPORTRAYED!!!! THEY LIED!!! Why the FUCK can't you say it!!!! You all called HER a liar easily enough!!!! THE FUCKING AUTHORITIES LIED! And you wonder why the HELL we look at the police with disgust and scorn????

Meantime she has been working up a media blitz to tell her side of the story: Here's a press conference clip, again from

ontd_political Nafissatou Diallo speaks out at press conference

And TRANSCRIPT! HERE

MSNBC has some of the remarks But do not read the comments. The prosecutors have poisoned the well and I hope to god the elected officials lose their campaign bid in 2013.

Racialicious:Nafissatou Diallo, Dominique Strauss Kahn, Race, Immigration, and Power

The framing of cases is so important, as it shifts judgements in the court of public opinion. Since Diallo has chosen to step forward as the accuser (perhaps in response to the media backlash around her life and reputation), news outlets have clamored to get the scoop. Newsweek published an exclusive interview a few days ago, with some telling language:

“Nafi” Diallo is not glamorous. Her light-brown skin is pitted with what look like faint acne scars, and her dark hair is hennaed, straightened, and worn flat to her head, but she has a womanly, statuesque figure. When her face is in repose, there is an opaque melancholy to it. Working at the Sofitel for the last three years, with its security and stability, was clearly the best job she’d ever hoped to have, after years braiding hair and working in a friend’s store in the Bronx as a newcomer from Guinea in 2003.

Only in cases involving rape or assault is how the victim appears a subject for commentary. This is part of rape culture, the idea that we have to evaluate the attractiveness of a person alleging assault along with the other facts in the case. Melissa McEwan so succinctly put it, rape is not a compliment. Neither is sexual assault. Yet time and time again, we see people accused of sexual assault, abuse, or rape try to weasel out of it by saying that they weren’t attracted to the person in the first place. (We see you, Albert Haynesworth.) It’s disturbing to see reporters play into the same idea. This is why feminists continually stress that rape is a crime of power, not desire. Rape is not related to the attractiveness of the victim. Rape occurs because one party does not consent to a sexual encounter, but they are forced into it anyway.

Also, that first discussion of “clearly the best job she’d ever hoped to have?” It sets the stage for more prejudical plays on class, race, and immigration status later in the piece.

Diallo is about 5 feet 10, considerably taller than Strauss-Kahn, and she has a sturdy build.

This inclusion is also somewhat perplexing. The idea that she’s sturdy and tall again introduces the idea of doubt to her story, which falls into another common trope about rape and sexual assault cases – why didn’t the woman just fight him off? Interestingly, the authors do not bring up the fact that generally, most jobs don’t allow workers to assault guests, even if the guests are violent. And, in the moment, there are many different ways people will react to being assaulted, particularly if the first act of violation has already begun. This portrayal of Diallo also subtly plays on the idea of fragile, thin, small victims as the only real victims – and goes hand in hand with the idea that black women are “unrapeable.”MORE