MANHATTAN — Prosecutors investigating Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged attack on a Manhattan hotel maid have asked a French writer who accused him of attempted rape to testify in the New York case, according to a report.
At a meeting with Manhattan prosecutors Tuesday, French attorney David Koubbi was asked if his client, Tristane Banon, would cooperate in the investigation, Reuters reported.
But Koubbi, who also met with the maid's lawyer, reportedly said he would not turn over documents the Manhattan DA's office had requested.
"I was asked for Madame Banon's file and I categorically refused," Koubbi told Reuters, adding he would not hand documents over unless there was "an official request from the United States for legal cooperation agreed to by French authorities."
It is unknown if Banon agreed to speak to the prosecutors.
Banon, 32, filed a formal complaint against Strauss-Kahn after news of the alleged May 14 attack on the 32-year-old hotel maid broke. Banon accused him of trying to rape her in Paris in 2003, according to reports.
On Tuesday the maid's lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, who has publicly criticized the DA's handling of his case, showed up uninvited for the meeting between Koubbi and prosecutors, sources told DNAinfo. Thompson was only allowed to attend a portion of their meeting, sources added.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to comment.
Strauss-Kahn is next scheduled to appear in Manhattan Supreme Court on August 1. It is still unclear if the DA's office will choose to pursue the case, which took a severe blow when prosecutors discovered the maid had lied repeatedly about her past and changed her story about what happened in the aftermath of her encouter with Strauss-Kahn.
