LOWER MANHATTAN — The maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in a Midtown Hotel did not call an imprisoned pal about the former IMF boss's wealth, her lawyer said Wednesday after a marathon meeting with prosecutors.
The call, which attorney Kenneth Thompson said they reviewed at during a nearly eight-hour meeting, reportedly involved the woman, Nafissatou Diallo, telling the friend "I know what to do" after hearing that Strauss-Kahn was a very rich man.
The implication made by Strauss-Kahn's lawyers has been that Diallo is trying to cash in on a lawsuit against the former head of the International Monetary Fund and that anything that occurred was consensual.
"For the last several hours we have been upstairs listening to that tape and that tape shows that the victim never said the words, 'He has a lot of money and I know what to do,' " Thompson told reporters after the lengthy meeting.
"The quote was misleading in my opinion because the quote made it seem like the sole focus was on his money and how to get his money. Her sole and primary focus is on what happened to her."
Thompson said Diallo was merely confiding in her friend about the attack and that "the very first time she spoke to the gentleman in jail about Dominique Strauss-Kahn she never said one word about his money."
The second time she spoke to the friend after the attack it was the jailed friend, who Diallo denied being romantically involved with, who mentioned that Strauss-Kahn was wealthy, Thompson said. Her response was unclear.
The meeting involved a Fulani interpreter to convey the meaning of the conversation, one of "several" prosecutors have recorded, between the Guinean maid and the inmate, Thompson said.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the meeting.
"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," DA spokesperson Erin Duggan said in a statement.
The hotel maid, who went to the media over the weekend with her tale of being sexually assaulted by Strauss-Kahn, wasn't interested in speaking to reporters Wednesday as she arrived for a meeting with prosecutors.
Diallo, 32, went public with her story in a series of media interviews this week, saying she wants Strauss-Kahn to be punished for allegedly forcing himself on her in his hotel suite.
Neither Diallo nor Thompson addressed reporters as they arrived at the Manhattan District Attorney's office at One Hogan Place at about 10 a.m.
In a lengthy interview with ABC News, Diallo said she wants her day in court, and intends to see Strauss-Kahn punished for what she said he did.
"I want justice. I want him to go to jail. I want him to know you cannot use your power when you do something like this," Diallo said in the interview.
Thompson has accused the DA's office of trying to sabotage the case by publicly revealing controversial details about Diallo's past.
Prosecutors consented to Strauss-Kahn's release July 1 after they said they'd begun to have concerns about the accuser's credibility. They said she had lied about being gang raped in her home country, and that she told investigators different versions of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the alleged May 14 attack by Strauss-Kahn.
Diallo said the former IMF chief, 62, tried to rape her in Midtown's Sofitel hotel and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Sources said that Thompson prevented Diallo from speaking with the DA's office for 19 days after they initially met with her.
Strauss-Kahn is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 23.
