# Al Gore accused of sexual assault in Portland **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497 "2010-06-25T16:15:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/41 "2010-06-28T17:22:29Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Producing DNA stained underwear doesn’t bolster her case, IMO. In fact, it hurts it, because what client expecting a happy ending leaves his underwear ON? If anything, that lends me to believe that he didn’t expect it, but wasn’t resistent to it, either. Big whooping deal. > > I’m instantly skeptical of anyone who: 1) Claims to be a victim and then arms herself with a lawyer; and/or b) Demands money w/o also wanting justice through the criminal court. > > I had a similar reaction to the parents who accused Michael Jackson of molesting their children and sought a few million bucks from him, yet wouldn’t testify in a criminal trial. While I agree with the points above, I think the assumption is that the DNA stained underwear in question are HERS, not his, which would, IMHO, make her story a little more credible… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/42 "2010-06-28T18:15:51Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > In today’s paper, the massage therapist is quoted as calling Al Gore a “crazed sex poodle” in her 2009 police interview. For me that screams “made up” because I can’t believe any woman who was sexually assaulted would refer to her attacker by a cutesy name and “poodle” is a cutesy name. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/43 "2010-06-28T18:17:05Z")
Now I’m certain that global warming is a lie. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/44 "2010-06-28T18:55:00Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > While I agree with the points above, I think the assumption is that the DNA stained underwear in question are HERS, not his, which would, IMHO, make her story a little more credible… Yes, but if I were called as an Expert Witness, I’d point out that ejaculations sometimes happen during massage without illegal stimulation of the genitals. (Sometimes, oddly enough, without an orgasm. The thing just…spurts.) Semen contamination on any clothing is _suggestive_, but it’s not a slam dunk. I can imagine a crazy woman noticing, after her rich and famous client has left, that he jizzed on the table totally without letting on, and her scooping up some Platinum Level DNA to wipe on her clothing, should she someday want to pull a Monica. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/45 "2010-06-28T19:05:01Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > While I agree with the points above, I think the assumption is that the DNA stained underwear in question are HERS, not his, which would, IMHO, make her story a little more credible… I’m not sure how she’d get DNA stained underwear if what happened was this: > [@](#): > > She claimed she was doing requested abdominal work on Mr Gore when he started to moan and demanded she go lower. > > “I was shocked, and I did not massage beyond what is considered a safe, nonsexual area of the abdomen,” she said. "He further insisted and acted angry, becoming verbally sharp and loud. > > “I went into much deeper shock as I realised it appeared he was demanding sexual favours or sexual behaviours.” And/or this: > [@](#): > > In her 2009 statement, the therapist told police she was called to Hotel Lucia about 10:30 p.m. after Gore gave an environmental talk at the Rose Garden. She told police he pushed her hand to his groin, fondled her buttocks and breasts, thrust his tongue in her mouth and threw her down on the bed and climbed on top of her as tried to push him away." Once again, given her line of work, it makes much more sense to me that he went in with an expectation of a happy ending and either: a) She complied and then tried to cash in on it; or b) She complied, but did it out of (fear/mortification) but then why demand money from him and resist the higher punishment of jail time or a “sexual predator” label? Something doesn’t add up here. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/46 "2010-06-28T19:11:22Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > While I agree with the points above, I think the assumption is that the DNA stained underwear in question are HERS, not his, which would, IMHO, make her story a little more credible… I would hope that a determination of underwear ownership can be made on garmet dimensions and not from an assumption that only she could have left the house that morning sportin’ a pair of panties. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/47 "2010-06-28T21:14:39Z")
I won’t say this is impossible. Some public figures have an attitude of invulnerability and think they can get away with behavior like this. Al Gore may be one of them. But this does not sound like something that would be an isolated incident. If it’s true, I expect we’ll start hearing from a bunch of other women who’ll have been fondled by Gore. And if nobody else steps forward, I’ll come to the conclusion that there’s no truth to this accusation. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/48 "2010-06-28T21:41:18Z")
I don’t like Gore at all, but I view this story with more than a little skepticism. If I were to rank public figures by how likely I thought it was that they’d sexually assult a woman, Gore would rank just above Elton John and just below Wilford Brimley. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/49 "2010-06-28T21:50:01Z")
I think Al Gore could well be the kind of person to want a little extra sumpthin-sumpthin’ on the side, but as other posters have mentioned, if that is indeed the case, it’s probably been going on for years or even decades, so if this is true, I would think that there would be a circus roster of for-hire ladies (a la Tiger Woods) cumming out of the woodwork to tell their sordid tales of scat-play and Nobel Prize worthy powdered shoogar shows… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/50 "2010-06-28T22:07:12Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Bit of a question here. > > Let’s assume for a moment a few things… > > 1. Gore DID get a massage from the lady in question > 2. She can positively and absolutely verify that the massage did take place (with something that is beyond question, such as a hotel receipt or similiar) > 3. Gore did NOTHING wrong > 4. After the massage she went home and recorded a date stamped and verifiable (in terms of when it was recorded) account of some sort of wrongdoing from Al. > > What prospect would Gore have of defending himself now? Three years later, who would have any sort of memory at all of a (seemingly) innocuous massage in a hotel - especially if legit massages were a common thing for him. (as they are for me) Why do you have to have memory of exactly what happened to know you didn’t sexually assault anyone? If you’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, you can say with all honesty, even if you don’t remember exactly what happened, that you didn’t molest/assault the woman. Or even if he had molested her, he could just lie and say he didn’t do anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/51 "2010-06-28T23:29:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It seems odd that a high-profile person like Gore would show up at a toney hotel where everybody recognizes him, arranges for a massage through the hotel staff, then assaults the person who shows up. It doesn’t seem to pass the common sense test. > > However, I remember working on a Congressional Delegation that passed through Lisbon (the Black Caucus on its way to observe elections in South Africa) and was shocked that there were local hookers roaming the floor where they were staying and that an all-night party was still in progress when I arrived at 0300. Not only that, they had stolen the key to the “gifts” room and stolen a case of very expensive 20-year old port, then refused to pay for it. The hotel staff obviously knew about the hookers, but it was never reported to the media. It’s par for the course. To prostitutes in the US, Republican conventions are like major sporting events to waiters and bartenders. They’ll make enough in a weekend to last them half the year, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/52 "2010-06-28T23:39:41Z")
(While my post above says Republican conventions I meant to write ‘political conventions,’ though I was told by a very active escort that it’s the Republic ones that are the real payday.) ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/53 "2010-06-28T23:41:57Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > It’s par for the course. To prostitutes in the US, Republican conventions are like major sporting events to waiters and bartenders. They’ll make enough in a weekend to last them half the year, sometimes. Do you think that Democratic conventions are any different? ETA—Posted before I read Cat Fight’s subsequent post… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/54 "2010-06-29T00:46:31Z")
> [@](#): > > though I was told by a very active escort that it’s the Republic ones that are the real payday. They overpay for prostitutes and they still keep claiming to be the party of economic responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/55 "2010-06-29T02:37:00Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Why do you have to have memory of exactly what happened to know you didn’t sexually assault anyone? If you’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, you can say with all honesty, even if you don’t remember exactly what happened, that you didn’t molest/assault the woman. Or even if he had molested her, he could just lie and say he didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just mildly curious… It’s quite an accepted meme that detail lends credibility, all the more so if it was (proven to be) recorded at the time of the incident. If she, for example, says Gore was wearing “incredible hulk” underwear (you might not like me when I’m Angry) how could he refute that three years later? Or if she adds seemingly culpatory details, he has no prospect of refuting or explaining them - whether they are true or not. And “I never do that” just doesn’t cut it…of a Much the same way…I was in charge primary school camp about 7 years ago…if one of the students were to come after me today for sexual abuse, it would be VERY hard for me to defend myself, purely because my recall of times, dates and faces is virutally non existent. I do remember that one kid crapped himself, but what day or time that happened I have no idea (for example) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/56 "2010-06-29T02:48:42Z")
But just because she has the detail that he was wearing that kind of underwear–what does it prove? He could just say she’s making it up, that he’s never owned that kind of underwear. Or that he didn’t do the things she’s saying he did. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/57 "2010-06-29T02:55:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They overpay for prostitutes and they still keep claiming to be the party of economic responsibility. Dude, they are putting money in the hands (well…sometimes at least) of hard-working Americans!!! Your tax money, going directly into the community. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/58 "2010-06-29T05:44:14Z")
Standing in line at the grocery store, I read the “National Enquirer” front page. It said, “And she saved her pants as proof.” or something like that. So, apparently, it wasn’t underpants, it was pants. Her pants. I stand corrected on the wearer of said semen-stained clothing. In any event, it still doesn’t change my initial kneejerk reaction, which is still that she jerked him off and wanted to extort a few hundred thou from him to save him from embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/59 "2010-06-29T06:25:19Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > But just because she has the detail that he was wearing that kind of underwear–what does it prove? He could just say she’s making it up, that he’s never owned that kind of underwear. Or that he didn’t do the things she’s saying he did. I am not saying it proves anything as such. But picture this… LB (lieing bitch) On 3rd of September 2006 I was called to Al Gore’s hotel room B314 at 10:30 pm. He was to have a one hour massage for which $100. 34 Minutes into the massage he grabbed hold of my hand and pushed it towards his groin trying to force me to jerk him off. After that he pushed me down onto the green floral hotel bed and rubbed his penis against me before coming onto my green pants. AG (Al Gore): I remeber staying at XYZ hotel, but don’t recall getting a massage LB: here is the booking sheet I have for the night in question as well as a charge slip signed by Al Gore AG: well I must have had a massage then… Who would you believe? I am not saying it is proof positive, or that it lends undue credence. What I am asking is “how would you defend yourself in such a situation”? Your accuser obviously has chapter and verse of information, maybe some true and some made-up. After three years you have no recollection of the night in question to refute anything she says, other than “that’s not in my character” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497/60 "2010-06-29T13:25:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Dude, they are putting money in the hands (well…sometimes at least) of hard-working Americans!!! Your tax money, going directly into the community. Do you think they just hand over our tax money? These are Republicans, mister, not some liberal socialist Democrats. No, they make those prostitutes dress up like cheerleaders and earn that tax money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-gore-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-portland/544497.md?page=4)