The allegations against Strauss-Kahn got a fairly thorough work-out in this thread.
I just noted this article in the paper at lunchtime. Any further details available in US papers? It seems like a major turnaround from what was being said a month ago.
Here’s more or less the same info
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43600818/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
You know it’s weird. As cynical as we have gotten on the dope re purported conspiracies to get this or that person or effect this or that result, this might actually be a real live conspiracy to take him out of the race. The other possibility is that (if it’s proved these are false accusations) she’s just an opportunistic grifter who saw an opening and took it.
Interesting development.
There was always something a bit strange about this story. Strauss-Kahn didn’t seem like someone tying to flee at the airport. He was leaving on a planned flight for important IMF meetings. Calmly calling the hotel where a rape just occurred never made sense.
<shrug> I dunno what happened. The court will have to sort out this mess.
Thank goodness nobody here rushed to judgment and condemned Strauss-Kahn out of hand. 
If the news articles are correct… Then charges need to be dropped ASAP. There’s no way to undo the public humiliation Strauss-Kahn suffered.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the victim charged with money laundering. That’s assuming the news reports are accurate about large sums passing through her bank accounts.
Right now, we just don’t know what to believe.
msnbc article
It’s probably not a good idea to drop the charges if you don’t know what to believe. 
From what’s been reported so far I can see how this seriously damages the credibility of the accuser, but it doesn’t necessarily mean she made the whole thing up. I don’t think they’re going to rush into dropping the charges.
Reports are surfacing that Strauss-Kahn has been “released on his own recognizance”, an almost certain sign that the prosecution is contemplating dropping the most serious charges.
Wow. This whole thing is amazingly messed up. I’m just stunned.
Does anyone know if she had a rape kit done at the hospital/police station?
It sounds like he probably did rape her, but as she is a criminal involved in money laundering and inquired about cashing in on the case, the prosecution can’t ask a jury to believe her.
Just goes to show, if you are raped by a powerful or rich man, unless you’re a nun you are shit out of luck.
If she had a rape kit done, that’s really the only way we can have evidence.
Someone who’s looking to cash in from their sexual encounter does not sound like somebody who was raped, either.
One of the articles linked above said the prosecutors still believe a sexual encounter took place. That means the rape kit came back positive for semen.
As for her seeking a way to get money after the fact – it’s clear this woman was laundering money for a criminal. If she was raped, why would she suddenly be above getting some compensation out of it?
To be clear, this woman has serious credibility issues because she’s engaged in criminal activity. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t raped.
In all of the forced sexual encounters I’ve had friends or acquaintances experience, the *furthest *thing from their minds was compensation. At the forefront of their minds was that their attackers were put behind bars and made to register as sex offenders.
If its revealed there was a rape kit done (not assuming from other statements) and there’s evidence it was a forced encounter, that’s an entirely different story. Until then she’s the one who comes out looking less than stellar.
I’ll just be glad when he’s out of the news. This morning an anchor said his name and then appended, “also known as DSK”. WHHHHHYYYYY??? Having to say a name of five not-terribly-unusual syllables does not require a moniker more suited to a serial killer, particularly when said moniker even has one extra syllable than his hyphenated last name alone. Sensationalist and irrational! GAH!
The woman who laundered money and considered how to cash in on being raped comes out looking less than stellar? Well, I’d agree with you there. Bad things do happen to bad people, too. Not just good people.
I’m only posting because so many people look at the headline and say, “OMG, he’s totally innocent! It was a set-up!” when in reality he probably just had the “good” luck to rape a woman with no credibility.
The case must be in complete shambles. They even gave the million $$ bail back to Strauss-Kahn. He’s free to go anywhere in the U.S. A huge change from house arrest with paid guards.
I think all charges will eventually will be dropped. This is just like the Duke case. A rush to judgement has destroyed someones reputation permanently. Strauss-Kahn will carry the rape stigma the rest of his life.
Hopefully, some people get fired over this mess. Especially the head DA that slandered Strauss-Kahn in that May press conference.
No, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t raped. What it does mean however is that if a rape did occur there is zero chance now of a conviction. The rape kit proves only that a sexual liaison took place, the fact of rape is very much dependent on the testimony of the maid and which jury is now going to give any credence to what she says, let alone send a man down for 25 years on the strength of that testimony alone.
I can’t see Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr. surviving this mess. He’ll be gone pretty soon.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/mr-vances-spectacular-botch/
More info on the “victims” phone call. Sure sounds like a setup for blackmail. Article is worth a read. This lady couldn’t get much worse as a witness. She’s sounds even dirtier than the accuser in the Duke case.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43615751/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/
I don’t know what kind of public read this paper, but the comments are awful, regardless of what side they support.
It’s the way he’s often called in France. It isn’t a sensationalist invention of American journalists.