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D.C. Madam Wants Washington Clients to Testify

April 30, 2007 9:36 AM

Dc_madam_wants__mnThe woman charged in a federal indictment with running a high-class Washington, D.C. call girl service says she plans to call her prominent clients to testify at her trial.

Jeane Palfrey, dubbed the D.C. Madam, says among those she will call to testify are Randall Tobias, who resigned Friday as deputy secretary of state after confirming to ABC News that he had been a customer of Palfrey's escort service.

Tobias said he "had some gals come over to the condo for a massage" but denied any sex was involved.

D.C. Madam Affair Unfolds in Pictures.

Tobias is the second prominent man to be identified as a customer of the Palfrey's "sexual fantasy service."  Two weeks ago, Palfrey alleged that military strategist Harlan K. Ullman, creator of the "shock and awe" combat theory and now a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was also a customer.  Ullman has said that the claim was "beneath the dignity of comment."

Also on Palfrey's list of customers who could be potential witnesses are a Bush administration economist, the head of a conservative think tank, a prominent CEO, several lobbyists and a handful of military officials.

"I'm sure as heck not going to be going to federal prison for one day, let alone, four to eight years, because I'm shy about bringing in the deputy secretary of whatever," Palfrey told ABC News correspondent Brian Ross in an interview to be broadcast Friday on "20/20." "I'll bring in every last one of them in if necessary," she said.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Palfrey is due in federal court Monday morning to ask the judge to replace her current lawyer, a public defender, with a lawyer who she says "will be more aggressive in fighting the government."   

The indictment of Palfrey alleges she used more than 100 women over a period of 13 years "for the purpose of engaging in prostitution activity with male clients, including sexual intercourse and oral sex in exchange for money." She made more than $2 million running the operation, known as Pamela Martin and Associates, according to the federal indictment.

Palfrey, who ran the service by phone from her home in Solano County, Calif., is the only person charged. None of her male customers is named by the government.

"That's very hypocritical," she says. "Why aren't these people under arrest? Why just me?"

Palfrey claims she ran a legal operation that offered sexual fantasy but not "illegal sex" of the kind described in the indictment.

She says she hopes her prominent clients will testify they did not engage in actual sex when they hired her escorts.

"This was a sexual fantasy service," Palfrey told "20/20." "Occasionally a client would want to go to the Kennedy Center or go to dinner, but generally speaking they went straight to the homes, or they went straight to the hotels," she said.

Palfrey provided ABC News with phone records from her business going back four years.

April 30, 2007 in D.C. Madam Affair | Permalink | User Comments (286)

User Comments

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The government is still up to there old tricks. Have everyone who use her service to be called to court.

Posted by: guest | Apr 30, 2007 11:07:11 AM

I hope there turns out to be
dc judges and prosecutors on the list. That would be justice.

Posted by: greg | Apr 30, 2007 11:07:18 AM

Each and every person on the list should be posted, and called as witnesses. They are either legitimate witnesses, or should be charged themselves.

Do I feel sorry for the wives and families? Sure. But the clients should have thought of that when they patronized the service. The judicial system is there to carry out the law, not to be a social service for families with cheating husbands. Any other outcome is a failure of the courts and ABC as a legitimate government watchdog. After all, are there any ABC people on the list?

Posted by: Jim | Apr 30, 2007 11:12:40 AM

Funny that this come at this time?? Or not! The 2008 elections are right around the corner and now this bombshell!! Is Bill on the list??? Hillary wants to be president and Bill could ruin it for her!!!

Posted by: Daniel Brody | Apr 30, 2007 11:12:46 AM

Don't post the list. Let her call "each and every one" during her trial and then cover it for "Sweeps Week". That's how ABC News gets the most devistation out of it.

Once again, we worry focus on sex instead of the dying in Iraq.

Posted by: troysiegfreid | Apr 30, 2007 11:13:02 AM

If Palfrey owes the government any money allow her to pay it and drop the charges againt her. A lot of innocent peolple could get hurt (i.e. wives, children, entire families destroyed). Is it really worth it? The media will have a field day with this; if it does not end NOW!!!!

Posted by: B. Woodhouse | Apr 30, 2007 11:13:35 AM

I'm happy to see the govt is going after these types of businesses. Truth be told, Palfrey would have never been so successful if it wasn't for those seeking those services. Their names should be made public. The govt should continue to pursue the many organizations offering these types of services via the web.

Posted by: Vivian | Apr 30, 2007 11:13:36 AM

i hope it will open they eyes of our people here. She is a scape goat for someone that was trying to get out of something. and they had to use her. our country is going in the wrong direction. we use to work together not distory each other. i'm getting to hate the so called new living. there is always someone out there that will cry discrimation or racis or what ever. life is to short. we r hear today and gone tommorrow. lets make the best of what we got. and lets get along. lets be looking at the big jobs that r moving out. most every job here is a service. and not manufactor. what about the food for our pets that was purbisly taint. if they do that to our aniamals. it can get worse.

Posted by: beabet | Apr 30, 2007 11:17:37 AM

If names of clients will make everyone self satisfied and add to the fun, then let's post every single one of the "madam's" client list or are we, as usual, just interested in the ones we can see humbled and broken from power? Who's being two faced now?

Posted by: SueMiller | Apr 30, 2007 11:20:05 AM

It isn't just the idea of a madam getting caught, or "using other women" for her profit. All of them were doing it of their own free will and making money on it. It isn't the idea that families will suffer or be torn apart, the people who used the services knew what they were doing. What bothers me most is the total lack of morals that plagues our whole society but particulary those in higher positions. It goes clear back to the Kennedy/Monroe era, Clinton/Lewinski, etc. What has happened to our government and the rest of us for sitting on our butts and putting up with it? Maybe it's time we really paid attention who and what we are voting for.

Posted by: Bob Matkin | Apr 30, 2007 11:24:21 AM

Had Jeane Palfrey been a (recreational) drug dealer, wouldn't her 'clients' charged with a crime and subsequently listed? What's the difference? Why should Palfrey be the only party charged? If there wasn't a demand for her services then she would not be in the business.

Come clean and list the names please.

Posted by: RC Jackman | Apr 30, 2007 11:24:40 AM

I think ABC should post the list. The network isn't the one who cheated on a wife, the JOHNS did. The DC elists should be outed as any common criminal would be. To be honest, I think it's grossly unfair to arrest the madame but not the customers. The woman shouldn't bear full responsibility. Afterall, if a dealer is busted for selling drugs, their customers are arrested for using. Right? On that note, I don't think the johns deserve a free pass, either. I want to know if any of the johns were guys who slammed Clinton.

Posted by: mojopo | Apr 30, 2007 11:24:49 AM

ABCNews give us the names of the national disgraces we call our leaders! The time has come to out these rats.

Posted by: Max | Apr 30, 2007 11:26:13 AM

I think the client list should be posted because she wasn't the only one involved in this. Why are only the women prosecuted and not the men? If they have been cheating on their wives or significant others then that's their problem and they need to be exposed. The law is very unjust when they only go after the woman. The U.S. judicial system if very hypocritical when it comes to escort services etc....
I say the government is trying to cover their on butts....I bet some of them are on her list and this is just a big cover up so they can protect themselves and their friends.

Posted by: Faye Mitchell | Apr 30, 2007 11:27:00 AM

Post every single name. If ABC post one name or a few names. ABC will be hypocrites if one name is mentioned and not all of them.

Posted by: Joey Lonness | Apr 30, 2007 11:27:53 AM

Lets continue to go after this type of discrimination against women while historically protecting the men.
Post their names, their jobs, and then send them to prison for the same amount of time if not more. This is hypocrisy if it ever existed !!! And send them off without their pension plans.

Posted by: Eric | Apr 30, 2007 11:28:08 AM

Please POST the list. By not posting, ABC news is an accessory to criminals, just like how ABC News and other media were used by this administration to sell doctored/bogus intelligence to the public in the runup to the IRAQ war. SHAME, Shame ABC NEWs. Where 's the independent media in this country ?

Posted by: Ken Lay | Apr 30, 2007 11:28:40 AM

The list will not be made public because there is way too much corruption in these politicians, whatever it takes, money, threats, or other favors, it will be done and we will all forget about this.

Posted by: Rod M | Apr 30, 2007 11:29:03 AM

Better do your homework with accuracy, integrity, and honesty ABC. That means even if you find a name on the list of a person you don't want to "out," you'd better post it if you post one name. If you put my name on that list in error, I'd have your butts in court in a heartbeat.

From what I've seen so far, you're out for conservatives. Sorry everyone, I trust no one in the media anymore because they all have an agenda whether left or right ... just like many who've posted on this site.

Solicitation for prostituion runs across all parties, ethnicities, and money lines. If you go after one of these men/women to embarrass and ruin them, better go after all of them.

Posted by: Justine | Apr 30, 2007 11:31:03 AM

If you think that is bad, go to Phoenix where the local sheriff spends more timing tracking down prostitutes than actual criminals. The customer usually is let go if they promise to testify against the girl. How fair is that?

Posted by: Lorin | Apr 30, 2007 11:35:52 AM

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