BRIAN ROSS REPORTS
- Like Jay-Z + the Beatles, But Worse
- Update: Help for Homeless Children
- Bush Era, Revised -- and with More Barbeque
- The Tax Woman Cometh
- Paging Mr. Stanford: Antigua Called
- Who Are You Calling Partisan?
- Update: IRS Won't Use Private Debt Collectors
- But Is It Art?
- PMA Scandal a Sore Point for Dems in 2010?
- Down in Flames
- A New Mystery for RNC Chief
- PMA Clients Were Big Givers
- Raided Lobby Firm Still a Force on Capitol Hill
- Stanford Update: Another $143 Mil Found
- Cheney, Hooked on Controversy
TOP BLOTTER CATEGORIES
- Abramoff Lobbying Scandal
- American Al Qaeda
- Avian Flu
- Beirut Hospital Out of Gas
- Cheney
- CIA
- CIA Secret Prisons
- D.C. Madam Affair
- FBI
- Federal Air Marshal Service
- Homeland Security
- Hurricane Katrina
- IRS
- Mark Foley Internet Scandal
- Millionaire Sex Scandal
- Nigerian E-mail Scams
- Norman Hsu, Clinton Fundraiser
- NSA: Wiretapping
- Osama bin Laden
- Payola
- Pharmacy Investigation
- PMA
- Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
- Stanford
- Steele
- Terror
- Troopergate
- U.K. Airline Terror Plot
- U.K. Bombing Attempts
- Wen Ho Lee
- William Jefferson
- Zarqawi
« Previous | Main | Next »
Decoding the Madam's Phone Records: How We Did It
Email
Print
ShareMay 04, 2007 10:00 PM
The numbers in the "D.C. Madam's" phone records ultimately led ABC News to a number of powerful Washington men, including a deputy secretary of state, military officials, CEOs, academics, lobbyists, lawyers and others.
But it wasn't a simple path that led us there.
In mid-March, so-called "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey provided ABC News with several hundred pages of phone records detailing calls from the telephone Palfrey used to run Pamela Martin and Associates. The records included approximately 30,000 phone calls from 2002 to late 2006.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
- Photos D.C. Madam Affair Unfolds in Pictures
- Blotter 'Miz Julia' Speaks: Inside D.C.'s Most Notorious Escort Service
- Blotter D.C. Law Firm Suspends Woman Who Worked as Escort
- Blotter D.C. Madam Wants Washington Clients to Testify
- Blotter Senior Official Linked to Escort Service Resigns
- Click Here to Check Out Brian Ross Slideshows
The phone records reflected the pattern of business at the service, as Palfrey described it to ABC News. A prospective customer would call in -- a call that was not reflected in the phone records, which only showed outgoing calls. Palfrey then called an escort or escorts to assign the "appointment." Then she called the client back -- in a call that was captured in the phone records -- to confirm the time and location of the appointment and the escort who would arrive.
After matching identities to many numbers, the phone records looked less like a torrent of random digits and more like a coherent record of a functioning business.
Of course, that's easier said than done; many of the identities proved difficult to match. For example, calls to hotels frustrated the effort. Many men arranged "appointments" with Palfrey from a hotel room telephone, which made those clients nearly impossible to identify from the phone records.
Complicating matters further, Palfrey sometimes used the phone for personal calls -- to talk with friends and family as well as to make personal travel arrangements and for other purposes.
Despite such complications, ABC News successfully determined the owners of most phone numbers and weighed their importance to the story. The results are reflected in the "20/20" report Friday night.
But getting those results from the pages of the records to the final script was another challenge. With stakes understandably high, accuracy was vital to the story.
As the team positively identified names of potential clients (or, in the case of business numbers, the names of potential clients' employers), researchers combed the Internet and various directories to determine their biographies and positions.
Palfrey herself wasn't much help with this aspect. Although she says she personally arranged the vast majority of "appointments" between her "gals" and paying customers during the firm's 13-year run, she said she had gained precious little knowledge of her clients' true identities. The men generally did not use their real names on the phone, she said, they paid in cash, and she never saw them in person.
Some of her escorts told her of clients they thought were prominent. One customer in particular had told them he worked in the White House. In dramatic tones, he told the story of evacuating the presidential residence during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Using details gleaned from the phone records, researchers matched the identity of the storyteller: no dice. The man worked near the White House, not in it. He had apparently exaggerated his importance.
That wasn't the only false lead. Another number in Palfrey's records traced back to a phone number belonging to the head of a recognized educational institution. A closer study revealed his number was the same as one linked to a popular escort with the service, although the area code was different. When ABC News called, the man denied he had ever contacted the service but noted that he had for years been plagued with numerous hang-up calls to his phone, often late at night. Now, he said, he thinks he knows why.
Of course, not all leads were false, and those which resulted in news were vetted by the team. When researchers identified former Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias' number in the phone records, for example, they carefully noted the frequency of the calls, the times and duration of each call and the calls to escorts immediately following or preceding each call to Tobias.
Jonathan Gaither contributed to this report.
May 4, 2007 in D.C. Madam Affair | Permalink | User Comments (35)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
SO WHERE ARE THE NAMES, BRIAN ROSS??? THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN PROMISING. WHERE'S THE BEEF, MISTER?????????????
Posted by: Glenda Scott | May 4, 2007 10:26:07 PM
Wow, ABC has figured out that men like sex with young, pretty women. God, I wish you people would spend more time strengthening the scripts of Lost...this is such a waste of time.
Who cares.
Posted by: Bababooey | May 4, 2007 10:35:48 PM
The names! The names! Gimme the names - along with the photographs!
Posted by: mieoux - meanwhile | May 4, 2007 10:37:32 PM
It was inevitable that 'Johns' would protect other Johns while denouncing the 'service providers' for potentially ruining their lives.
Hey, guess what? Had those little Johns kept their vows and/or not been hypocrites, their lives would never have been affected.
Cops frequently publish the names and photos of Johns as they find it an effective deterrent.
Posted by: Sindra | May 4, 2007 10:46:14 PM
I hope Jeane Palfrey publishes a website or a coffee table book of these guys.
Posted by: mieoux - meanwhile | May 4, 2007 10:49:49 PM
It got 20/20 RATINGS!!!! Me, I like to surf the web and read about it rather than give ABC ratings. I'm 53 yrs old and I remember the 3 major networks in b&w and live on the air! I was devotee watcher of ABC’s One Life to Live, when it was live and in b&w. I stopped watching ABC, NBC and CBS totally in 2004 because of their bias reporting. And the bias reporting is only getting worse!
Posted by: Christine | May 4, 2007 11:28:10 PM
What time will you announce a name of insincere people if you become it?
All the person's names of a person in public office should announce it!
Posted by: honestper | May 5, 2007 12:47:18 AM
So you know the names of government officials who illegally bought women for sex but you are going to cover up for them?
I guess the good old boy network is alive and well and journalism has taken it's last breath.
Who would have thought that the Woodward and Bernstein era would have ended with such a pathetic little misogynistic whimper.
Posted by: sothen | May 5, 2007 1:59:13 AM
LETS SEE THE RECORDS OR AT LEAST THE NAMES!!!
Posted by: jer | May 5, 2007 3:15:19 AM
I agree with Sothen. There were undoubtedly multiple high-level media personalities and execs on that list. If ABC won't reveal people, the prosecutors going after Palfrey ought to subpoena the names- otherwise they should drop the case and end this sexist, selective enforcement.
Posted by: KarlyKirchner | May 5, 2007 4:56:20 AM
I can't believe what a short segment that was last night. Every single clip of it had already been shown on the internet during the last two weeks. There was nothing new on the show.
Posted by: Joanna | May 5, 2007 10:15:35 AM
I have been having a debate with my college-age daughter all week. She said prostitution is no big deal, lots of girls do it. I said no, it is a big deal and they should not do it. She said ABC would never release the names becasue "men rule the world dad and women are hos."
So I guess ABC proved my daughter right. Men do the rule the world and can get away with whatever they want to do, even if it is illegal. Women are hos and will get punished or have to commit suicide because of the shame.
ABC has just taken us backwards about 100 years. Don't any of you ABC executives have daughters?
Posted by: disgruntledday | May 5, 2007 12:56:32 PM
Looks like you didn't do a great job of 'decoding' the list. Out of 12,000 phone calls you've identified... 3 people?
Posted by: Eric | May 5, 2007 1:47:30 PM
How do you know that the that the lobbyist were the 'physical' clients ? They could have simply been the contact client, paying for an officeholder or a key aid to an office holder . Reguardless isn't their more of a story here ? Taxes etc.
Posted by: Bob Seaver | May 5, 2007 3:11:34 PM
Wow! That was REALLY lame. Even for ABC.
Posted by: Dugun | May 5, 2007 3:11:46 PM
So, last week the names included "people there at the Pentagon, lobbyists, others at the White House, prominent lawyers — a long, long list." and now all of a sudden they're not newsworthy? Why the reverse course? Something smells rotten.
Posted by: DJShay | May 5, 2007 6:25:19 PM
Just a few days ago, 'the list' was prepared to rock DC on it's foundation and expose the hypocrites among us. Instead, we have nothing but silence. I am about to agree with my conservative friends that the list is not being published because too many Democrats are on it. I never though I would find myself saying that, but what other reason can there be for this sharp reversal by ABCNEWS?
Posted by: Eric | May 5, 2007 6:40:11 PM
Print the names. This is pure sexism and a cover-up for the sexist elite culture of Washington. Ms. Palfrey should print all the evidence she has. Post it all on the internet and let the bloggers track it down. Then we'll see who's guilty of what.
Posted by: mariane | May 5, 2007 7:45:06 PM
Once again, ABC drops the ball.
Posted by: Spill the beans! | May 5, 2007 9:27:03 PM
Don't you people get it? It comes down to R A T I N G S! (And it appears some of you took it hook, line and sinker!) That and the secret society of rich and famous! Has been like that forever and will always be like that forever for that group of people. And yes, they will be protected. Sorta like the code to protect those in the group like doctors, cops, lawyers and any well to do people in the world! It won’t change!
Posted by: Christine | May 5, 2007 10:34:06 PM
Post a comment
