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Woman says she had sex with Sen. Vitter
2007-09-11
A former New Orleans prostitute who will be featured in Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine appeared at his office Tuesday to accuse Sen. David Vitter of having a sexual relationship with her in 1999. Wendy Ellis told reporters that Vitter visited her two to three times a week for sexual relations between July and November 1999. Flynt produced parts of an Aug. 22 polygraph test that he said confirmed her account, but Ellis could provide no financial records, photographs or other evidence to support her assertion that the Louisiana Republican was a client during that time. Vitter has denied those claims. "I want the truth to be known," Ellis said. "It was a pure sexual relationship. He would come in and do his business." Ellis declined to comment when asked if she was being paid or reimbursed for her statement regarding Vitter, but she later said she would appear in Hustler magazine in January. She would not say if she is being paid for the layout. "She looks ... good," Flynt said. Vitter, 46, a first-term senator, apologized in July for committing a "very serious sin" and acknowledged his phone number was among those called several years ago by a Washington escort service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Federal prosecutors accused Palfrey of racketeering by running a prostitution ring that netted more than $2 million over 13 years, but she claims her escort service was a legitimate business. Vitter's admission came after Hustler magazine told the senator that his telephone number was linked to Palfrey's escort service. The senator was not charged with a crime. Vitter's office did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday. On Monday, Vitter spokesman Joel Digrado wouldn't comment on the Flynt press conference. In an e-mail, Digrado said, "Sen. Vitter and his wife have addressed all of this very directly. The senator is focused on important Louisiana priorities like the water resources bill and the Iraq debate."
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