WTOP offers a deeper look into the unraveling of the Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Newly obtained email exchanges between Ms. Palfrey and “Jennifer,” the former Akin Gump legal secretary she employed, reveal a scheme to keep business alive, as well as a suspected betrayal.
Here is an excerpt:
WASHINGTON - "Why did you do this to me? I never did anything to you."
That accusatory two-sentence e-mail from alleged D.C. madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey to an escort she considered her "little sister" and one of her most trusted confidantes came moments after Palfrey realized her assets had been frozen by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
"My first thought because of the timing was that (Jennifer) was working with the government," writes Palfrey, in a series of e-mails to WTOP.
"Jennifer" was the name escort customers knew for a legal secretary at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a prominent D.C. law firm. The woman was fired in May 2007, shortly after revealing to the firm that she had moonlighted for Palfrey's Pamela Martin & Associates between 2002 and 2006.
WTOP is not identifying "Jennifer" by her given name, as she has not been charged with any crimes. Her lawyer confirms his client has been contacted by the prosecution, and at trial would testify against Palfrey.
"If my client is called as a witness, she intends to testify," says Athan Tsimpedes, attorney for "Jennifer."
Channing Phillips, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor, refused comment on "Jennifer," citing pretrial secrecy rules.
Palfrey's fondness for "Jennifer" was, in large part, due to their long business association. WTOP has learned the escort's phone number appears 1,052 times in Palfrey's records between April 3, 2002 and May 21, 2006.
On Oct. 2, 2006, two days before Palfrey's home was searched and her assets frozen, "Jennifer" broached the subject of reuniting. In e-mails from her Akin Gump account obtained by WTOP, she typed, "Just wanted to drop you a line to see if there is another contact number for me to call in case I wanted to pick up a few nights or has everything been shut down?"
Palfrey, in Europe at the time, informed "Jennifer" that she'd closed her business in August.
"I simply could not take it anymore," Palfrey wrote at the time, declaring frustration with temperamental escorts, who "acted as if they hardly could stomach the business, the job, and most especially me when on call."
Yet, Palfrey was willing to consider passing-along her business to Jennifer.
Palfrey detailed the steps "Jennifer" would need to take to revive the business. One of those steps involved pulling-back the curtain on what was apparently a secret between Palfrey and her most trusted employee -- the other escorts' real names. "Haley's # is 202-xxx-xxxx and her real name is Paula...Angela's # is 202-xxx-xxxx and her real name is Donna and McKenzie's # is 202-xxx-xxxx and her real name is Lynette."
As previously reported by WTOP, "Paula" is Paula Neble, a former escort Palfrey is suing for breach of contract.
Palfrey realizes the irony that one of her most-trusted confidantes in their shared secret world may someday take the witness stand against her.
"I have always stated the girls ("Jennifer" included) were bullied by the government in the grand jury proceeding and absolutely had no prior predilection to hurt or harm me," Palfrey writes.
On a side note: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld suspended the legal secretary after she told "her bosses she secretly worked at night" for Palfrey's company. The Akin Gump Escort worked for John M. Dowd, who represented ex-Gonzo aide in the USA firing scandal, Monica Goodling. The former secretary is trying to pick up the pieces of a broken legal career. WTOP has learned she is working in the debt collection business.
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