Enquirer Says Gore MassageGate Accuser Asked for $1 Million
Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post reports that the Enquirer says the masseuse accusing Al Gore of sexual improprieties asked for $1 million for her story. It says it decided not to pay her anything and conducted only a brief interview with her, verified some facts (like Al Gore was in Portland and the woman had billed the hotel for his massage) and then wrote the story mostly from police reports.
The accuser told police she had no interest in money. Here's what she says in her January, 2009 police statement on page 22:
I consulted with an attorney as this was so overwhelming and I felt the need to understand my rights and choices in a private setting. Since all I have ever been interested in with this situation is stopping this from happening to others, I decided I was not interested in making any money from this case.
I did not want to be labeled a gold digger like women in this situation are often labeled. And I don't care about judgments for money and some army of lawyers fighting another army of lawyers who would not bring back my pre-assault sense of peace and safety. I don't want to be bought off into silence. I only want Justice and having this ugly thing come out of the shadows and into the light where it cannot continue any more. And for this man to be stopped from what he has been doing which should have been done a long time ago. I know that I'm not the first Woman to be assaulted by him.
[More...]
My guts told me that when I was struggling in the room with him and I stand by it today. I hope the others will feel brave enough to come forward in spite of his public stature and army of lawyers. I even wonder who he may have already paid off to shut them up. I believe if someone has spoken up before, this would have not happened to me. And I feel like I must speak up to prevent, if I can, Some other woman from going through what I went through or worse.
He should not get a free pass merely because of his position. People in power are not to be given a license to behave in ways that the rest of us are not, to be above the law and to abuse women through criminal acts. Women like me and others out there in this world with their precious jobs working and just doing their best, trying to make a living, keep a roof over their heads and put bread on their tables. I want this behavior stopped and I want people to know who he really is and what he's done. And this is not just my story but this is the story of women in the world and how it is I really think this is and it needs to stop.
Howard Kurtz also reports:
According to a source friendly with the Gores, Al Gore confirmed that he received a therapeutic massage in his hotel room that night, and likely from the therapist making the accusation. But, the source said, Gore remembers getting a massage without incident and the therapist leaving on good terms.
How long before Gloria Allred is retained to come to the woman's defense?
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