DSK Lawyers Claim Hotel Maid Not Credible

Former IMF boss Dominique Strauss Kahn's lawyers say they have information that "gravely undermines the credibility" of the maid who claims he tried to rape her.

Mr Strauss-Kahn's legal team wrote to New York's district attorney complaining about the repeated leaking to the media of evidence related to his trial

In it they refer to "dozens of prejudicial articles" about the alleged attack on a hotel maid.

It mentions the publication of the results of what are claimed to be "scientific tests" suggesting the 62-year-old's DNA was found on the chambermaid's uniform.

And the letter goes on to cite a detailed narrative of the victim's claims, reported in the press and attributed to New York Police spokesman Paul J Browne.

But the lawyers also claim they could respond by issuing "substantial information that... would gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant".

"This information has now been recklessly injected into the public arena with the potential of permanently prejudicing potential jurors who are exposed to these materials on a daily basis," the letter reads.

"Were we intent on improperly feeding the media frenzy, we could now release substantial information that in our view would... gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant in this case."

The complaint comes after Mr Strauss Kahn moved into a swanky town house to await trial for the attempted rape of a hotel maid.

His new accommodation, where he will still be subject to strict bail conditions, is a posh three-storey home in the pricey New York neighbourhood of Tribeca.

It has a home theatre, a gym, a skylight and a roof terrace.

Mr Strauss Kahn was moved from his temporary apartment - a small place on Broadway in downtown Manhattan - late on Wednesday night.

A judge ruled he had to stay there for a few days because intense media attention had ruined the original plans to send him to an apartment in the Upper East Side.

According to reports, the house in Tribeca attracts rents of around £25,000 a month - on top of the estimated £150,000 per month cost to Strauss-Kahn for his security arrangements.

He is effectively under 24-hour home detention, with a permanent armed guard, video surveillance and a limit on the number of visitors he can have.

The former potential French presidential candidate also has to wear an ankle tag, and posted £611,000 ($1m) cash bail in order to be released from the notorious Riker's Island prison.

News reporters are already swarming outside the new house where he will be living with his wife, French TV presenter Anne Sinclair.

The relocation follows reports Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyer will argue in court the 32-year-old woman agreed to have sex and then tried to blackmail him.

Olivier Mazerolle, at political journalist at France's BFM TV, said he had gleaned details of Strauss-Kahn's legal defence from sources in the US. They revealed he will insist the woman "seduced him, had sex, then demanded money".

Mr Strauss-Kahn - who had been widely praised for his work as head of the International Monetary Fund - faces seven charges of trying to rape, sexually assault and imprison his alleged victim at New York's Sofitel Hotel on May 14.

Mr Strauss Kahn, who denies the accusations, is due in court on June 6 to formally answer the charges against him.