"D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey wasn't lying.

Her boast that some of Washington's elite used her - er - services gained considerable traction yesterday, when Sen. David Vitter admitted his phone number was in Palfrey's newly released client list and publicly apologized for - well, he was mum on what, precisely, he did, but he sounded awfully contrite:

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," the Louisiana Republican said in a statement to the AP. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there--with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Vitter, 46, "sinned" sometime before his 2004 Senate confirmation, while representing Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House, the AP reported.

Palfrey, who faces racketeering charges for allegedly running a prostitution ring out of D.C.-area hotels and residences from 1993 to 2006, heaved the phone records onto her Web site Monday, four days after a federal judge quashed a restraining order forbidding their release. Vitter's statement was sent to the AP's New Orleans bureau Monday evening.

Palfrey insists her business was legitimate, Vitter's marriage counseling notwithstanding. Her civil attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, told the AP, "I'm stunned that someone would be apologizing for this."

You can download the client list here, though last time we tried, the server was down. (Sabotage? Or just heavy traffic?)

- By Joe Palazzolo

Comments

[Jack Payne]

What does Vitter have to worry about, career-wise, that is? He's got 3 years to serve yet. That's a lifetime as measured against the average American's attention span.

--Jack Payne
www.sixhrs.com

[Sarah]

But if he just got massages and fantasy play...whassa big deal? Daaaaaaaaaa

[Angie Hartford]

This will provide interesting TV news fodder. I was getting tired of reality shows, anyway.

Of course, this would be waaay more interesting had it appeared weeks before the election.

[Andi]

Good thing God is so much more forgiving than the GOP.

[W Meister]

If he wants to join the Jimmy Swaggart club of confess and pass go, then he needs to complete the process and just go. Maybe, next time, he can lobby for a safer, smut free internet. Ya think? Witch hunters are often suspect themselves.

[Anonymous]

"In God We Trust" Amen.

[Francisco]

Someone wrote in this Comment Box the following: "So what? Really...who cares? Who of us expects our representatives to be any different then rest of the US or the world. Higher standards? Why? Politics is a BUSINESS."
May I remind this clown that Senator David Vitter took the lumber to President Clinton during the Monika fiasco.
That is why we should care, that is why we should clean house with this hypocrite.
Now he wants to keep it private...P.l.e.a.z!

[David in CA.]

So what? Really...who cares? Who of us expects our representatives to be any different then rest of the US or the world. Higher standards? Why? Politics is a BUSINESS. It is not for the true of heart nor weak of stomach? Just remember that when you vote. No illusions (or delusions).

[God says no thanks]

So, if I screw up in life if I put it in gods hands all is forgiven? Wow, what an easy way out in life to do wrong things and then just let god take care of it. What a joke! Loser!

[Anonymous]

If you want to search the list, try http://www.dcphonelist.com

[Hue Mann]

"You can download the client list here, though last time we tried, the server was down. (Sabotage? Or just heavy traffic?)
- By Joe Palazzolo"
Or perhaps you just didn't really give it that ole school effort Joe.

It did take several attempts on some of the links but the problem wasn't more than 'marginal' and is attributable to heavy traffic . . . now how's about a cross reference index of DC area numbers . . . that would prove most useful now.