Anon. Gore Friend To WaPo: Portland Massage Occurred 'Without Incident'

[kpete]

Anon. Gore Friend To WaPo: Portland Massage Occurred 'Without Incident'
Justin Elliott | June 25, 2010, 10:38AM

The Gore pushback begins?

After the revelation yesterday that a Portland, Oregon, massage therapist accused Al Gore of sexual assault for a 2006 incident, Gore's spokeswoman issued "no comment"s across the board -- including to TPM. But given the woman's extremely detailed account of what she alleges happened -- and the fact that police did not dispute that Gore was in the hotel in question on the night in question, it seemed unlikely that Gore would not respond.

Now, buried in Howard Kurtz's Washington Post media column today, we have a response -- of sorts. Check out this paragraph:

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.

So there you have it. Gore has "confirmed" -- it's not entirely clear to whom, though presumably the anonymous source -- that he got a massage "without incident" and he and the therapist left "on good terms."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/anon_gore_friend_to_wapo_portland_massage_occurred.php?ref=fpblg
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062406355.html

[DefenseLawyer]

1. And let me stress, "leaving on good terms" is not the same as a "happy ending" n/t

[Enrique]

4. .

:spank:

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. LOL.

[Jennicut]

2. He said/she said type of thing.

It is always hard to determine the exact truth in those circumstances.

[shanti]

5. kind of like kobe bryant?

yeah i said it.

[Jennicut]

7. Yes. I agree.

[xchrom]

3. I have a 'let the chips fall where they may' attitude

About stuff like this.

[arcadian]

6. She's a prostitute.

Thought she could wrangle a few more bucks from one of her high priced clients.

[LisaL]

8. That is just so stupid.

The woman is 54 now. That is far from a prime age for prostitution and high priced clients.

[formernaderite]

25. industry hazard unfortunately

I know a few women and men who do various types of therapeutic massage. They no longer make appointments to travelers at hotels, because of the "other" types of massage services. They've been propositioned too many times by clients who don't know the difference, age has not been a factor.

[WI_DEM]

9. how do you know she's a prostitute? massage therapists aren't necessarily prostitutes

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

12. Do you know how long you have to study and how expensive it is to become a massage therapist?

Yeah, they're not "necessarily" prostitutes! What a horrible statement.

[demwing]

15. Doesn't it make more sense to direct this at Post #6? /nt

[Honeycombe8]

13. True. Many wealthy people, esp. those with stressful jobs, get massages.

I got a couple of them during high-stress times (I didn't like them...found them creepy, and they didn't alleviate my stress). I got the massages after I got advice from a number of friends and coworkers that massages were great for stress, etc., and they got them regularly.

We even have a massage therapist come by our place of work weekly; we get a discount if we hire her. (She only does head and neck and shoulder massages.)

Some so-called massage therapists are prostitutes, but many are really reputable therapists. They usually go to where wealthy people are (as opposed to regular folks like me, who go to the massage therapist's place of business).

He should've known that he was putting himself in a position of being falsely accused of sexual assault, though (if that's what happened...as I suspect...he's a famous multi-millionaire, after all, and a person could reasonably surmise that he'd pay rather than have a story like that hit the press). Stupid.

[BuelahWitch]

22. Certified massage therapists are NOT prostitutes!

This isn't the same thing as a girl you find in a massage parlor who gives you a hot oil rubdown.
Sounds to me like somebody is trying to discredit Al Gore because of the big climate change bill. Hope they fry in hell for it.

[Uncle Joe]

26. Yes, just as they attacked the global warming climate change scientists around the time of their

conference last December.

It's the standard M.O. of some very powerful forces making mega-bucks from the burning of fossil fuels, they can't attack the message with any competence, so they attack the messengers in any way possible.

In the final analysis, no matter what happens to Al Gore or the scientists the worshipers of fossil fuels can't stop the reality of global warming climate change by attacking the messengers, however being money is God sociopaths, they don't care, because they believe they'll survive the looming global catastrophe using their wealth and power while the vast majority of humanity perishes.

[hedgehog]

10. Just ewanted to note that even a prostitute can be sexually assaulted or raped.

I also state that Al Gore would never do such a thing.

[arcadian]

17. If you were Al Gore, why would you get caught up in such an ordeal?

Even if she wasn't a hooker, he tries to put the moves on her, she rejects, he just says "Ok, whatever, there are plenty of women who will sleep with me for free" and he moves on. All politicians do this sort of thing, there is a reason why it doesn't show up in the Washington Post every single day. They are good at covering their tracks.

[hedgehog]

18. Not to rub any salt into any wounds, but if any one had a front

row seat to see what happens when a politician doesn't keep his pants zipped, it is Al Gore.

[DefenseLawyer]

27. You're a hooker?

Jesus, I forgot! I just thought I was doing GREAT with you!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

11. It's hard for me to believe that a smart guy like Gore put himself in the position

of getting a private massage in his hotel room without others present to protect him from charges just like this. He has to know that he's a target of people who despise him and everything he stands for.

I would hate to see another one of my heroes go down for the count for something like this. Clinton and Spitzer were enough.

Al Gore has a great body of a life's work. His book The Assault on Reason was brilliant. We all know his efforts on climate change. He is a Nobel Prize winner. He needs to swing back hard or he will hear himself for the rest of his life being demonized by the right as a pervert/sex offender.

[sammytko]

14. Maybe that is why he thought he would be safe with a 54 yr old female

Who knew!

[Jackpine Radical]

16. A friend of mine is a massage therapist. During the 1992 campaign,

when Clinton & Gore were out stumping in our vicinity, she was contacted by the Gore people to give him a massage. I suspect they got her name from the local Democratic organization. At that time, however, she was not yet licensed (still interning), so she lost her chance to massage one of her heroes. My main points are 1) Gore has a long history of getting legitimate therapeutic massages, and 2) at that time, his people were certainly on guard in terms of vetting his masseuses.

[lynne]

19. An "anonymous friend" is a valid source? Since when?

Frankly, I don't care if there is a response or not but I sure wouldn't consider an anonymous friend making a comment as any type of response from Al Gore. I wouldn't consider an anonymous source as valid for any type news or other information and this is no exception.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

21. So, he wanted nothing to do with her ''locked box''. nt

:evilgrin:

[tammywammy]

24. Lol n/t

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

28. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking that. nt

[Greybnk48]

23. I believe this story to be true.

The other story makes no sense. Why call for a 50 y/o hooker? Especially by someone (Al Gore) who could afford a discreet hook-up with someone much younger?