Frenchman Shocked That He Can't Assault New York Hotel Maids

Perhaps you can do that when you're a powerful socialist in Paris, but not in New York:

The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel cleaning woman in New York City is a personal humiliation for the French politician, but it is also a black mark on the International Monetary Fund that chose to overlook his previous sexual behavior. It will be fascinating to see how the grandees of French and international financial politics handle this one.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and his attorney says he will plead not guilty. Some in the French press and even a French government minister are suggesting that the 62-year-old Socialist Party panjandrum may have been set up by his rivals. The charges are stunning enough—and French politics is strange enough—that we suppose anything is possible, but such a conspiracy would have to include a large number of players.

The facts of the case as reported by New York police so far do not look promising for the IMF managing director. The woman who entered to clean the Frenchman's $3,000-a-night Sofitel suite at midday on Saturday reported the incident immediately. She told police that Mr. Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from the bathroom, pursued her down a hallway and pulled her into the bedroom. She escaped and he then chased her again and dragged her into a bathroom.

In other words, this is not a case in which misunderstandings about mutual consent are at issue. The charge is the unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape of a vulnerable hotel employee trying to do her job. Police also say that Mr. Strauss-Kahn fled the hotel in a rush, leaving behind his cellphone and other personal items. Police were impressed enough with the facts to take Mr. Strauss-Kahn from the first-class section of an Air France aircraft lest he leave U.S. jurisdiction.

The IMF declined to comment yesterday, but its board should do some soul-searching about the pass it previously gave Mr. Strauss-Kahn. The married Frenchman pursued and had an affair with a senior fund economist not long after taking the top job in 2007. After her husband blew the whistle, the fund board let Mr. Strauss-Kahn off with a wrist slap that he had committed a "serious error of judgment."

This guy was a socialist living in a $3,000 a night hotel room and planning a first class flight to Paris. Doesn't sound like he was much interested in "sharing the wealth".

He was also supposed to be a presidential candidate against Nikolas Sarkozy in the next French election, but that's probably over now, though the French are notoriously forgiving about extramarital dalliances.

What will be interesting is if this guy tries to claim diplomatic immunity and what authorities will do about that. I'm not sure being the head of the IMF qualifies as an international diplomat, so that claim probably won't fly.

In any event, he's going to have a pretty bad day.