Affairs of State

A Detroit official quit today after steamy text messages linked her to the mayor in an ongoing sex scandal, the Detroit News reports. Christine Beatty regretted "the devastation that the recent reports have caused" and wrote "that I can no longer effectively carry out the duties of chief of staff.” Two city council members quickly demanded a probe into the scandal that has already cost Detroit $8.4 million, the Detroit Free-Press reports. More »

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's continuing administration looks doubtful after the emergence of over 14,000 racy text messages between him and his chief of staff. Kilpatrick and his aide, both married during their steamy affair, testified under oath last year that they weren't sexually involved with one another. They were grilled as part of a lawsuit against Kilpatrick and the city filed by two cops who said they'd been punished for investigating inappropriate behavior by the mayor. More »

Malaysia's health minister resigned today after a videotape surfaced of him having sex with a woman 30 years his junior. Chua Soi Lek, married with three children, was filmed without his knowledge in a hotel room by four different cameras, Bloomberg reports. Opposition parties claimed that the sex tape's dissemination is part of a power struggle in the ruling coalition ahead of a possible election, writes Bloomberg. More »

A Telemundo reporter who covered the Los Angeles political beat while having an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been suspended for two months without pay. Mirthala Salinas' involvement with the then-married mayor was an open secret at the station when she broadcast the breakup of his 20-year marriage. Media watchdogs are calling for her termination. More »

Taking a page out of the Jason Giambi playbook, Louisiana Senator David Vitter yesterday held a press conference to apologize for "actions from my past" but categorically refused to specify what, exactly, he'd done wrong. Vitter spent a week in seclusion after his number showed up in the D.C. Madam's phone records, and an infamous brothel in New Orleans cited him as a customer, too. More »

Direct from the phone records of the so-called DC Madam, Deborah Palfrey, here are the most-dialed local lodgings—or what the Consumerist calls the "Top 10 Most 'Ho-Friendly' DC Hotels." Marriott: 489 (18 numbers) Hyatt: 168 (6 numbers) Hilton: 151 (5 numbers) Holiday Inn: 132 (5 numbers) Ritz-Carlton: 118 (4 numbers) More »

Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter atoned yesterday for a "very serious sin in my past," after his telephone number turned up on the scandal-soaked call logs of Deborah Jeane Palfrey. The so-called DC Madam was forced to denude the records of her million-dollar escort service last week. More »

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa yesterday revealed an ongoing, year-long love affair with a local anchorwoman, which triggered the breakdown of his marriage. The newscaster, who works for Spanish-language channel Telemundo, broadcast news of the mayor's separation from his wife last month, despite a conflict of interest. More »

The porn king is trolling for scandal again: In an ad in yesterday's Washington Post , Larry Flynt asked: "Have you had a sexual encounter with a current member of the United States Congress or a high-ranking government official?"  If so—and you can prove it —a million dollars awaits. More »

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is at the center of an unlikely sex scandal today, after being caught on camera kissing the hand—even if it was gloved—of a retired schoolteacher. Ahmadinejad's sexy faux pas, at a ceremony honoring the country's teachers, is a violation of Shariah law, hard-liners say. More »

A White House economist, the head of a conservative think tank, lobbyists, military brass and a prominent CEO—they’re among pay-to-play clients DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey says she'll finger, ABC and the Post report. Palfrey said at a press conference yesterday she’s “genuinely sorry" if her clients are hurt by being identified. More »

A deputy secretary of state resigned late yesterday afternoon, one day after an as-yet-unaired interview with ABC News tied him to the alleged "D.C. Madam." Randall Tobias, who ran the country's foreign aid program, says he received massages, not sex, from Deborah Jean Palfrey's high-end escort service, and resigned for "personal reasons." More »

"This is a case of a judge gone wild," declaimed Joe Francis, the sleazemeister behind the Girls Gone Wild videos, after being held in contempt of court yesterday. Francis is facing suits from seven underage girls who are not so wild about his cameras probing into their partying. The judge ordered Francis into custody. More »

Newt Gingrich, the former "family values" congressman from Georgia, was cheating on his wife even while hounding Bill Clinton for doing the same. In an interview that airs tonight, Gingrich confessed the 1998 affair to Focus on the Family's James Dobson. But he's no hypocrite, he reasons, because he never lied about it "in front of a sitting federal judge." More »