Did Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the accused DC Madam, commit suicide -- or was she murdered?

'Tis the season of unthinkabilities: I never thought I'd be vowing to vote against the Democrat, never thought the Clintons would stand accused of racism, never thought I'd feel betrayed by my friends in blogworld -- and never thought I'd link to the conspiracy-monger Alex Jones. Nevertheless, you should go here right now:

"We now know it goes at least as high as a United States Senator," Palfrey told The Alex Jones Show, "I’m hearing rumors now from other people that there are other possibilities in that stratosphere so to speak, on that level."

"No I’m not planning to commit suicide," Palfrey told The Alex Jones Show on her last appearance in July, "I’m planning on going into court and defending myself vigorously and exposing the government," she said.

Of course, those words were said before she had her day in court. Even so, one would expect the mainstream media to repeat the quote.

Jones' ultra-sensationalistic style irks me, but this interview is important. She discusses and dismisses the possibility of suicide, as well as the rumors linking Dick Cheney to her case. The only published source for those rumors is, alas, Wayne Madsen, whom I do not trust.

Still, let us -- with all due caveats and caution -- consider various theories.

As we've noted repeatedly, the strangest aspect of this case concerns the singling out of Palfrey's operation: Why her? Why leave so many other DC sex rings unmolested?

I doubt that a mere '90s-era liaison with Dick Cheney, in and of itself, would justify this choice of target, especially since no damning phone records have come to light. The most desirable escorts charge $3000 to $5000 a night; Palfrey's ladies, though expensive, did not operate in that range.

I have long suspected a more complex scenario than that imagined by most observers. When I spoke to Palfrey, she confirmed that she did not know the girls who worked for her very well. Although she knew something of their backgrounds, she had no way of double-checking their own accounts of themselves. Moreover, she had no way of knowing if they were working with other parties, or if they had been compromised by law enforcement.

In short and in sum, Deborah Jeane Palfrey suspected that one or more of her ladies had been recruited into functioning as the bait in a honeytrap. (A "honeytrap" is spy parlance for a sex sting operation.) The targets might have been as well known as Dick Cheney (whose stances did morph in strange ways throughout the 1990s) or they might be people with names unknown to the general public. The manipulators might have worked for an American agency, or they might have been employed by a foreign service.

If the reader will forgive a bit of self-quotation:

One historical nugget I keep mentioning in this blog concerns Xaviera Hollander, the New York City madam credited with writing The Happy Hooker in 1971. The co-writer (ghost writer?) of the book was Robin Moore -- an odd choice, since he usually specializes in military and intelligence matters. Anthony Summers, in his Nixon bio, tells us (in a footnote!) that, according to Moore, the CIA had set up clandestine cameras in Xaviera's bedroom, in order to get blackmail material on Washington pols and visiting Arab potentates.

The Arabs requested non-Jewish girls. At the time, nobody knew that Xaviera was Jewish (on her father's side).

The Moore/Hollander book contains a chapter in which Moore himself receives credit for having set up the hidden cameras in Xaviera's bedroom -- for "research" purposes. Obviously, that excuse is absurd. Just as obviously, the real reason this book received such widespread publicity was to let certain parties know that embarrassing photos existed -- and to let them know about Xaviera's heritage.

And that (I believe) is how America managed to keep one generation of Middle East leadership under control.

Did history repeat itself? If so, I would argue that any Jewish girls working for Palfrey might be best positioned to reveal what really happened.

Added note: I wish I had spoken to Palfrey about Dan Moldea, her claimed "biographer" and sole source of her alleged threat to commit suicide. Those of you who have taken an interest in Moldea's works may wonder about the period of inactivity which followed the 1989 publication of Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football. He did not publish a book again until The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy in 1997, which initiated a period of furious activity. The previous period of inactivity caused him to complain bitterly to at least one person known to me. I will say no more.

Many have wondered why Robin Moore, a well-connected writer who otherwise focused on spies and the military, chose to be the biographer of a prostitute. The section quoted above may cast some light on that mystery.

The preceding paragraph has nothing whatsoever to do with Dan Moldea, whose bibliography may be found here. I strongly urge readers to read Jim DiEugenio's The Curious Case of Dan Moldea, which can be found here.