**[Media Matters for America]{.underline}**

<http://mediamatters.org/items/200610050002> 10/05/2006

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# O\'Donnell failed to correct GOP strategist\'s false claim that Rep. Frank was \"running a prostitution ring out of his townhouse\"

#### Summary: Norah O\'Donnell failed to correct Republican strategist Brad Blakeman\'s false claim that Rep. Barney Frank \"admitted\" to \"running a prostitution ring out of his townhouse.\" In fact, a House investigation cleared Frank of such allegations in 1989.

During the 11 a.m. ET hour of the October 4 edition of *MSNBC News
Live*, Republican strategist Brad Blakeman falsely claimed that Rep.
Barney Frank (D-MA) \"admitted\" to \"running a prostitution ring out of
his townhouse.\" Host Norah O\'Donnell failed to correct Blakeman\'s
accusation, which he made during a discussion about the current scandal
involving former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL). In fact, a House investigation
determined that Frank \"did not have either prior or concomitant
knowledge of prostitution activities involving third parties alleged to
have taken place in his apartment.\"

In August 1989, Stephen Gobie reportedly told *The Washington Times*
that he ran a prostitution ring out of Frank\'s Washington, D.C.,
apartment and that Frank was aware of his operation. While Frank
admitted to paying Gobie for sex several years earlier and to later
hiring Gobie as an assistant, Frank denied any knowledge that Gobie
allegedly ran a prostitution ring out of Frank\'s apartment. Frank
maintained that he fired Gobie upon being told by one of his landlords
that Gobie was using his residence for his prostitution business. As
*The Guardian* reported on August 30, 1989, Frank actually \"asked the
House ethics committee \... to investigate his relationship with\"
Gobie. According to *The Guardian*:

In his letter to the ethics committee, Mr. Frank wrote: \'Questions have
been raised about my employment of a personal assistant during a period
between 1985 and 1987. I have publicly responded to these questions and
I have expressed regret for the mistaken judgment involved. In order to
ensure that the public record is clear, I hereby request that the
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct \[CSOC, commonly known as the
ethics committee\] conduct an investigation into these matters.\'

The House ethics committee launched a 10-month investigation, ultimately
finding, as *The Boston Globe* reported on July 27, 1990, \"that Frank
had violated House rules by writing a misleading memo that was used in
an effort to end prostitute Stephen Gobie\'s probation on felony charges
and by allowing his House privileges to be used to waive 33 parking
tickets that Gobie might have received while driving Frank\'s car.\" The
report recommended Frank be reprimanded for the infractions, and the
House voted for such punishment on July 26, 1990.

But, contrary to Blakeman\'s assertion, the House ethics committee
absolved Frank of allegations that he was aware that Gobie was allegedly
using Frank\'s D.C. apartment for prostitution. As the July 20, 1990,
CSOC report concluded (Page 18):

Based upon information obtained under subpoena and sworn testimony, the
Committee concludes that the weight of the evidence indicates that
Representative Frank did not have either prior or concomitant knowledge
of prostitution activities involving third parties alleged to have taken
place in his apartment. \... Representative Frank\'s landlords \...
submitted sworn testimony contradicting Mr. Gobie\'s assertion. \... The
Committee, therefore, further concludes that no further action is
warranted.

In fact, the report did not conclusively determine whether Gobie was
even using Frank\'s apartment for \"prostitution activities.\" The
report repeatedly notes that Gobie\'s purported evidence that he had
been conducting a prostitution ring collapsed under scrutiny. The
committee noted that several of Gobie\'s claims were \"repudiated by
sworn testimony\" from other individuals (Page 18). For example:

Not only have Representative Frank\'s landlords, Colonel and Mrs. James
Daugherty, submitted sworn testimony contradicting Mr. Gobie\'s
assertion, Mr. Gobie\'s assertion has also been rendered questionable by
the fact that his claims of call-forwarding service were contradicted by
the telephone company.

Gobie had claimed that Frank allowed him to forward calls from his
\"escort service\" to Frank\'s apartment.

Also, members of the committee repeatedly asked Gobie if he had \"any
knowledge whether any of the clients that you arranged to engage your
escort service in fact were involved or participated in any sexual
activity at the Congressman\'s residence\" or whether Gobie himself
engaged in such activities at Frank\'s apartment. In each instance,
Gobie answered, \"Not that I can recall at this time\" (Page 7).

The ethics committee concluded \"with Respect to the Credibility of
Stephen L. Gobie\" that:

While much has been said, written, and speculated with respect to
Representative Barney Frank\'s relationship with Stephen L. Gobie, it is
clear that most, if not all, of such media attention has been the
product of assertions made by Mr. Gobie. **As has been discussed in
detail in prior sections of this Report, the Committee went to great
lengths in seeking testimony or other information relevant to the
assertions. In numerous instances where an assertion made by Mr. Gobie
(either publicly or during his Committee deposition) was investigated
for accuracy, the assertion was contradicted by third-party sworn
testimony or other evidence of Mr. Gobie himself** (Page 37).