Ex-attorney says D.C. Madam’s phone records are ‘relevant’ to presidential race

The lawyer who represented the D.C. Madam is asking the Supreme Court to lift a restraining order that prevents him from releasing phone records from his former client’s escort service, saying the records could influence the outcome of the upcoming presidential election.

A restraining order in place since 2007 has prevented Montgomery Blair Sibley from releasing the records — including names, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers — related to so-called “D.C. Madam” Deborah Palfrey’s escort business.

But he believes the public should have the right to see the records ahead of upcoming state primaries and the Democratic and Republican national conventions.

“It is my opinion that the material that is in my possession is relevant to the presidential election,” Mr. Sibley told The Washington Times in an interview Monday.

Mr. Sibley declined to divulge further details, including whether the three Republicans and two Democrats who remain in the presidential race might be implicated by the release of the records. He initially filed a petition seeking a hearing on the current restraining order in January, when there were far more contenders in the race.

In his application to the Supreme Court for a stay of the restraining order, Mr. Sibley writes that if he is not granted a hearing on the restraining order, he intends to release the records.

Palfrey was convicted in 2008 of money laundering and other crimes associated with running a prostitution service that catered to members of the city’s political elite. She committed suicide weeks after she was found guilty.

Ahead of Palfrey’s federal trial, Verizon Wireless provided Mr. Sibley with a CD containing account information that corresponds to 815 phone numbers related to the escort service. The account holder names were either former clients or escorts who called Palfrey’s business, Pamela Martin and Associates, according to Mr. Sibley’s petition to the Supreme Court. The information on the CD has never been publicly released.

Mr. Sibley, whose license to practice law was previously suspended, said he is asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter because he has had no luck obtaining a hearing in the lower courts.

He first tried to file a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District to modify the restraining order in January, but said that Chief Judge Richard Roberts did not allow him to file the motion. He later filed a petition with the D.C. Circuit, asking for a hearing on the matter but said the court has not granted one.

Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday forcefully denounced a tabloid story floating rumors of extramarital affairs, calling it “complete and utter lies” and saying GOP rival Donald Trump and his team are behind it.

“This garbage does not belong in politics,” Mr. Cruz said of a report in the National Enquirer that said he’d been “caught cheating — with 5 secret mistresses.”