Wednesday, October 21, 2015

David Vitter - Video interview with "Vanna" and Jeanette Maier

The following two interviews were conducted yesterday, October 20, 2015, in my house. I've tried desperately to get both of these subjects to speak with me on camera for months and after Wendy Ellis came forward this week, they finally agreed. They both wanted to share what they knew about Wendy Ellis and her purported relationship with Senator David Vitter.

The first interview is with a woman we will call "Vanna" who was good friends with Wendy since the early 90's all the way up to the present. She agreed to speak with me only if her identity was concealed and her voice was altered. She is concerned about how it would affect her job, her family and fears the possible acts of retribution against her. I do know Vanna's actual identity as does an unnamed "legacy" media reporter that I invited to attend the interview session.

(Note:  I am not suggesting the other media entity has endorsed this story in any way, I simply wanted Vanna to be accessible to this entity if they wished to pursue the story any further as I know my own credibility as a journalist will be called into question.)  

In this first byte, Vanna describes how she first met Wendy:

Vanna Introduction from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

I have confirmed through property records that there was an escort service, New Orleans Escorts & Erotic Massage, being operated at 905 Dumaine, circa. 1997/98.


The name associated with the escort service is a J B Houston.  I believe this to be the Jonathan that both Wendy and Vanna have spoken about.  I also believe the phone number, (504) 581-7567, was the main number for the service.  I have not been able to locate Jonathan but I believe he may be living in Florida.

If you remember in the previous interview with Wendy Ellis, she stated that the first time Sen. Vitter called the service the caller I.D. came up as "Louisiana Legislature......".  I'm not sure if that would have been from Vitter's legislative office in Metairie or from a phone in the Capital.  I was going to file a public records request for his phone records from 1997/98 but those records are only archived for a ten year period.

Remember, phone records are how Vitter was traced back to the D.C. Madame scandal.

Wendy claimed that she eventually moved across the street to 904/906 Dumaine into a "safe house". Vanna said she visited Wendy at this location:

Vanna on 904a Dumaine from Jason Berry on Vimeo.


The upstairs apartment would have been 904a and you do, indeed, have to walk down a walkway to get to the stairs that lead up to it.

 

I asked Vanna if Wendy ever told her about the alleged relationship with David Vitter:

Vanna on Vitter relationship from Jason Berry on Vimeo.


I also asked her if Wendy told her about the pregnancy:

Vanna on pregnancy from Jason Berry on Vimeo.


Finally, I asked Vanna about her last contact with Wendy:

Vanna last contact from Jason Berry on Vimeo.


Vanna was correct about where Wendy is receiving treatment (I did not previously disclose this information to her).  When I conducted the interview on October 13, I met Ellis at a clinic in Texas where she was receiving medical treatment.

I asked Vanna if she had read my previous post about Wendy or watched the videos, she said no and that she had no idea what my blog was.

Story #2

The next interview I conducted was with Jeanette Maier, better known as The Canal Street Madame.  The reason I wanted to talk with Jeanette was to explain some comments she made on Jeff Croure's show about "David Vitter being a client" of hers back in the 90's.

Also, Jeanette has been in contact with Wendy Ellis, even before I interviewed Wendy.  In fact, Jeanette encouraged Wendy to come forward with the rest of her story.  I asked Jeanette about her relationship with Wendy and what she knew about that late 90's period:

Jeanette on Wendy 1 from Jason Berry on Vimeo.


I have only spoken to Wendy once since our interview. Jeanette had spoken to her more recently:

Jeanette on Wendy 2 from Jason Berry on Vimeo.


The problem with stories such as this is the collateral damage it can cause to the people who come forward.  I realize concealing Vanna's identity has the appearance of melodrama but I take all of these folks' safety as seriously as I can.  Vanna is accessible to the legacy journalism entity I mentioned previously.

Jeannette has already suffered the damage and fallout from the Canal Street brothel scandal so she is more fearless than others. Curiously her client list was sealed by a federal judge, so the johns, some of them politicians, never suffered a day and one (other than Vitter) is even up for a statewide seat this election cycle.

To clarify, David Vitter was not on the infamous list of Jeanette's clients that was entered into the legal record and sealed by the federal judge...but Jeanette was running an escort service long before she opened the brothel on Canal Street.  We will be addressing this story in length.

In the next post, Jeanette will talk about the price she and other women have paid in what she coined "politricking" scandals but more importantly, we will examine an entirely different prostitution story about Senator David Vitter that I've been working on the past several months.

Also, I hope to provide some medical records that legitimize Wendy Ellis's pregnancy at the period she specified and I now have Wendy's entire legal records from Arkansas that shed light on the story WDSU published.

I asked the WDSU reporter how he obtained that letter and why they didn't initially publish the entire thing (see previous post).  I also asked him if he had researched the legal records himself or if it was handed to him by Vitter's campaign or lawyers.

I did not get an answer to my inquiries.

Stay tuned...hope to have the next post by tomorrow or Friday.  


10 comments:

Unknown said...

Jeanette is awesome Ive known her and her family for many years

Anonymous said...

But what about this - in an article available on nola.com titled "Prostitute describes Vitter affair" written by Gary Scheets Jeannette Meir is shown a picture that Tait Cortez confirms is Wendy Cortez, and she states that's not the Wendy Cortez she knows.

Paragraph from the article: "Cortez identified a photo of the woman who adopted his name and described the location of the Mid-City brothel where he said he'd been to pick her up when she worked there. A family member also confirmed the photo. Meier, the madam, said the photo was not the woman she knew as Wendy Cortez."

Jason Brad Berry said...

Well, one thing here is that Wendy said Tait lied about a lot in order to get paid by Hustler for the interview. Both Wendy and Jeanette said she never worked for her or the Canal Street Brothel. Tait has claimed to have a lot of pictures about Wendy but he's never produced anything substantial. He then said he got angry and burned all of her pictures. I wouldn't count on Tait as a viable source in respect to Wendy's life and they had already separated by the time the Hustler interview came out.

Jules B. said...

On the chance they read this, I would like to thank Ms. Ellis, Ms. Maier and Vanna for their inspiring courage. I want to tell these women, in case there was ever any doubt, that they are heroes to me and many others. These three and the tireless Mr. Berry deserve our respect and gratitude.

Kearny Denais said...

All of this info released three days before primary election. There sure is a stinch in Louisiana and it's coming from Acadina by the name of "Scott Angelle Edwards". The true lack of commitment is from his deception of being a conservative when it's obvious he his owned by John Bell Edwards and the Democratic Party. His clear display of infidelity to the Republican Party is self evident as he attacks while the democrat comes off as mild mannered politician. Scott Angelle is an embarrassment to the Cajun culture just as Edwin Edwards was as politician of the past!

Jason Brad Berry said...

I"m not sure where Acidina is....perhaps Greece?

I really hope no one is paying for that limp-dicked, astroturffing attempt.

Anonymous said...

Vanna doesn't confirm or give any original information; she simply repeats the prompts that are contained in the questions. She can't lock down any specific facts about the pregnancy. Jonathan, the house, the illness, and the criminal troubles are just background that has been covered years ago. And proving Wendy was pregnant does not confirm Vitter is the father.

Since the beginning of time pregnancy has been a primary factor in the lives of women. Any unintended pregnancy is a cause for concern; and for an unmarried woman having a paid for affair with a powerful public official it is a trauma. Women talk about this subject in detail to each other, Vanna cannot confirm details like what month, how far along, what Wendy told her she intends to do, that’s a problem.

A woman does not "show" at one month in, especially women who have given birth before. Furthermore when she discusses seeing/speaking to Wendy in 2004 and doesn't tell us that one of the first things she asked her friend was what happened to the pregnancy, that's a problem.

Finally, Vanna is identifiable by her hair, her hands, her jewelry, and her mannerisms.

Jeannette tells us that she heard that Vitter was a client of Jonathan but cannot confirm that he was a client of Wendy. She is smart enough not to tell us who her political client was; but she goes on to tell us how hurt Wendy is by all this publicity. Wendy should learn how survive life after prostitution from Jeanette. She has ruined her own life by continuing to speak out about it, she was never named during the premiere media event of this story, but went to Hustler with her story. She wanted the money he was offering, what does she want now? How will bringing Vitter down make her life better?

I’ve got news for you, Vitter will be the next governor. If Vitter were to be removed from the mortal coil today and his body was lying in state in Washington, the voters of Louisiana would still vote him in as governor. This spectacle is not playing well anywhere in this state. Leave this poor woman alone.

Jason Brad Berry said...

^^^ Enter: Voice of God.

If you say so, Champ.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Jason, for being relentless in pursuit of the truth, and respectful as you present the story. Please thank Wendy, Jeanette and Vanna and let them know that thousands are grateful for their courage and their honesty. I wish them only the best as they, and their children, pursue their lives.

The respect and integrity that you, Jason, show through this reporting, and the honesty of the women, only underscores the hypocrisy and duplicity of the 'Family Values' policymakers.

Clay said...

SHADY BLOG!

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/10/final_governors_debate_lsu.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news

NOLA.com refusing to say your name again.