Abe_Oltulever's Blog

U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler lifted a restraining order, allowing Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 51, to distribute pages of phone records that she and her attorney said contains up to 15,000 names.  Palfrey, who faces, federal racketeering and conspiracy charges, says she runs a legal escort service. Prosecutors say the business netted more than $2 million from 1993 to 2006.

Louisiana Sen. David VItter apologized Monday for his telephone number showing up on the old phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, the alleged prostitution ring run in the nation's capital by Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

Palfrey's attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, said he did not know that Vitter's number was on the list, and was surprised by the admission.

"I'm stunned that someone would be apologizing for this," he said.

A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, Vitter, 46, said "This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said in a statement.

"Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there --with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way," he wrote.

 Vitter, was elected to his current office in 2004, becoming the first Republican from Louisiana elected to the Senate since Reconstruction. He represented Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2004.

Vitter and his wife, Wendy, live in Metairie, La., with their four children.