Subscribe"The boy happens to be real, and his 'stage name' is Benjamin Nicholas. One of the politicos Big Head DC has learned he’s alleged to have been involved with is the married Sen. Trent Lott, 66, who unexpectedly announced his retirement on Monday. Lott is well-known to have been against a plethora of gay rights issues throughout his terms in Congress. He was also good friends with Sen. Larry Craig throughout his time in Congress. Nicholas told Big Head DC today via e-mail that he didn’t want to go on the record to talk about his dealings with Lott, because, said Nicholas, 'Trent is going through his fair share of scrutiny right now and I don’t want to add to it.' However, e-mail and other records confirm that the two have met on at least two occasions. 'All I can say at this point is no comment,' Nicholas told us. 'It’s the professional thing for me to do.' In a subsequent e-mail message, Nicholas confirmed that another publication is working on a story about a 'possible relationship' between Lott and himself, but Nicholas also 'politely declined' an interview for that story. 'As I said before, Lott has quite a bit on his plate right now and I don’t really want to add fuel to the embers,' Nicholas told Big Head DC."Regarding the "other" publication -- could it be Hustler? Larry Flynt told Fox Business Network that he's "hoping to expose a bombshell" within the next week or two.
"It looks like a Washington DC-based blog called BigHeadDC is making claim that there was (or, is) a working relationship between myself and Senator Trent Lott. There are falsely pieced-together quotes that serve no purpose other than to sensationalize a completely fabricated scoop.
I will continue to offer a great sense of confidentiality to the people I see. I have not, nor have I ever seen or had contact with Senator Trent Lott. It's as simple as that. It never happened."
I have not, nor have I ever seen or had contact with Senator Trent Lott. It's as simple as that. It never happened.Well, somebody here is lying, or incredibly mistaken.
"But consider this: who, after spending millions of dollars seeking re-election, leaves in the middle of their term for any reason other than a scandal, health condition, or personal situation?"
"Larry Flynt Statement on Trent Lott
Larry Flynt just posted this ambiguous statement on his website:'HUSTLER Magazine has received numerous inquiries regarding the involvement of Larry Flynt and HUSTLER in the resignation of Trent Lott. Senator Lott has been the target of an ongoing HUSTLER investigation for some time now, due to confidential information that we have received.'BigHeadDC crows that this statement confirms his scoop about Lott’s alleged involvement with a male escort. Not quite. Flynt has been gunning for GOP hypocrites and as Lott’s already stepping down, well, why not insinuate that he’s got something on Lott? It’s telling that Flynt doesn’t confirm any details—there’s no mention of an escort, male or female, just an 'investigation.' For his part, the escort named by BigHeadDC is adamant that he’s never met Lott.
At some point someone involved in pushing this—I mean BigHeadDC or Flynt, not the escort (who hasn’t done anything to push this, so far as I can tell)—needs to put up or shut up. Don’t be coy, Larry. If you’ve got something on Lott, out with it. If you don’t have anything, don’t tease us. And stop overselling this, BigHeadDC. Nothing’s been confirmed by anyone."
The Mississippi secretary of state’s office said early Monday that state law appeared to require a special election within 90 days if Lott retires in 2007. After consulting with lawyers, however, a spokesman said the secretary of state concurred with Barbour based on a technicality in the letter of the law.
In an exception to the 90-day rule, the law says the governor “shall designate” the special election for the same day as the general election if a vacancy occurs the same calendar year as a statewide election. Mississippi had a statewide election earlier this month, so Barbour would be setting the special election for the next statewide election in 2008.
The secretary of state in Mississippi is Eric Clark, a third-term Democrat. His spokesman agreed that Barbour was using a technicality.
“That’s exactly what it is,” spokesman Kell Smith said. “And we agree with that.”
“Big Head DC, the blog that is claiming a male escort is behind Senator Trent Lott's recent abrupt resignation, has fired back at claims by the escort, Benjamin Nicholas, that quotes in Big Head DC's item were ‘fabricated’.
Now, Big Head DC has published his entire email exchange with Nicholas.
The exchange DOES NOT yet provide any real evidence that there was a relationship between Nicholas and Trent Lott, however, it's certain to be picked apart in minute detail, such as this remark:Nicholas: ‘I’m a blogger as well, so I’m well aware that nothing in this world is ever truly ‘off-record.’ Trent is going through his fair share of scrutiny right now and I don’t want to add to it. All I can say at this point is no comment. It’s the professional thing for me to do.’Addressing Senator Lott as ‘Trent’ seems to imply that the lawmaker was more than a passing acquaintance, but that's pretty much all I can glean from the exchange.
Big Head DC adds: ‘It is of course Nicholas’ way of framing his answers in these e-mails, i.e. 'no current affiliation with Lott,' referring to the senator as Trent, etc. that has helped lead many today to question why Nicholas has decided to backtrack. Perhaps he had promised an exclusive to another publication, and accidentally dropped the ball? Perhaps some of his current clients became frightened, so he decided to try to make the story go away? Or perhaps he has felt some other sorts of pressure. We do not know at this point. But, rest assured, we are working to find out.’’’
Why Benjamin Nicholas?
“I’ve been emailing back and forth with Benjamin Nicholas, gay escort and past Stranger contributor. Yesterday Nicholas was accused, for lack of a better word, of having a professional relationship with GOP Sen. Trent Lott. The blog BigHeadDC broke this as-yet-unconfirmed story and said that Lott’s alleged contacts with Nicholas were about to be made public and that this—another GOP gay sex scandal—was the real reason for Lott’s sudden resignation.
The credibility-challenged blogger that, er, fingered Nicholas stands by his story. Nicholas, for his part, denies ever having seen Lott in a professional capacity—or in any other capacity. He also insists that the quotes attributed to him on BigHeadDC were ‘falsely pieced together’ and that BigHeadDC’s story was ‘fabricated.’ But Nicholas has credibility problems of his own.
At the moment I’m inclined to believe Nicholas when he denies any involvement with Lott—even though, of course, Nicholas’ commitment to client confidentiality pretty much requires him to deny ever having seen Lott. But one thing gives me pause.
Of all the escorts in all the world—many of whom are based in DC—why would some random DC blogger pluck Benjamin Nicholas out of the ether? Nicholas is based in San Antonio, not DC. If BigHeadDC is making this shit up, wouldn’t he be likelier to make this shit up about a DC-based escort?
‘Why me?’ Nicholas responded via email. ‘Well, I think it’s mainly because in the escort world, I’m pretty face-front and known,’ due to his blog and his willingness to critique other escorts and certain aspects of the escort business. ‘This is one of the few times in my escort career that I’m not really enjoying the spotlight.
‘Also, take into account that there are MANY people out there who dislike me and could easily tip-off this crappy DC blogger with some horseshit story.’
...‘Whether this is a conspiracy or just plain bullshit,’ writes Nicholas, ‘I’m hunkering down and hoping that the national media doesn’t pick this up, as it’s not yet been verified from a credible source. My statement on 15 Minutes is clear. I’ll leave it at that.’
Unfortunately for Nicholas, the national media is picking this story up: the ABCNEWS producer and investigative reporter that broke the Mark Foley story just called. She wanted to know how she could get in touch with Nicholas about Trent Lott.”
"Yes. I was contacted by Gawker this morning ([Nick] Denton is a friend of mine). He’s hot to get an exclusive interview about the possible relationship between the two of us, but I politely declined. As I said before, Lott has quite a bit on his plate right now and I don’t really want to add fuel to the embers."So, maybe the "other publication...[that was/is] working on a story about a 'possible relationship' between Lott and himself" is actually Gawker.
"Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) refuses to say why he is retiring from Congress. Many in the media have reported that Lott likely wants to enter the lucrative world of K Street before 'tougher restrictions in a new lobbying law' take effect.
But the right-wing American Spectator magazine speculates that brewing corruption scandals may have contributed to Lott’s decision:'The tin-foil-hat crowd was almost immediately pushing a Jack Abramoff angle to the surprise resignation of Sen. Trent Lott. But a more recent scandal brewing — which has already ensnared Sen. Ted Stevens, among others — may also be playing on Lott’s mind.
Lott, Stevens, as well as Rep. Dennis Hastert all have ties to Bill Allen, a larger than life Alaskan businessman who owned Veco, an oil-field services company, and who was a huge benefactor of Republican politicians.'"
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posted by ericb at 6:54 PM on November 26, 2007