Bush Administration Abstinence Promoter Resigns for Using Escort Service

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Randall L. Tobias, foreign aid director who stressed abstinence, suddenly resigns from State Department

Bush official who required foreign aid contractors to denounce sex workers felled for using an escort service charged with providng prostitutes

April 30, 2007

Background: Randall L. Tobias, who held the rank of ambassador and directed the State Department's foreign aid programs as well as the Agency for International Development, resigned Friday after learning that he would be named in an ABC 20/20 report as a client of an escort service accused by prosecutors of supplying prostitutes. The service's owner, dubbed the "Washington Madam" is fighting the charges by outing her clients. Ironically, the international HIV/AIDS program Tobias ran made it difficult for organizations wishing to reach out to sex workers or distribute condoms to get funding.

The administration's emphasis on abstinence in its international HIV/AIDS programs has been widely criticized. (More here.)

ABC breaks news that Tobias patronized escort service

Senior Official Linked to Escort Service Resigns

ABC News "Blotter" Blog, April 27, 2007

Brian Ross and Justin Rood Report:

Deputy Secretary of State Randall L. Tobias submitted his resignation Friday, one day after confirming to ABC News that he had been a customer of a Washington, D.C. escort service whose owner has been charged by federal prosecutors with running a prostitution operation.

Tobias, 65, director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), had previously served as the ambassador for the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief. Continue.

Link to ABC's video report

April 28th video entitled Senior Official Linked to Call Girl Ring.

The State Department

Press Statement: Resignation of Ambassador Randall Tobias

Sean McCormack, Spokesman, Department of State, April 27, 2007

Ambassador Randall Tobias informed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today that he must step down as Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and US Agency for International Development Administrator (USAID) effective immediately. He is returning to private life for personal reasons.

First as the administration's Ambassador for the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) then as USAID Administrator and Director of Foreign Assistance, Randy has been a leader in helping the most vulnerable populations around the globe whether it was by acting to alleviate hunger or preventing the spread of infectious disease or directing assistance to victims of natural disasters. Under Ambassador Tobias' leadership at PEPFAR, the United States supported delivery of life-saving antiretroviral treatment to hundreds of thousands of people and saved countless other lives through AIDS prevention programs. As the State Department's first Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, Randy helped lead one of the Department's most far reaching reforms in recent memory, resulting in better matching of policy goals and delivery of international assistance. The lives saved and made better around the globe by Randy's work at the State Department constitute a rich legacy on which he can look back with justifiable pride. Click here.

News reports on Tobias' resignation

Rice Deputy Quits After Query Over Escort Service

Randall Tobias Oversaw U.S. Foreign Aid Programs

Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, April 28, 2007

Randall L. Tobias, the deputy secretary of state responsible for U.S. foreign aid, abruptly resigned yesterday after he was asked about an upscale escort service allegedly involved in prostitution, U.S. government sources said.

Tobias resigned after ABC News contacted him with questions about the escort service, the sources said. ABC News released a statement last night saying Tobias acknowledged Thursday that he had used the service to provide massages, not sex.

Tobias has been Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's point man in an ambitious effort to overhaul how the U.S. government manages foreign aid, a key part of her "transformational diplomacy" agenda. Just two days ago, President Bush lauded Tobias for his work in the administration leading "America's monumental effort to confront and deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the continent of Africa." Continue.

Federal Official Resigns in Escort Service Inquiry

Matthew L. Wald, The New York Times, April 28, 2007

Washington, April 27 -- The head of the Agency for International Development, Randall L. Tobias, resigned abruptly on Friday for what he said were "personal reasons," but an administration official said Mr. Tobias’s name had come up in an investigation of a suspected Washington prostitution ring.

On Friday night, ABC News said Mr. Tobias had confirmed on Thursday that he was a customer of an escort service.

A woman from Vallejo, Calif., Deborah J. Palfrey, has pleaded not guilty to charges that she operated a call-girl service in Washington, and has threatened on her Web site to sell her client list to raise money for her defense. ABC News reported that Ms. Palfrey had given the network thousands of phone numbers of clients. Continue.

Bush official resigns over escort links

By Anne Gearan, AP Diplomatic Writer, Boston Globe, April 28, 2007

WASHINGTON --Randall Tobias, head of the Bush administration's foreign aid programs, abruptly resigned Friday after his name surfaced in an investigation into a high-priced call-girl ring, said two people in a position to know the circumstances of his departure.

It was Tobias' own decision to resign, according to one of the people, who said the issue came up only in the past day or so. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way.

Tobias submitted his resignation a day after he was interviewed by ABC News for an upcoming program about an alleged prostitution service run by the so-called D.C. Madam.

ABC reported on its Web site late Friday that Tobias confirmed that he had called the Pamela Martin and Associates escort service to have women come to his condo and give him massages. More recently, Tobias told the network, he has been using a service with Central American women. Continue.

State Department official resigns over 'D.C. madam'

CNN, April 28, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top State Department official resigned Friday after revealing to ABC News that he had been a client of the alleged "D.C. madam's" escort service.

A State Department official, on condition of anonymity, confirmed to CNN the reason for Randall Tobias' departure as director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The State Department said that Tobias, 65, resigned for "personal reasons."

ABC said Tobias' private cell phone number was one of thousands listed on documents that Palfrey handed over to the network, which plans to air a report on the documents on the "20/20" television news program next week. Continue.

Comment on and reaction to Tobias' resignation

Ex-AIDS chief in escort flap called hypocritical

Backed US policy that forbids aid to help prostitutes

By John Donnelly, Boston Globe, April 29, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Randall L. Tobias , the Bush administration official responsible for foreign assistance who resigned late Friday because of his use of an escort service allegedly involved in prostitution, was ridiculed as a hypocrite yesterday because he supported US policies that forced overseas organizations not to help prostitutes.

Others, who called Tobias a strong manager, said that he was so integral to US foreign aid that the Bush administration may now retreat from some initiatives rather than draw attention to the circumstances of his departure. Continue.

Randy Tobias, Risky Sexual Behavior, and AIDS

James Love, Huffington Post, April 28, 2007

The news that Randall Tobias, the former Lilly executive and chief of the Bush Administration's global AIDS programs, was using the services of call girls, led to this reaction from one AIDS activist:

Oh my God. Mr. Married Abstinence only used an ESCORT service!!!!!! The anti-prostitution pledge promoter?

The press coverage about this has predictably focused on the apparent hypocrisy of the leader of a government agency that to fight AIDS in Africa and other developing countries, promotes "abstinence only" and derides sex workers, and then is caught doing exactly the opposite.

AIDS is a terrible health crisis, and no one would deny the importance of discouraging risky sexual behavior, particularly in countries and populations with extremely high infection rates. The problem with the Bush Administration's "abstinence only" efforts was the word, "only," since prevention should include other strategies, including the use of condoms. Continue.

Abstinence Bushie Busted!

Randall Tobias, hypocrite.

By Timothy Noah, Slate, Saturday, April 28, 2007 ABC News and the Washington Post are reporting that Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias resigned April 27 after confirming to ABC News that he's on Jeane Palfrey's little list. Palfrey is a D.C. madam under prosecution who's been negotiating with lawyers for various prominent johns over whether to release their names to the public. Tobias is administrator of the State Department's foreign aid programs.

Tobias' resignation was announced at 5 p.m. on a Friday, traditionally the hour for releasing bad news, because reporters are busy making weekend plans, and readers, at least in theory, pay less attention to news that comes out on a Saturday. The strategy seems to have worked in this instance, because neither ABC News nor the Post reported one highly relevant detail: Tobias is the Bush administration's leading advocate of abstinence-only programs abroad! Continue.