A Russian escort accused of blackmailing disgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has fired back, has accused Spitzer of using his political power to avoid arrest for an alleged violent assault in a luxury Manhattan hotel room.
Attorneys representing Svetlana Zakharova, 26, claim the ex-governor attacked her in a $1,000 a night suite at the Plaza hotel in February of 2016, according to the New York Post.
Zakharova is charged with blackmailing Spitzer and receiving nearly $400,000 from the former politico after she threatened to go public with their affair. The Russian beauty is in custody on $1 million bail.
Her defense attorney, Joseph Murray, claims Spitzer used his political position to influence the investigation into the alleged assault, and said he is in possession of notes written by detectives that prove his case.
It was through the investigation into Zakharova’s assault claims that her alleged blackmailing scheme was uncovered.
The New York Post reported that Murray un-ironically told Justice Charles Solomon, “I don’t think [Zakharova] was ever given a fair shake as the victim of this assault.”
Murray is also asking that Zahkarova undergo a polygraph test, asserting the results will prove his client is being truthful and will lead to Spitzer’s arrest for assaulting his client after she refused to have sex with him.
Spitzer is accused of choking her, throwing her on the floor, and calling her a “Russian whore.”
Meanwhile, Bronx Assistant District Attorney Thomas Boyle insisted the allegations were “thoroughly investigated” and pointed out Zahkarova never filed a report against Spitzer, reports the Post.
In fact, Zahkarova fled to Russia following the incident and was arrested in October of 2016 when she returned to the United States. She was charged with grand larceny and other various charges at that time. The Post reported ADA Stuart Levy said, “We offered for her to come and talk to us, but she never came.”
Spitzer was forced to resign as Governor of New York in 2008 following a previous scandal involving a prostitute.
Image: Associated Press
