July 21, 2009: Extramarital scandals continue for Italy's prime minister

by Jeffrey Cottrill

ROME -- Now here's a political leader whose suaveness and marital dishonesty make Bill Clinton look like a rank amateur. Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, 72, fell deeper into scandal today, as an audio recording regarding his alleged tryst with a call girl, Patrizia D'Addario, surfaced in public.

Italian alternative weekly magazine L'Espresso posted the recording, which contains a conversation about Berlusconi between D'Addario and her apparent employer, on its website.

The recording features entrepreneur Gianpaolo Tarantini, who allegedly paid D'Addario to sleep with the Italian leader, telling her that Berlusconi "is not taking you as a call girl, [but] as a friend of mine that I brought along." The speakers agree on a €1,000 down payment (the equivalent of about $1,420 ), to be followed by the same amount if she spends the night with the prime minister.

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