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ArabicStory highlights
- A video shows Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaving a luxury Manhattan hotel
- Nafissatou Diallo can be seen in the video sitting in a hotel corridor with two men
- Her attorney says the video shows Diallo describing the alleged assault.
- The video shows two men who appear to embrace and slap hands in apparent celebration
A video obtained by French broadcaster BFM shows Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaving a luxury Manhattan hotel the same day he was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper.
The footage, which had not been previously released to the public, captures the then-International Monetary Fund chief leaving the Sofitel hotel on May 14 about 20 minutes after he is alleged to have assaulted Nafissatou Diallo.
Later in the video, Diallo can be seen sitting in a hotel corridor with two men the French broadcaster has identified as her boss and a security officer.
The accuser's attorney, Kenneth Thompson, later said it was then that Diallo described the alleged assault.
CNN cannot independently confirm that account.
In a separate scene, two men in a different room appear to embrace and slap hands in apparent celebration, though -- without audio -- its not possible to determine what actually took place or if it is connected to the alleged assault.
Strauss Kahn's attorneys have said that the so-called celebration dance raises serious questions about the legitimacy of Diallo's accusation.
Her attorney, Thompson, refutes that claim, pointing to his client's actions and her apparent decision to alert authorities soon after leaving the hotel room.
The Accor group -- owner of the Sofitel hotel -- put out a news release soon after the video aired, describing what it called "video extracts" which "unnecessarily exposes employees of the hotel to media curiosity."
The statement goes on to say that the group considers any notion that the Sofitel hotel was involved in a plot "nonsense."
The French broadcaster declined to divulge how it obtained the video.
Strauss-Kahn, once considered a French presidential candidate, was pulled off a Paris-bound plane in May and arrested over the accusations. But in August, Manhattan prosecutors dropped the charges against him amid questions about his accuser's credibility.
