Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaves Manhattan Criminal Court in 2011. (WireImage)
Alex Rodriguez could not be more serious about his war with Major League Baseball.
The Yankees third baseman has enlisted the help of the same private-investigation firm Dominique Strass-Kahn did to successfully contest a 2011 rape allegation, according to New York Magazine. Earlier this summer, Rodriguez hired Guidepost Solutions, a New York firm run by former federal prosecutor Bart Schwartz, a source told the publication, and the sleuths there have been working closely with A-Rod’s lawyers in recent weeks.
On Monday, Rodriguez was suspended by MLB for 211 games for his ties with anti-aging clinic Biogenesis, which has allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes in multiple sports. While 12 other players accepted 50-game suspensions, Rodriguez could not reach a deal and MLB and commissioner Bud Selig hit him with a suspension that would go through the 2014 season.
A-Rod has decided to appeal the penalty and he’ll be able to play with the Yankees until that process is over – likely not until November or December when an arbitrator finishes with the case. Rodriguez will make his 2013 Yankee Stadium debut Friday night against the Tigers after playing three road games against the White Sox earlier this week.
Both Guidepost and A-Rod’s lawyers declined to comment on a relationship between the two. Some have questioned the means in which MLB acquired the evidence against the players.
Two years ago, Guidepost was able to dig up damaging information about Strauss-Kahn’s accuser, Nafissatou Diallou. Prosecutors dropped all charges against the former International Monetary Fund chief quickly after.
Schwartz said “old-fashioned detective work” was the key to the DSK case in an interview with New York Magazine earlier this year. Surveillance footage from the Sofitel hotel where Strauss-Kahn was staying spurred suspicions, he said.
“It was evidence that something was wrong with the story being told,” he said.
DSK lead lawyer Ben Brafman said Guidepost’s “breathtaking speed and vast resources they were able to bring to such an assignment was nothing short of extraordinary.”