Rice aide quits after escort-service query

WASHINGTON — Randall Tobias, the deputy secretary of state responsible for U.S. foreign aid, abruptly resigned Friday after his name surfaced in an investigation into a high-priced call-girl ring, U.S. government sources said.

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 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.

Tobias, 65, who is married, told ABC News there had been "no sex" during the women's visits to his condo. His name was on a list of clients given to ABC by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who owns the escort service and has been charged with running a prostitution ring in the nation's capital.

Tobias has been Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's point man in an effort to overhaul how the U.S. government manages foreign aid, a key part of her "transformational diplomacy" agenda.

He held two titles: director of U.S. foreign assistance and administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development. His rank was equivalent to deputy secretary of state.

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."

Friday night, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tobias informed Rice "today that he must step down as Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator effective immediately. He is returning to private life for personal reasons."

Contacted Friday night at his D.C. home, Tobias, a former chief executive of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, declined to discuss his resignation.

According to ABC News, Tobias said he contacted the escort service "to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage" and that there had been "no sex."

White House officials said Rice briefed Bush on the matter early Friday before he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Palfrey, 50, who operated the escort service from her home in Vallejo, Calif., was indicted in February and has threatened to expose her high-profile client list.

She said her escort service provided clients with college-educated women who engaged in legal sexual game-playing for $275 per 90-minute session in their homes or hotel rooms. Prosecutors allege she ran a prostitution ring.

Palfrey's attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, said Friday that he has been contacted in the past few days by five lawyers asking whether their clients' phone numbers are on Palfrey's list of 10,000 to 15,000 customers from 2002 to 2006.

Some also asked about whether an accommodation can be made to avoid identifying their clients, which Sibley said he is not able to promise.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.