Bee oon the ‘hook’out!
In the wwake of a hooker scandal that forceforced one Utah lawmaker to resign, theth state’s politicians are sounding the alarm and urging members to use a “buddy system” — to prevprevent being entrapped by a scheming “honeypot.”
“We feefeel like it’s appropriate at this time to put everybody on alert there mamay be people with malintenttent [sic] that are trying to, for money, trtry to put us in a situation,” Republican Republic Senate President Wayne NNiederhauser said Friday, referring to call girl Brie Taylor’s claims in a Daily Mail story last week that th ex-State Rep. Jon Stanard paid her twice for sex. Republican Rep Sen. Evan Vicker ers manipulative said the threat man-eaters posed sm by is real, recounting an incident last week where he said he was nearly entrapped by a woman at the Little America Hotel, the same place Taylor claimed Stanard asked to meet her for sex.
“I opened the door and there was a young lady standing there and she said, ‘Hi,’ and I said, ‘Hi, who are you?’ ” Vickers said. “And she said, ‘I’m your date.’ I said, ‘No, you’re not.’ She said, ‘Yes, I’m your date.’ ”
When the “normal looking” woman refused to leave, Vickers said he fled to the safety of his room, locked the door and called a colleague for help.
“This certainly had all the feel of entrapment,” Vickers continued. “She was standing in front of the elevator and I said, ‘I don’t know who you are and what you’re doing here,’ and she said, ‘No, you don’t understand. I’m your date.’ I said, ‘No I’m not’ and walked back into the room,” he recalled.
Vickers and his unnamed colleague eventually left to attend a University of Utah basketball game and reported the incident to hotel security, he added.
One anonymous lawmaker claimed the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City — where state lawmakers routinely stay during the 45-day legislative session — is teeming with “single women who are dressed provocatively . . . walking up and down the hallways in the evenings,” the pol told UtahPolicy.com.
He said he didn’t think twice about the temptresses — until Stanard’s story broke earlier this week.
Lawmakers said their colleagues must be on guard for honeypots — those who seduce their targets to extort them for money or information.
“I believe that this was more of a setup, and I also believe Sen. Vickers was caught by surprise,” House Majority Whip Francis Gibson told Utah’s Fox 13.
Niederhauser urged lawmakers to “walk in groups” and said the Senate would now be reviewing security footage.
Stanard, 43, who has voted for tougher penalties for prostitution, quit the state legislature on Tuesday. The House Speaker’s office chalked up his departure to “personal and family issues.”