As the sexual assault case against Dominque Strauss-Kahn seems to be faltering, due to concerns that the accuser has been lying to investigators (plus, there are the more scurrilous rumors), he may actually face a new set of charges in his native country: Writer Tristane Banon, who has said in interviews that the former IMF head and leading Socialist politician of trying to rape her in 2002, is going to formally accuse him of rape. However, his lawyers suggests that Strauss-Kahn may countersue for slander.

Back in 2002, Banon interviewed Strauss-Kahn and met him an apartment. According to an interview she gave, Banon said they fought and he "opened my bra, tried to open my jeans. ... It finished very badly." Banon was convinced not to press charges by her mother, Anne Mansouret, a Socialist Party official.

After allegations of Strauss-Kahn's assault on a NYC hotel maid this past May, Mansouret explained what she told her daughter back then, "Listen, you know, if he had raped you, I wouldn’t have any hesitation, but that wasn’t the case. He sexually assaulted you, there wasn’t any rape per se; so until the end of your life, you’re going to have on your résumé, you know, Tristane Banon is the girl who ... '" But now Mansouret realizes that probably wasn't a great idea and wrote on her blog, "Now I regret having persuaded her not to bring charges. I carry a heavy responsibility. My daughter was in a bad way but it was awkward for reasons of family and friendship."

Banon's lawyer David Koubbi said that his client "truly suffered what she accuses Mr. Strauss-Kahn of doing" and said her case was "extremely solid." Unlike, perhaps, the case in NYC: The NY Times has a look at what happened with the investigation and some of the issues they faced:

“Since he was getting on a plane, getting out of the nation, they grabbed him faster than sooner, because it would have looked bad if they let him out of the country and they couldn’t get him back,” said a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case against Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who stepped down as managing director of the International Monetary Fund after his arrest.

“I guess, in a perfect world, they would not have had to arrest him right away,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity because the case is continuing. “They could have checked the evidence and everything. But I guess they figured they had to get him off the plane. It changed the circumstances quite a bit.”

Of course all of this may be sparking "slumbering anti-Americanism" in France, too.

As it appears to face an uphill battle, the Manhattan DA's office appears to have started a PR offensive to explain why Strauss-Kahn still faces charges: A source tells the Daily News that the hotel maid was told the room was empty, "Nothing has been raised to indicate that she was targeting him... There was a lot of reason to believe what she was telling up. There were other [hotel] staffers who independently corroborated her actions and motions that day." Also, there's all the DNA evidence found that could back up the maid's claims she was assaulted, "It was rare to have so much corroboration on a sex crime."