Documents: Dominique Strauss-Kahn Claimed He Had Diplomatic Immunity

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn told police he had diplomatic immunity when he was picked up at John F. Kennedy airport for allegedly sexually assaulting a maid at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan.

Documents filed show Strauss-Kahn told Port Authority police "I have diplomatic immunity... can I speak with someone from the French consulate? What  is this about?"

Strauss-Kahn also complained that his handcuffs were too tight.

Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund and once a leading candidate for the French presidency, is free on $1 million bail under house arrest at a luxury townhouse.

Documents shed light on the night of his arrest.

About 9 p.m. that evening, after previously declaring he had diplomatic immunity, Strauss-Kahn told a detective that he would like to call his lawyer and asked for his cell phone.

"We're going to have to wait for the detectives to come back," the detective said. "I don't have access to your phone."

"Do I need a lawyer?" Strauss-Kahn asked.

"It is your right to have one in this country if you want," the detective replied. "I don't know if you have some kind of diplomatic status."

"No, no, no, I'm not trying to use that. I just want to know if I need a lawyer," Strauss-Kahn said.

"That is up to you," the detective said.

Strauss-Kahn's next court date was July 18.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyer spoke briefly after the financier's court appearance on June 5.

"Once the evidence is reviewed, it will be clear that there was no element of forcible compulsion in this case whatsoever," attorney Benjamin Brafman said. "Any suggestion to the contrary is simply not credible."

The housekeeper has lawyers, too, and they told reporters the defense is trying to smear her good name.

"The victim wants you to know that all of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's power and money and influence throughout the world will not keep the truth about what he did to her in that hotel room from coming out," attorney Kenneth Thompson said.

The 32-year-old housekeeper's lawyer said that she remains too traumatized to return to work at the Sofitel. He rejected any suggestion that she might take a payoff and stop cooperating, insisting she'll take the witness stand if the case comes to trial.