As iMediaEthics previously reported, the New York Post is being sued for libel by the hotel maid who has accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault.  The New York Post, another publication owned by the embattled Rupert Murdoch, had alleged in early July that the Strauss-Kahn accuser is a prostitute and that “the union” considered her a “prostitute ‘earner.'”

The Washington Post reported that the New York Post knew in advance of its story that the story’s source may have not have legitimate.

“The paper appears to have had documentation challenging the reliability of its only source in a story alleging that the accuser had worked as a prostitute,” the Post reported.

According to the Washington Post, the New York Post, which based its report on an anonymous source’s claims, also had “an employment packet, basically,” provided by a union spokesperson, Josh Gold, which denied the prostitution claims.

Read the Washington Post’s story here.