In his first public appearance since going into seclusion, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter faced the news media today and denied he had ever visited the establishment of the “Canal Street Madam,” Jeanette Maier, who says Vitter paid $300 an hour for services. Vitter, with his wife Wendy by his side, said again–as he said in 2004–that he had no relationship with a prostitute named Wendy or with any New Orleans prostitute. His only explanation for why Maier said he was a client and why there are alleged photos of him and Wendy Cortez was that his admission of guilt in the DC Madam scandal “has encouraged some long-time political enemies…to spread falsehoods.”