WASHINGTON -- Larry Flynt is claiming credit for outing Sen. David Vitter's connection to the so-called D.C. Madam, and a New Orleans madam has stepped forward to claim that Vitter was a client in the 1990s.

Hustler magazine publisher Flynt said his staff called Vitter's office Monday, saying they knew his telephone number appeared on a list from Deborah Jeane Palfrey's escort service.

"Vitter ran to the Associated Press in an attempt to get ahead of the story," Flynt's office said.

In a statement released late Monday night, Vitter said he "received forgiveness from God" and his wife several years ago.

Vitter, whose telephone number was disclosed by Palfrey, said he is sorry for a "serious sin" and that he has already made peace with his wife.

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said in a printed statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there - with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

Vitter lives in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie with his wife and four children.

Brothel Names Vitter As Client

Jeanette Maier, known in New Orleans as the Canal Street Madam, claimed Tuesday that Sen. David Vitter visited her Mid-City brothel beginning in the mid-1990s.

According to Maier, Vitter would pay $300 an hour for services.

"He seems to be one of the nicest men and most honorable men I've ever met," Maier told New Orleans TV station WDSU. "I think that he was smart by going to a brothel, whether for talking or whatever. Then, he goes home and he's with his family, and he loves them -- he doesn't want to leave them -- and he just needs someone to listen to."

She also said that although some of his visits were at the Canal Street bordello, others were during fishing trips and other activities with fellow politicians.

However, Maier's attorney, Provino "Vinny" Mosca, said he had "absolutely no recollection of David Vitter's name ever appearing on any document, book or list, or having any association" with Maier.

Maier still has a black book she claims is filled with the names of clients to her brothel, which was closed in 2002 after a federal investigation.

Palfrey Fights Charges

Palfrey, meanwhile, has been accused in federal court of racketeering by running a prostitution ring. Palfrey contends, however, that her agency, Pamela Martin and Associates, was a legitimate business.

Four days after a federal judge lifted the restraining order, Palfrey posted on her Web site thousands of pages of phone records dating from August 1994 to August 2006.

The list is only phone numbers -- no names.

She said she posted the records because she believed pirated copies got out, and she wanted to insure the integrity of the information.

Palfrey also said she wants to find witnesses for her trial.

Federal prosecutors claim Palfrey ran a prostitution ring that pulled in more than $2 million over 13 years.

But she said Pamela Martin and Associates was a legal adult fantasy service.

Palfrey and her attorney have said the list contains up to 15,000 people and could shake up Washington by revealing high-profile individuals.

A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, the 46-year-old Vitter was elected to his current office in 2004, becoming the first Republican from Louisiana elected to the Senate since Reconstruction. He represented Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in the House from 1999 to 2004.

In the House, Vitter succeeded GOP Rep. Robert Livingston, who was in line to replace Newt Gingrich as speaker until Livingston admitted to extramarital affairs and quit Congress.

Livingston was one of a number of lawmakers investigated by Hustler in 1998-99 in what the magazine called an effort to expose hypocrisy among congressmen critical of former President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.