Report: NY Governor Eliot Spitzer Linked to Prostitution Ring
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has been linked to a prostitution ring, the NYT reports:
"Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation. The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9. The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe when a federal official contacted his staff last Friday, according to the person briefed on the case. The governor informed his top aides Sunday night and this morning of his involvement. He canceled his public events today and scheduled an announcement for this afternoon after inquiries from the Times."
Said Spitzer in a 3 pm statement: "I acted in a way that violated in my obligation to my family...I apologize first and most importantly to my family, and to the public, I promise better. I am disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected my expect I must dedicated some time to regain the trust of my family."
There were no details beyond the statement as to his future as governor, although Spitzer said he would "report back in short order"...
View Spitzer's statement AFTER THE JUMP...
If Spitzer were to resign, New York Lieutenant Governor David Paterson would become the state's 59th governor.
Politico: Meet David Paterson.
How New York succession works...
Derrick
My love of conyers will never be tarnished.
It is tried and true based mostly on what he did about the downing street memos.
The Downing street memos came out and Conyer wanted to hold hearings. The repub controlled congress at the time said hell no.
He went to the Capitol basement, pulled out folding card tables and chairs, called reporters and held a hearing anyway!
LOL The man has balls and didn't let the repubs keep him quiet.
From that point on I have had a hard on for Conyers and nothing will ever tarnish it.
NOTHING
:-)
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | Mar 10, 2008 4:27:31 PM
Wow, so if Vitter had called for his DC hooker from Louisiana, he would be just as bad as Spitzer. But since he did it from DC he's a Shining Knight as far as the law is concerned. Interstate Conspiracy my ass, he was wrong but this is a Democratic witch hunt.
Posted by: Mark | Mar 10, 2008 4:29:52 PM
rethug or dem, i don't care who or what they have sex with, just don't be a hypocrite about it.. and i mean good god, couldn't the man find anyone in washington to suck his dick?... i'm thinking of being of service to my country, and at the same time doing everyone a political favor, and offering myself to anyone of either political party to satisfy their sexual needs whatever it may be...at no cost, no strings attached and without threat of legal consequences, i can be so discreet you know...just pay for my air fare, room, and some champagne... whatya think, boys?
Posted by: the queen | Mar 10, 2008 5:06:34 PM
He should resign if it is true. I like the bit with him saying "this is a private matter". Hello you are the governor and and were AG in charge of prosecuting crimes. How can he possibly go after anyone again for committing similar crimes or any?
I do believe our Lt. is pro gay marriage.
Also he needs to lay off the black eye liner.
Posted by: tommy | Mar 10, 2008 5:07:38 PM
Princess Superstar, why was that my first thought too? I'd hit it! Plus, you're the governor! That's why assistants and non-disclosure agreements were made.
Posted by: junior | Mar 10, 2008 5:18:31 PM
An amusing story. Of course, it would help if Dems actually insist that Vitter also resign, along with cold cash Washington, but you just don't hear them say much. Pelosi and Feinstein are very vulnerable to corruption charges because of their war-profiting husbands, so perhaps there are so few saints in DC it's become a glass house.
Posted by: anon | Mar 10, 2008 5:33:24 PM
Imagine! Having sex with a woman!
If he were a Republican it would have been a teenage boy.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Mar 10, 2008 5:40:09 PM
It's good to know that the al Qaeda threat and the threat of terrorism in general is gone and the FBI can focus now on the second biggest threat to the American Republic, politicians paying for blow jobs.
Posted by: Chris | Mar 10, 2008 6:00:45 PM
I met Spitzer at the LGBT Community Center when he first ran for AG and was very impressd with him. Several weeks later I ran into him running in Central Park and he remembered me and what we spoke about on Gay rights. I had high hopes for him which makes this all the more sad. I doubt this will have any long term affects on our community but I can not see how he stays in office giving the seriousness of the charge and his being a former AG.
Posted by: patrick nyc | Mar 10, 2008 6:26:40 PM
Whenever a public official is accused of some sex crime and/or infidelity they always trot their wife before the cameras while making the public apology. And it never makes sense to me why the wife would go along with being used in such a way to protect her husband's career. If I were in a similar position, I'd tell him he could face the music all by himself. But maybe that is why I'm single.
As for Spitzer's situation...it sucks. He was a great, liberal Attorney General and Governor and he showed much promise as a politician on the national level. And I agree with another poster here who said that prostitution should be legal, regulated and taxed.
Posted by: peterparker | Mar 10, 2008 6:43:06 PM
"Does anyone know the Lt. Governor's position on gay rights/marriage?"
http://nyblade.com/2007/1-12/news/localnews/paterson.cfm
"I actually think a marriage bill should be introduced next week. We are definitely working on it. I only mentioned the three issues that Eliot included me on in the State of the State address.
Issues of same-sex marriage, issues of disability—there are a number of things I would have liked to have brought up, but I didn’t try to focus on issues as much.
Although I did make what I thought was a slight reference to it when I said that Frederick Douglass accused those who were opposed to reform as denigrating women, slaves and strangers—meaning anybody who is different than anybody else.
I thought it was quite a prophetic thought in 1852 because it applies to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people now.
It was noted tonight that you’re one of the best lobbyists in Albany. "
Will you be helping the LGBT community in the fight for marriage?
"I’m not going to be in that fight—I’m going to be in front of that fight because my first day as [Senate Minority Leader] was the day we passed the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA).
One of the reasons we need same-sex marriage is because the statistics for heterosexual marriage are so bad, that might be a way to upgrade some of the success rates."
Posted by: Giovanni | Mar 10, 2008 6:55:31 PM
More from Paterson interview with NY Blade after last years inauguration:
"It is my belief that same-sex marriage cannot pass while Republicans are running the state Senate. They will probably take that quote and use it in some of their campaigns, but I am speaking truth to power and hoping that citizens are going to get it."
Perhaps a Paterson administration would have better luck getting things passed- Bruno might be in the mood to throw a concilliatory bone now that his wildest dream has come true.
Posted by: Giovanni | Mar 10, 2008 7:18:32 PM
I don't see how he can have championed busting-up several high profile prostitution cases...and then sweep this under the rug. If he had taken the position long-ago that it was a victimless-crime and low-priority he might have had a chance....but in this he's exposed as a political and legal hypocrite.
Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) | Mar 10, 2008 7:34:16 PM
you guys need to serious-up. are we not men? all the best leaders have been less than faithful to their (wo)men. don't expect that all of us are boot-lickers.
as long as (men and women) are competent political leaders, shame them for perceived hypocrisy, but don't expect them to be other than who they are. if we had done so, FDR would have been hung, IKE would have been pilloried for fucking around on Amy, JFK would have been killed before Dallas, and MLK, Jr. would have not made it to that balcony.
please, do not compare spitzer to vitter or craig. spitzer was enforcing wthe law and what he was hired to do; vitter and craig were taking the law into their own hands, and hurting others in the process.
we can quibble over the finer points, but there is a nuance there. god, some of you fags make me ashamed to be gay. not because of your delicate, inviolate sensibilties, but because of your abyssmal ignorance of history and the concomitant weakness that it engenders. i am selling spines. anyone interested?
sorry, i tend to not spell-check or proofread when i'm pissed.
Posted by: nic | Mar 10, 2008 8:18:34 PM
Yeah, Nic, shame on everyone for not seeing things exactly as you see them.
Posted by: Charles | Mar 10, 2008 9:09:43 PM
Peterparker, I would stand by your side if you were in a scandal. sigh . . .
Posted by: jno | Mar 10, 2008 9:52:22 PM
Does anyone else find it interesting that Spitzer is getting much kinder treatment here than Governor McGreevy did.
It seems that we are harder on Republican hypocrites and gay hypocrites than we are on straight Democratic hypocrites.
Posted by: Zeke | Mar 10, 2008 10:47:37 PM
HEY charles,
I AGREE.
WHO ELSE CAN u GET ON-BOARD WITH ME?
Posted by: nic | Mar 10, 2008 10:58:19 PM
It is going to be extremely difficult for Spitzer to retain his elected position. Schadenfreude is a bitch. The long knives have been waiting for this opportunity and he has provided a perfect target.
Pointedly, Spitzer's problems are of his own making, both the catalytic event (breaking the law) and the pertinent standard of judgment, his self-created reputation as "Mr. Clean". Had he merely hired a prostitute, he might have been able to survive, seriously damaged in his ability to get anything done, but he might have been able to survive. Allegations of (1) conspiracy to (2) cross state lines to (3) engage in prostitution, (4) by using money laundering and (5) fraud to conceal his identity, however, are going to be much more difficult to defend against. He honed his reputation on fighting corruption--including prostitution rings--and used public shame as a weapon against alleged criminals, against whom many thought he had insufficient evidence. Moreover, he angered many career prosecutors and judges by bringing cases by "boast and media spotlight" rather than evidential case building. Others were left to pick up the pieces as he moved on to another spotlight.
It would not be surprising to see him indicted on multiple counts by a less than sympathetic prosecutor and come before a less than sympathetic judge. Rest assured that the rich and powerful on Wall Street--those he shamed and intimidated with a broad brush of corruption--will be lining up to exact their revenge.
Spitzer is about to be hoisted upon his own petard. This country loves little more than seeing hypocrites unmasked. In contrast, scoundrels like Bill Clinton are easily forgiven by the public because he never claimed to be a choir boy. Spitzer, however, spent too much time polishing his public halo. He set himself up for the fall that is likely to occur.
Zeke, I think that one tends to judge those with whom one agrees less harshly than those with whom one disagrees. Hence, the sympathies of most Towleroadies tend to be with Dems rather than Repubs. Blame that natural inclination, and that experience has shown Repubs to be sanctimonious in their hypocrisy whereas Dems usually do not make the mistake to highlighting their "moral" failings. It is the difference between "I am the judge and you are the sinner" versus "we are all sinners" mentalities. Unfortunately for Spitzer, he set himself up as the moral standard bearer and, therefore, will not be allowed to complain in the court of public opinion when he is held to that standard.
[NIC, as usual, I have no idea what you are trying to say except that you agree with yourself and that your latest quixotic capitalization is even more annoying and pretentious than your previous version.]
Posted by: rudy | Mar 11, 2008 8:05:10 AM
He just happened to get caught. Does anyone realize the number of prostitutes working in this country on any given night? There are tens of thousands that constantly stay on the move working major cities. Los Angeles gangs bring thousands in to work Vegas every weekend. The vast majority work undetected. Spitzer has made lots of enemies. Payback is a bitch.
Posted by: Brandon | Mar 11, 2008 8:21:37 AM
we need a national coming out day for johns. as we say about teh gay, if everyone who ever tried it was out, the issue would go away overnight.
Saying that Spitzer is a hypocrite getting his comeuppance ignores the fact that as the "Wall St. sheriff" he prosecuted real wrongdoing with thousands of victims; his own transgressions are not remotely comparable in gravity to those he prosecuted.
Spitzer is a good man and a fine public servant. Plus he's kind of a hottie too. And apparently he may like it nasty, (although we don't know the details) ...wow, he's my dream date...
Posted by: hank | Mar 11, 2008 4:17:14 PM
George W. Bush kills tens of thousands of civilians overseas, wipes out habeas corpus and other basic tenets of law, eliminates health care for poor children, tortures an unknown number of innocent people, gives away thousands of acres of wilderness to timber and mining companies, runs up a trillion-dollar debt, and he walks away to the sound of brass bands and wild applause. Meanwhile, Spitzer has consensual sex with a prostitute and his career is over. Seems fair, right?
Posted by: MarcoPolo | Mar 11, 2008 4:32:37 PM