Spitzer Caught With Pants Down

[Winstonm]

NEW YORK - Gov. Eliot Spitzer's political career teetered on the brink of collapse Monday after the corruption-fighting politician once known as "Mr. Clean" was accused of paying for a romp with a high-priced call girl.

 

The Democrat faced immediate calls to step down after a news conference in which a glassy-eyed Spitzer, his shellshocked wife at his side, apologized to his family and the people of New York.

 

"I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself," said the 48-year-old father of three teenage girls. "I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family."

 

He did not discuss his political future and ignored shouted questions about whether he would resign. And he gave no details of what he was apologizing for.

 

But Spitzer was clearly examining his legal options; a spokesman said the governor had retained the Manhattan law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, one of the nation's biggest.

 

Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet in a Washington hotel room the night before Valentine's Day with a prostitute from a call-girl business known as the Emperors Club VIP, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

 

The governor has not been charged, and prosecutors would not comment on the case.

 

But an affidavit based on the wiretap told of a man identified as "Client 9" — Spitzer, according to the law enforcement official — paying $4,300 in cash, some of it credit for future trysts, some of it for sex with a "petite, pretty brunette, 5-feet-5 inches, and 105 pounds," named Kristen.

 

The scandal came 16 months after Spitzer stormed into the governor's office with a historic margin of victory, vowing to root out corruption in New York government in the same way that he took on Wall Street executives with a vengeance while state attorney general.

 

Let the sheudenfreude begin!

[finally17]

Ok, I have problems with it. Married man, illegal act. Regardless of your stances on these 2 issues, the facts at hand are that someone who made a commitment broke that commitment, and that same person swore to uphold the law yet broke it.

 

However, the article contrasts this with "corruption in government" as though the one correlates with the other. Just like the right tried to do with Clinton in the late 90s. I don't buy it. Men have sex drives; many act on them inappropriately at times. However despicable it might be, hiring a prostitute just doesn't imply future corruption to me.

 

Most people who think differently could, with some careful and honest introspection, get over themselves and move on.

[Elianna]

Did he spend government money on this prostitute?

 

Did he use a government paid trip to solicit this prostitute (either travel, or hotel room paid by government)?

 

If the answer to either of these is yes, then I would have a problem if I were a citizen of New York (because it would be my tax money that financed this).

 

Otherwise, I would think that it's solely his wife's business. I wonder how long before she's running for governor, btw.

 

I voted for the second choice, if that's not clear.

[Winstonm]

The blowback on this isn't from the act itself, IMO, it comes from the "Mr. Clean" and "root out corruption" that preceded.

 

All I know for sure is that at $4300 a pop, I'm going to need a bigger government stimulus rebate. :D

[gwnn]

OK, this will sound overly naive.

 

Congressmen in theory should be the smartest people who live the least morally objectionable lives. After all, they will make all the decisions (directly or indirectly) in relative absence of the majority. So they need to have good intentions and utmost respect for the law and the citizens and all, besides the inherent wisdom and talent at making swift, precise, unemotional decisions.

 

Well, hiring a prostitute sounds

-not exactly smart

-not exactly morally unobjectionable

-not exactly well-intentioned

-illegal

-et cetera

 

So, at least in an effort to preserve the above outlined fantasy-based principles, he should resign. It's not like he'll starve to death without this job. This should accomplish...

- some sort of good image (of himself) in the eyes of his family, voters (of congressmen in general) et al

- increased caution when other congressmen hire prostitutes

- maybe a rise in prostitution prices, I'm not sure if this is good or bad.

[helene_t]

Agree with Elianna.

 

USA must be a very happy country if your worst problem is the sex life of your politicians.

[hrothgar]

NEW YORK - Gov. Eliot Spitzer's political career teetered on the brink of collapse Monday after the corruption-fighting politician once known as "Mr. Clean" was accused of paying for a romp with a high-priced call girl.

 

The Democrat faced immediate calls to step down after a news conference in which a glassy-eyed Spitzer, his shellshocked wife at his side, apologized to his family and the people of New York.

 

"I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself," said the 48-year-old father of three teenage girls. "I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family."

 

He did not discuss his political future and ignored shouted questions about whether he would resign. And he gave no details of what he was apologizing for.

 

But Spitzer was clearly examining his legal options; a spokesman said the governor had retained the Manhattan law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, one of the nation's biggest.

 

Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet in a Washington hotel room the night before Valentine's Day with a prostitute from a call-girl business known as the Emperors Club VIP, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

 

The governor has not been charged, and prosecutors would not comment on the case.

 

But an affidavit based on the wiretap told of a man identified as "Client 9" — Spitzer, according to the law enforcement official — paying $4,300 in cash, some of it credit for future trysts, some of it for sex with a "petite, pretty brunette, 5-feet-5 inches, and 105 pounds," named Kristen.

 

The scandal came 16 months after Spitzer stormed into the governor's office with a historic margin of victory, vowing to root out corruption in New York government in the same way that he took on Wall Street executives with a vengeance while state attorney general.

 

Let the sheudenfreude begin!

In general, I couldn't care less if a politician frequents a hooker.

 

Unfortunately, this is Spitzer. Eliot "holier than thou" Spitzer turn out to have feet of clay.. (Am I allowed to say a dick of clay?) I don't see him surviving this, nor do I think that he should.

 

As is oft the case, its not the actual infraction, but rather the sheer hypocrisy. Personally, I have real problems with politicians who launch witch hunts against prostitution rings and then get caught playing hide the salami with a whore.

 

This strikes me as a real shame. Spitzer came across as something of a twit, but for the most part I approved of his policies.

 

The interesting thing will be discovering just why the feds had a wiretap on Spitzer. As I understand matters, it was an investigation of Spitzer that lead to the discovery of the prostitution ring and not the other way around.

 

Then again, Spitzer opened the door withTroopergate so maybe turn about is fair play. ..

[matmat]

Agree with Elianna.

 

USA must be a very happy country if your worst problem is the sex life of your politicians.

I think the real problem is that too many people care too much about the sex lives of others. Reading the news sometimes I feel that the main objective of certain individuals is making sure that the ones that aren't supposed to get any aren't getting any, and the ones that are supposed to be getting some are getting some only from the places they are supposed to be getting some. Ridiculous.

 

but yeah, he broke the law, whilst pretending to be mr.perfect, ungood. of course had he slept with his secretary a simple apology would have probably sufficed.

[helene_t]

of course had he slept with his secretary a simple apology would have probably sufficed.

That I might have a slight problem with since he's supposed to have a professional relationship with his secretary. And both are payed by tax-payers money. Of course he might still be able to maintain a professional relationship with her/him despite whatever they do together in their free time.

[Elianna]

I also would have had much more of a problem with this if the same exact thing happened abroad, because then I'd feel that he was representing Americans, and that he should behave better.

[PassedOut]

As is oft the case, its not the actual infraction, but rather the sheer hypocrisy. Personally, I have real problems with politicians who launch witch hunts against prostitution rings and then get caught playing hide the salami with a whore.

I loathe such hypocrisy also, but was not aware that Spitzer had "launched witch hunts against prostitution rings." Is that acually the case? (I live in Upper Michigan, and we are mostly amateurs and hobbyists here.)

[hrothgar]

As is oft the case, its not the actual infraction, but rather the sheer hypocrisy.  Personally, I have real problems with politicians who launch witch hunts against prostitution rings and then get caught playing hide the salami with a whore.

I loathe such hypocrisy also, but was not aware that Spitzer had "launched witch hunts against prostitution rings." Is that acually the case? (I live in Upper Michigan, and we are mostly amateurs and hobbyists here.)

Back in this Attorney General days Spitzer busted more than a few prostitution rings. This is all fine and dandy. As AG he has to enforce the laws that are on the books.

 

However, Spitzer really grandstanded on this issue...

[PassedOut]

Back in this Attorney General days Spitzer busted more than a few prostitution rings.  This is all fine and dandy.  As AG he has to enforce the laws that are on the books. 

 

However, Spitzer really grandstanded on this issue...

Yes, I see now that he grandstanded on this -- saw an article about the Staten Island case.

 

This reminds me of the hypocisy of the Georgia AG, Mike Bowers, that I saw when I lived in Atlanta. Bowers delighted in prosecuting people for breaking archaic sex laws.

 

In a famous case that went all the way to the US Supreme Court, Bowers had argued for and gotten a man sent to prison for several years for consensual gay sex. He had another man sent to prison for performing oral sex with his wife.

 

At the same time, Mike Bowers was having an adulterous affair (also illegal in Georgia) with his secretary. He was about to be nominated as the republican candidate for governor when the story broke...

[Al_U_Card]

I gather that someone who is convicted of a felony cannot hold office? If he apologized, that means that he did it and if it is a felony offense then he will lose his job so he might as well resign.

[keylime]

My take is a simple one: I'm investing in popcorn stocks to watch the drama unfold.

[bid_em_up]

The interesting thing will be discovering just why the feds had a wiretap on Spitzer.  As I understand matters, it was an investigation of Spitzer that lead to the discovery of the prostitution ring and not the other way around.

The Feds had been notified about unusual movements of money by banks regarding the transfer of funds from several accounts into another account with regards to possible money laundering.

 

Upon investigation, the originating accounts were Spitzers, and the receiving account belonged to the escort service. This led to the wiretaps on Spitzer and the bust of the escort service (most likely to obtain further evidence against him).

 

Or at least thats what I've read.

[pclayton]

Wow $4,300?

 

Typical Democrat with a blank checkbook if you ask me :D

[kenberg]

This all does no one any good.

[helene_t]

Congressmen in theory should be the smartest people who live the least morally objectionable lives.

I disagree. I think they are just supposed to do their damned job and whether they behave morally or not in their free time is unimportant.

 

Besides, moral is subjective. Maybe a parliamentarian representing party X should behave in accordance with whatever moral code (if any) party X advocates, but I don't think that any particular moral code could apply to parliamentarians in general in a pluralistic political system. OK, they should obey the law, but that's just because they are citizens, not because they are parliamentarians.

 

If he had been a policeman rather than a parliamentarian, it might be different.

[ArcLight]

>Congressmen in theory should be the smartest people who live the least morally objectionable lives. After all, they will make all the decisions (directly or indirectly) in relative absence of the majority. So they need to have good intentions and utmost respect for the law and the citizens and all, besides the inherent wisdom and talent at making swift, precise, unemotional decisions

 

 

And what makes you think US Congressmen are not the smartest and most moral people ;)

 

 

I live in New Jersey and the politicians there are the most honest. :)

They constantly put their constituents needs ahead of their own. :lol: :lol:

 

 

Q: How do you tell when a politician is lying?

 

A: When his lips are moving.

[kenberg]

I really have no idea why someone uses a prostitute. We all have our kinks I suppose, and there seems to be some hints in the stories that his kinks were of the sort some of the pros were not all that comfortable with, so maybe that's what was going on.

 

I'm not very keen on checking up on people's personal lives. Among other things, it sharply cuts down on the number of people who would be willing to take political office. I have never shot anyone or raped anyone and I don't use prostitutes (and wouldn't even if I had the spare 80K or so that he apparently spent on them). I don't tap my foot in men's rooms (and now that I know the significance I will make sure I don't do that). But I also don't want anyone going over my life with a magnifying glass and putting every stupid thing that I have ever done on the front page of the newspaper.

 

Using a prostitution ring is more than stupid of course, it is also, or so I understand, criminal. But at least for me, the stupid part stands out far more than the criminal part.

 

Arlen Specter was talking of many things on NPR yesterday and he was asked about Spitzer. He said he didn't condone the behavior but wasn't going to condemn him either. The country is desperately in need of this sort of restraint in how we treat each other.

[PassedOut]

But I also don't want anyone going over my life with a magnifying glass and putting every stupid thing that I have ever done on the front page of the newspaper.

Not many of us would want that, and certainly not I.

 

When it concerns consenting sexual activities (including those that are not stupid, in my opinion, even though professional eyebrow raisers might disapprove), nobody else has a right to know. Personally, I would not find a person interesting if he or she had never been curious enough to have enjoyed a rich sexual life.

 

The media loves to focus on this stuff because sex interests just about everyone, and most people have a voyeuristic streak, particularly the uptight. Sex sells, we know that.

 

When a politician has gained political points by taking harsh steps against folks who do the same sorts of things as the politician does, then I do consider the politician's fall to be "just desserts." The Spitzer case, like the Larry Craig case and many others, falls into that category.

[blackshoe]

I'm a libertarian. I don't think prostitution should be illegal. I don't care if someone hires a prostitute, anymore than I care whether he hires a personal trainer or a cook. As to kinks, I suspect there's a strong element of "let's throw this in the story, even though we have no basis in fact for it. It may up our market share" in those "hints".

 

Spitzer broke the law. He may have to answer for that to the legal system. He also broke, I presume, his marriage vows. That's nobody's business but his and his family's.

[Gerben42]

Congressmen in theory should be the smartest people who live the least morally objectionable lives.

 

Who cares? They are there to do their job, and if they do that well I'm happy. What they do in their private life is no one's business but their own (well if it's illegal, no one's business but their own and the DA's...)

[Al_U_Card]

For a "crime-fighter", aware of the methods used by criminals to cover their tracks, I would imagine that if he decided not to withdraw a few grand in cash from a subsidiary account then he must have felt "protected". (Unless they mark the cash in the machine/teller till, you can pay and go as you please...)

 

Mr. Spitzer may have fallen on a sword (so to speak) and we can only imagine why.