NY Governor, Eliot Spitzer, To Resign

superstring01

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Spitzer Prostitution Scandal: NY Gov Admits Links To Sex Ring

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 New York Times reports in a blockbuster revelation.

And here, I was beginning to think that only representatives from the red states had a monopoly on sex scandals.

My faith in the system is restored!

~String
 
Heckuva system

Well, he was a prosecutor. It's not like we shouldn't expect some hypocrisy.

Regarding all of the breathless moralizing from all sides over the "reprehensible," outrageous crimes of Eliot Spitzer: are there actually many people left who care if an adult who isn't their spouse hires prostitutes? Are there really people left who think that doing so should be a crime, that adults who hire other consenting adults for sex should be convicted and go to prison?

Just as was true for moral crusaders David Vitter and Larry Craig, there is unquestionably a healthy chunk of hypocrisy in Spitzer's case, given that, as Attorney General, he previously prosecuted -- quite aggressively and publicly -- several citizens for the "crime" of operating an adult prostitution business. That hypocrisy precludes me from having any real personal sympathy for Spitzer, and no reasonable person could defend him from charges of rank hypocrisy. And he should be treated no differently -- no better and no worse -- than the average citizen whom law enforcement catches hiring prostitutes.

But how can his alleged behavior -- paying another adult roughly $1,000 per hour to travel from New York to Washington to meet him for sex -- possibly justify resignation, let alone criminal prosecution, conviction and imprisonment? Independent of the issue of his hypocrisy -- which is an issue meriting attention and political criticism but not criminal prosecution -- what possible business is it of anyone's, let alone the state's, what he or anyone else does in their private lives with other consenting adults?


(Greenwald)

Admittedly Greenwald misses a certain point; he quotes Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor and now executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, and questions her use of the word reprehensible. It isn't so much the hiring of a prostitute that makes Spitzer reprehensible, but rather, as Sloan explained, that Spitzer "has held himself up as a paragon of virtue".

But Greenwald also notes some questions about "the system" that are worth considering:

Also, would it be possible to pause for a moment for some critical thought about how odd this whole matter is? Prosecutions of individuals who hire prostitutes are extremely rare. It's even more rare when it's being done by federal prosecutors, rather than local or state prosecutors, who have to invoke an anachronistic 1910 federal morality statute, the Mann Act, to do so.

Yet here, this appears to be the result of a major sting operation -- complete with sophisticated wiretap schemes -- aimed at a rather insignificant "prostitution ring" (meaning: a small business that brokers meetings between prostitutes and clients, typically via Internet or phone). And in the midst of it all, Elliot Spitzer's name is leaked as nothing more than a single client. Digby raises the obvious questions:
But there are questions that should be asked. It is unusual to release the names of johns and it's weird that we still don't know why the feds were wiretapping on some seemingly inconsequential prostitution case in the first place. Is that something the feds spend a lot of time doing these days?

Far be it for me to mistrust the Bush Justice department or think they might have partisan motives, but it might be worth asking whether there might be a little partisan prosecutorial hanky panky involved. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.
It's only a matter of time before all the fun, salacious details start leaking -- what exactly Spitzer did with the prostitutes he hired, what the prostitutes thought of him, how many times they met, etc. Already, media starts are pouring over the clinically detailed "Client-9" paragraphs of the Complaint as though it's the Starr Report, flashing sexualized photos as they read from it that their producers found from the Internet and, in passing, justifying the "relevance" of all the details. Reprehensible, intolerable, outrageous!


(ibid)

Really? The Mann Act? I mean, at least Spitzer is in good company. They tried to nail Charlie Chaplin under the Mann Act once upon a time. Life goes on.

So Spitzer is a crass moron. That doesn't rule out a comeback. How old is he? Fifty? Hey ... Marion Barry smoked crack with a hooker and came back. Maybe Spitzer's got enough time to run for Congress, or something.

Chris Cillizza, blogging at The Trail has more details, including links to a PDF of the unsealed complaint.
____________________

Notes:

Greenwald, Glenn. "Who cares if Eliot Spitzer hires prostitutes?" Unclaimed Territory. March 10, 2008. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/10/spitzer/index.html

See Also:

Digby. "Mann-date". Hullabaloo. March 10, 2008. http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/mann-date-by-digby-to-those-of-you-who.html

Cillizza, Chris. "Spitzer Apologizes, Does Not Resign". The Trail. March 10, 2008. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/10/spitzer_apologizes_does_not_re.html
 
His only crime was getting caught.

Not counting the crime of commission.

Or the perpetual crime of omission.

Other that those, he was a model Democrat.
 
I'm not sure the man is going to resign, but he has some serious legal troubles on his horizon, given that he seems to have trafficked in several states, making this a federal matter.

The irony here is too rich, Tiassa, and were this a Republican you would be doing a dance and running off at the gob about this episode showing how someone critical of something shouldn't denounce it, attack it etc. Yet here, when a Democrat, something most of the stories have chosen NOT to mention, you prevaricate, post links that make insinuations about the hand of the Bush administration and begin talking, one imagines breathlessly, about a comeback for Mr. Up-and-Coming.

Oh, well. Some things never change...

I suppose I would be sorry that another of your populist, hard-chargers has shown his true colors, if this actually surprised me...

And this is too rich to pass up: "Regarding all of the breathless moralizing from all sides over the "reprehensible," outrageous crimes of Eliot Spitzer: are there actually many people left who care if an adult who isn't their spouse hires prostitutes?"

To which I would answer, 'Yes, there are.'

"Are there really people left who think that doing so should be a crime, that adults who hire other consenting adults for sex should be convicted and go to prison?"

Again, 'Yes, there are.'

Seriously. Perhaps your commentator should reconnect with the rest of America? The part that lives in flyover country? Or read up a little about how sordid prostitution is and how it takes advantage of/abuses young women? Not to mention, for those of us who don't really care about prostitution, the whole rule of law thing. That is, the powerful should be held to account like the little people, and if I'm going to jail for doing something like this, so should the Gov.
 
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Am i missing the point here?

He aproched a prositute?
So?

is that it?

if so WOW, he used an avialable service rather than raping someone or being sucked into sleeping with a lobist with the payment being political rather than personally finantial?

Or did i miss something when i read it?
 
This is a disgrace! I can't tell you how betrayed I feel at this very moment. For years, I use to look up to Spitzer as being one of the few good guys in politics. This guy has ran on the morality card for years. He's put alot of people behind bars for moral crimes during the corporate crackdown. I can't remember how many times this hypocrit has been on TV, wagging his corrupt finger, spewing fire and brimestone. Reminding us that following the law is paramount. The Republicans should have fun with this. And I won't waste a breath defending him. He's the person who I least expected to be a hypocrit.
 
Am i missing the point here?

He aproched a prositute?
So?

is that it?

if so WOW, he used an avialable service rather than raping someone or being sucked into sleeping with a lobist with the payment being political rather than personally finantial?

Or did i miss something when i read it?

At his press conference he admitted to it.
 
um so we ARE talking about him seeing a prostitute??

SO, ummm the point is?
 
This and that

Countezero said:

The irony here is too rich, Tiassa, and were this a Republican you would be doing a dance and running off at the gob about this episode showing how someone critical of something shouldn't denounce it, attack it etc. Yet here, when a Democrat, something most of the stories have chosen NOT to mention, you prevaricate, post links that make insinuations about the hand of the Bush administration and begin talking, one imagines breathlessly, about a comeback for Mr. Up-and-Coming.

Dude, he banged a hooker. He didn't claim he was just getting a massage. He wasn't a paid abstinence advocate. He wasn't a goddamned priest fiddling with the choirboys.

What? Marion Barry got away with smoking crack with a prostitute. I might be able to care less what happens to Spitzer after this. All he ever had going for him in my book was that he went after payola. Aside from that, he was a prosecutor, and if you don't know how I feel about prosecutors, you're not paying attention.

And this is too rich to pass up: "Regarding all of the breathless moralizing from all sides over the "reprehensible," outrageous crimes of Eliot Spitzer: are there actually many people left who care if an adult who isn't their spouse hires prostitutes?"

To which I would answer, 'Yes, there are.'

"Are there really people left who think that doing so should be a crime, that adults who hire other consenting adults for sex should be convicted and go to prison?"

Again, 'Yes, there are.'

Well, duh. Doesn't change the fact that those people are shameless perverts who would be better off paying attention to their own sex lives instead of other people's.

And that's kind of the point. Welcome to the twenty-first century, Counte. This is the United States of America, and in case you weren't aware, we Americans like to pretend we're smart, sophisticated, worldly people. We have opinions about everything. Yet, for some reason, those opinions are often really childish. Case in point:

Seriously. Perhaps your commentator should reconnect with the rest of America? The part that lives in flyover country? Or read up a little about how sordid prostitution is and how it takes advantage of/abuses young women?

Perhaps the people in "flyover country" ought to wake up and realize the damage of prohibition. You know, like—

Not to mention, for those of us who don't really care about prostitution, the whole rule of law thing.

—thanks for helping make prostitution so sordid.

That is, the powerful should be held to account like the little people, and if I'm going to jail for doing something like this, so should the Gov

Well, that remains to be seen. What, have you done time for banging a prostitute? Your lawyer couldn't keep you out of jail? Get a new f@cking attorney, mate.

Seriously.

• • •​

A note for Asguard

The point is that prostitution is illegal and Spitzer's a professional moralist. Therefore:

illegal + professional moralist = big f@cking deal

What, banging a prostitute? Who cares?

Oh, right, my bad. A bunch of nosy prudes in "flyover country" apparently care. You know, the same bunch that think gays are the end of civilized society, want their women to be baby factories, and can't tell the difference between a scientific theory and a goddamn fairy tale?

But, yeah, mate, I hear ye.
 
I see your point now, sorry bit thick some times

Personally i dont dislike prosecutors. Actually i think much more highly of them than SOME lawyers (corprate lawyers for example who have no sence of right and wrong *cough cough* enron lawyer *cough*) But then i have never been persicuted by one either and even if i was it wouldnt be there fault OR the fault of the DPP it would be either mine (if the law was ethical) or the goverments (if the law was unethical)

I also dont live in a country where "family values" means more than policy for a polition. As i have said a number of times i have always been baffled by Clintons perscicution over something he should never have been asked and should have told the reporter (or who ever) to stick up there ass. Of course that DOES look bad and kind of answers the question in itself:p
 
Maybe it's an American thing, or something something Burt Ward

Asguard said:

Personally i dont dislike prosecutors.

Yeah, I'm probably being too hard on them. Of course, I can always plead that it's an American thing. But the prosecutor who eventually dropped the charges against me showed much wisdom that day. I certainly appreciate her decision. And, besides, I got to see three lawyers get schooled by a wonderful judge who saved my ass, so I consider the whole experience enlightening.

Hell, maybe if I looked further into Spitzer's record as New York AG, I would be impressed. I recall he went after some corporate fraud, too. But it's like the scene with George Gaynes getting a hummer at the podium in Police Academy ... no, wait a minute, no it's not. That was a Steve Guttenberg joke. Anyway, it's like I said in my earlier post: he was a prosecutor, so it's not like we shouldn't expect some hypocrisy.
 
Am i missing the point here?


It seems you might well be missing it. He not only solicited but he also was running it! He hid the money in different businesses he was affiliated with and never disclosed those extra incomes! The news is so kind to them Democrates isn't it.:mad: You can't tell what he did , as you state, that's because the MEDIA has tried their best to play it down and make him look as innocent as possible!!:(
 
count said:
I'm not sure the man is going to resign, but he has some serious legal troubles on his horizon, given that he seems to have trafficked in several states, making this a federal matter.
It was a Federal wiretap in the first place.

Something no one has explained yet. How many of these upscale hooker rings are they tapping - in Florida, say, or Texas ?

The flyover people seem to be OK with David Vitter so far - whose name wasn't leaked by the Feds, IIRC - and various others. Vitter makes an interesting parallel to watch, with his elite background and comparable guilt, although the whole family vaues/ abstinence only worthless Katrina context does change things a bit.
 
It seems you might well be missing it. He not only solicited but he also was running it! He hid the money in different businesses he was affiliated with and never disclosed those extra incomes! The news is so kind to them Democrates isn't it.:mad: You can't tell what he did , as you state, that's because the MEDIA has tried their best to play it down and make him look as innocent as possible!!:(

Your missing the point. He wasnt running it, he paid over 4K for an hour. What are you senile?
 
Your missing the point. He wasnt running it, he paid over 4K for an hour. What are you senile?

:itold: :spank:

See even you are being led down the MEDIAS path that he did nothing more than solicit, better read on about the charges that he is going to be charged with. Time will prove what I say is correct.
 
Prosecutors could be considering a range of charges against Spitzer, including wire fraud and violations of the Mann Act, a federal prohibition against crossing state lines to commit prostitution, according to a former federal prosecutor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Last week’s indictment against the call service’s principals stated that “Client 9,” identified by sources as the governor, paid the prostitute to travel from New York via Amtrak for a Feb. 13 liaison in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

Democrats and Republicans in Albany were in shock Monday, but they appeared to be preparing for what many considered the inevitable: resignation of the governor who rode into office 15 months ago vowing to change the ethical ways of Albany.

State officials said they believe Spitzer might wait to resign until he secures a deal with federal prosecutors not to charge him.



But ABC News reported Monday night that prosecutors originally thought they were pursuing a public corruption case involving Spitzer because some of his financial transactions could have violated money-laundering laws. QAT, the company with which the Spitzer money was deposited, was found to be the center of a prostitution operation. By then, the FBI was monitoring Spitzer’s e-mails and phone calls.

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/296325.html

That last paragraph should enlighten you I hope!
 
It is the way your interpreting it. Trust me.

READ the second paragraph, first sentence of your link. Cant be more plain than that.:shrug:
 
Prosecutors could be considering a range of charges against Spitzer, including wire fraud and violations of the Mann Act, a federal prohibition against crossing state lines to commit prostitution, according to a former federal prosecutor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Last week’s indictment against the call service’s principals stated that “Client 9,” identified by sources as the governor, paid the prostitute to travel from New York via Amtrak for a Feb. 13 liaison in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

Democrats and Republicans in Albany were in shock Monday, but they appeared to be preparing for what many considered the inevitable: resignation of the governor who rode into office 15 months ago vowing to change the ethical ways of Albany.

State officials said they believe Spitzer might wait to resign until he secures a deal with federal prosecutors not to charge him.



But ABC News reported Monday night that prosecutors originally thought they were pursuing a public corruption case involving Spitzer because some of his financial transactions could have violated money-laundering laws. QAT, the company with which the Spitzer money was deposited, was found to be the center of a prostitution operation. By then, the FBI was monitoring Spitzer’s e-mails and phone calls.

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/296325.html

That last paragraph should enlighten you I hope!


Hmmm, I was wondering why they were speaking of bringing charges against him. Now it's all clear, and no the media isn't saying shit about his actual involvment in this debacle. This is going to be fun watching him fall, democrat or not.
 
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