Bells, who decides what cases the DDP procides with?
Do indervidual procicuters have a choice?
I doubt it, yes he procicuted criminals for prostitution
So what?
If a cop happens to speed once does that mean he should never arest people for speeding?
What about a procicuter who speeds because he is late to a murder trial say, yes he did the wrong thing so he should never procicute someone who is charged with coulpiable driving?
Procicuting was his JOB, i dont personally like the food at the place i currently work and would NEVER eat there. I do however need the money so i will cook what they want and eat at a restraunt i find more palatable. This doesnt make me a hypocrit, it makes me a money whore but thats what i need to do until i finish my degree. What about a microsoft employee who owns a mac, are they a hypocrit or just someone who does what they need to do to survive?
Does the department have a choice? Yes. Usually, once it is found that a case can be made, the case is allocated to the prosecutors. But each country and state is different.
The issue here is that Spitzer had been the Attorney General for the State. He made the decision and in some instances, he specifically went after certain companies or groups (such as a prostitution ring). He targeted certain people on Wall Street with the intent to ruin them and jail them. Was he justified? In some cases, probably yes. He made it his duty to go after certain people and go after them he did. Even in cases where a heavy hand was not necessary, he plowed at the person. One editorial commented that in cases where a gentle nudge was all that was needed, he came down like a hammer, destroying all in his path. Lets not beat around the bush here, the way he acted when he was an AG was to bully and threaten individuals.
He did not just prosecute people from partaking in prostitution. He specifically went after them. In short, he went after people who were doing exactly what he has done and he did all he could to make sure they ended up in jail. There's no "so what?" here. The sheer level of hypocrisy is astounding.
Yes, his job was that of a "prosecutor". But he did not just go after people when they appeared on the criminal radar. He actively sought them out and took them to court. Not only resulting in their being jailed, but also ensured financial ruin on the greater majority of them. He was a legal bully who hid behind his office to exact revenge. That is basically what his career as an AG comes down to. In some instances he did good. He took on the big boys and made them pay. And now? Now he has been caught doing exactly what those he went after had one and who he actively pursued. There's no "so what?". It has a sense of poetic justice, to be honest. He assumed his position as a Governor would protect him and it did not. He has proven himself, something he has always tried to prove when he was the AG...that no matter how great you might be, you will still fall if you stuff up and get caught. He got caught. It was his own stupidity that led to his outing. They originally investigated him after his bank flagged suspicious money transfers between his accounts. It would seem they first thought he was being bribed, until they traced the account he was paying off and they discovered the cover for the prostitution ring.
He did not just speed or smoke a toke. He paid to have a woman travel across State lines to have sex with him. Or more to the point, he paid her john to have her travel to have sex with him. He could have just used a prostitute from Washington. It would still be illegal, but he would not be breaking laws that are in place to protect against human trafficking. He also booked into a hotel under the name of an acquaintance who was one of his fund-raisers, without the man's knowledge or consent. And then of course there is the following:
Federal authorities say the investigation began last October when the IRS received a report from a bank about suspicious activity connected to an account controlled by Spitzer.
Initially believing the activity could involve bribes, the Justice Department asked the FBI's public corruption squad to join the investigation.
It was only later, authorities say, that federal agents learned Spitzer had been moving the money to pay for the prostitutes. They say his movement of "tens of thousands of dollars" to pay for sex with call girls from the Emperor's Club may have violated federal money laundering laws.
Ironically, the financial crimes he may be charged with are some of the same crimes he prosecuted as New York's attorney general in his meteoric rise to prominence.
Source
He cannot plead innocence or that he simply did not know what he was doing was wrong or illegal. He was a former Attorney General for the State. He prosecuted others for the very same thing he was doing. He ran on a political ticket and virtually preached ethical standards in Government. He should have followed his own advice and acted ethically. Whether you agree or disagree about whether prostitution should be legal or not is really beside the point. At present, prostitution and paying for a prostitute to cross state lines for sex is illegal. He was an AG. He became a Governor, and ran on the coat tails of his actions and success as an AG. Those actions and the success came about because of his tough stance on corporate criminals, as well as prostitution rings. Then he broke the law and for the last few months, had been enjoying the services that one such prostitution ring had to offer. Just because we might think the prostitution laws are archaic or not is really beside the point. He broke the law and he needs to pay for it. Just like he made others pay for it when he was an AG.
