Described as Client 9, Eliot Spitzer was busted for paying for services rendered by the secretive, upscale prostitution ring called the Emperors Club VIP on February 13.
The reason this is a Federal case is because it's a crime for someone to be transported across state lines so they can engage in prostitution, as it's considered human trafficking.
On Client 9, or Democrat Eliot Spitzer, he made arrangements to meet with one of the prostitutes in the Emperors Club VIP stable on February 13. He went to Washington and stayed at the Mayflower Hotel at room 871 under an assumed name.
According to the affidavit filed in the investigation, they were wiretapping the situation and someone was able to identify Client 9 as Spitzer. In other words the investigation wasn't in relationship to Spitzer, it was part of a general sting that Spitzer entered into through his actions.
Spitzer has shown hypocrisy in the past by alleging he was disgusted and loathing of the upscale prostitution ring he busted in 2004 in Staten Island. He operated in his capacity as the New York head of the task force investigating organized crime.
A federal official first let the governor know about his implication in the prostitution ring on Friday, when contacting him through his staff. According to the New York Times (NYSE: NYT), he then communicated that to his top aides on Sunday night about what had transpired.
Spitzer is already embroiled in another scandal where aides of his were involved in a smear campaign connected to the Majority leader, Republican Joseph L. Bruno. In the near future the Albany County district attorney will reveal the results of that investigation.
It looks like if Spitzer had any presidential aspirations, they're now over. He'll be lucky to hold on to his governorship.
At the end of the press conference where he revealed his actions, Spitzer ran out the door as reporters yelled out "Are you resigning? Are you resigning?" as he slammed the door on his exit.
(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Related Stories
NY Governor Linked to Prostitution Ring
He could have been America's first Jewish president. Instead, the career of New York's crime-fighting governor is being ended by a sex scandal
NY Assembly Minority leader says Gov should resign
New York State Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco on Monday called for Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign.
Eliot Spitzer: Breathtaking Recklessness?
Spitzer, of all people, knew the risks involved in illicit liasions. If he indeed was linked to a prostitution ring, it constitutes breathtaking recklessness on a par with Bill Clinton's White House dalliance.
Spitzer's fall: The prosecutor and the prostitutes
There is nothing quite like a sex scandal to stop a successful politician in his tracks.
Particularly a politician such as Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York who made his name as an aggressive prosecutor of corporate fraud and organized crime and now tells his staff that he personally has been involved in a prostitution ring.
Sponsored link: The outsourcing every manager requires - Tampa Locksmith
» Fame turns to Shame: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer Caught in Prostitution Sting from BizofShowBiz
The presidential ambitions of New York Governor, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, have come crashing to the ground, as he was mentioned in a wiretap as Client 9, before someone recognized who he was in a prostitution wiretap sting.Spitzer is attempting to ... [Read More]
Tracked on: March 10, 2008 4:11 PM | Permalink to Trackback