Governor Spitzer Apologizes After New York Times Reveals Link To Prostitution Ring
March 10th, 2008 by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, a rising star in the Democratic Party and a major force in his state until he hit some rocky political bumps, has now apologized after a New York Times report linked him to a prostitution ring.
According to the Times, he was caught on a federal wiretap.
His apology has the feeling of one shoe dropping. Because it’s likely the other shoe will drop soon. It’s likely that pressure will build on him to resign — and that could have multi-faceted impacts on New York, the Democratic Party and perhaps even the Presidential race (he is a Hillary Clinton Superdelegate).
The latest from CNN:
Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he “acted in way that violates his obligation to his family,” speaking hours after the New York Times reported he told senior administration officials he had been involved in a prostitution ring.
“I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, to whom I promised better,” he said.
He did not elaborate on the paper’s claims and did not take any questions after making his statement.
“I am disappointed that I failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself,” he said
The paper’s Web site cited an anonymous administration official and said the New York governor met with his top aides before making his statement.
“To say this is a shock is an understatement,” said CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who went to law school with Spitzer.
Spitzer served as New York’s attorney general for eight years before being elected governor.
Time magazine named him “Crusader of the Year” during his two terms as New York attorney general.
Tabloids labeled him “Eliot Ness,” after the hero in the crime drama “The Untouchables,” because of his reputation for rooting out corruption, busting white-collar criminals and tackling organized crime.
Here’s the opening of the New York Times investigative piece:
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.
The governor’s aides appeared shaken, and one of them began to weep as they waited for him to make his statement at his Manhattan office. Mr. Spitzer was seen leaving his Fifth Avenue apartment just before 3 p.m. with his wife of 21 years, Silda, heading to the news conference.
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.
Spitzer, a Democrat elected governor of The Empire State in 2006, apparently has spent some time around the Emperors Club VIP…
…. Politicians have survived sex scandals, of course. Former President Clinton, who at first denied his sexual involvement with a White House intern, stands as the most memorable example in recent times. And Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, arrested in an airport men’s room, has resisted calls for his resignation.
But so much of Spitzer’s persona is invested in his own enforcement of the law – combatting white-collar crime and securities fraud as a state attorney general and organized crime as a prosecutor in New York City – that the admission of involvement in prostitution leaves little room for movement in a political arena unforgiving of hypocrisy.
You can almost predict some of the reaction. This will give talk show hosts a chance to talk about the Democrats and sex scandals (although the Republicans have had some of their own). Bill Clinton’s name will come up (isn’t it getting a little OLD?).
But the bottom line is that the Democratic Party has clearly lost one of its up-and-coming stars.
It’ll be hard to run as a Democrat with a Elliot Ness image because — according to the Times — this Elliot Ness was touchable.
Read lots of blog reaction HERE.
UPDATE: More details about the service.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 11:43 am and is filed under Superdelegates, Eliot Spitzer, New York, Scandals, Democrats, Politics. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
