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Report: Spitzer linked to prostitution ring
Monday, March 10, 2008

New York Governor Elliot Spitzer speaks on the steps of Schenectady City Hall in October 2007 about the Campaign Finance Reform bill he has proposed. ALBANY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - The New York Times is reporting that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring.

Spitzer is scheduled to make an announcement Monday afternoon.

Spitzer officials wouldn’t immediately comment on the story.

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Spitzer And Emperor’s Club
March 10, 2008 at 1:21 pm by James M. Odato

Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to discuss reports that he may be linked to the Emperor’s Club VIP, the allegedly illegal operation running expensive women to wealthy men, according to an insider.

The governor is expected to make an announcement in a few minutes. But the New York Times is reporting that Spitzer informed senior staffers of his involvement in a prostitution ring. He is expected to make remarks in in New York City after cancelling his public schedule.

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NY governor linked to prostitution ring
By AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the crusading politician who built his career on rooting out corruption, apologized Monday after he was accused of involvement in a prostitution ring. He did not elaborate on the scandal, which drew calls for his resignation.

His stoic wife at his side, Spitzer told reporters at a hastily called news conference: "I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family."

"I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself," he said. "I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family."

Spitzer's involvement in the ring was caught on a federal wiretap as part of an investigation opened in recent months, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry.

The New York Democrat, identified in legal papers as "Client 9," met last month with at least one woman in a Washington hotel, the law enforcement official said.

The prostitution ring, identified in court papers as the Emperors Club VIP, arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris, prosecutors said. Four people allegedly connected to the high-end ring were arrested last week.

The club's Web site displays photographs of scantily clad women with their faces hidden. It also shows hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.

The scandal was first reported on The New York Times' Web site.

Spitzer spoke hours later. Stunned lawmakers gathered around televisions at the state Capitol in Albany to watch, and a media mob gathered outside the office of Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who would become governor if Spitzer was to resign. It took opponents only minutes to call for his resignation.

"Today's news that Eliot Spitzer was likely involved with a prostitution ring and his refusal to deny it leads to one inescapable conclusion: He has disgraced his office and the entire state of New York," said Assembly Republican leader James Tedisco. "He should resign his office immediately."

Spitzer, 48, built his political reputation on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor's office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation's worst governments.

Time magazine had named him "Crusader of the Year" when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him "Eliot Ness."

But his term as governor has been marred by problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer's main Republican nemesis.

Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state Public Integrity Commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides were accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.

Spitzer had served two terms as attorney general where he pursued criminal and civil cases and cracked down on misconduct and conflicts of interests on Wall Street and in corporate America. He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, handling organized crime and white-collar crime cases.

His cases as state attorney general included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes.

In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.

Quoted from MobileTerminal

This really breaks my heart.

His resignation will be live at 7pm

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Those duties include acting as governor when the nominal office-holder is out of the state. Moreover, should Mr. Spitzer resign and if Mr. Paterson were unwilling or unable to take his place, Mr. Bruno would become acting governor—a possibility that would hold special irony, given the vicious and ongoing battles between Mr. Bruno and Mr. Spitzer over the last year.

Quoted from Shadow

Spitzer could get up to 10 years for a violation of the Federal Mann Act of trafficing by bringing a prostitute across state lines, if found guilty.

Quoted from PDQ

If I am not mistaken but isn't Joe Bruno under the black cloud of an FBI investagation also?  By the reaction of the Majority leader he didn't gloat he was a statesman unlike that bozo Tedisco who in my opinion looks like a little manchild.  Jimmy, jimmy, jimmy think of the man's wife.  Oh I forgot you never married.   Any hopes of moving up in the political world Jimmy boy is clouded by your crass and insensitive disrespect for the man's wife and daughters.  Chauvinist pig.

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CAPITOL
Leaders express shock, outrage over scandal
Canestrari: ‘This place is rocked to its foundation’
BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter

    “I’m just shocked,” Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, said Monday afternoon outside the Assembly chamber.
    “This place is rocked to its foundations,” he added.
    Canestrari, like other Democrats, declined to comment on whether he thought Gov. Eliot Spitzer should resign as a result of his involvement in a prostitution scandal.
    Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, had no such doubts. After the news broke early Monday afternoon on The New York Times Web site, and before Spitzer issued his statement, Tedisco spoke to reporters in a Capitol corridor and said if the report is true, Spitzer should resign.
    Once Spitzer had spoken, Tedisco issued a statement saying “Today’s news that Eliot Spitzer was likely involved with a prostitution ring and his refusal to deny it leads to one inescapable conclusion: He has disgraced his office and the entire state of New York. He should resign his offi ce immediately. He is unfit to lead our state and unfit to hold public office.”
    Tedisco said it would be impos- sible for Spitzer to continue as a champion of high ethics, given his admission of wrongdoing. But he also said, “Our prayers go out to him and the family, and the kids.”
    Tedisco told The Gazette he had received a call from Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who told him, “He’s ready to lead if there’s a transition.”
    Paterson could not be reached for comment.
    Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, like most people at the Capitol, expressed sympathy for Spitzer’s family. He also said, “The important thing for the people of New York state is that people in office do the right thing,” but did not respond to questions asking whether the governor should resign.
    Assemblyman Bob Reilly, D-Colonie, said, “We don’t know all the facts,” but “at the moment, people are shocked, angry and disappointed” — including himself.
    Reporters gathered in the Senate lobby Monday, waiting in vain for Paterson to emerge from his offi ce adjoining it.
    Among the others gathered there were Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters and Bill Mahoney of the New York Public Interest Research Group, who were discussing what the state Constitution and laws say regarding who presides over the Senate in the event of the lieutenant governor becoming governor. If Spitzer did resign, they agreed, it would strengthen Bruno’s position in the Senate, where his Republican conference has a two-vote, one-seat majority.
    Paterson presides over the Senate, and has the tie-breaking vote. But if he became governor, there would be no replacement lieutenant governor, Bartoletti and Mahoney said, until one was elected in 2010. That means Senate Democrats would need to induce two Republicans, rather than one, to defect in order to overturn the GOP majority this year. The scandal also might weaken Democrats’ prospects in the November election, when they had been expected by many to capture the Senate.
    “I just hope [Spitzer] has the character to resign,” said the Rev. Duane Motley, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a socially conservative group.
    Peter Stix, 52, of Albany, also was waiting in the Senate lobby. He said he had head the news about the governor on WAMC radio, as he was going on business to the Corning Tower. So, he said, he thought he would come to the Capitol to see what was going on.
    While many people were saying Spitzer would have to resign, Stix disagreed.
    “I hope he doesn’t [resign],” Stix said, “but it would certainly be understandable if he does. After all, Bill Clinton didn’t resign, so there’s precedent for retaining your position.”
    Rumors swirled around the Capitol Monday evening that Spitzer’s resignation was imminent, possibly coming in the middle of the night. Photographers and a reporter or two remained encamped outside Paterson’s office at 8:45 p.m., although the lieutenant governor was not believed to be inside.
    However, Spitzer’s press offi ce on the second floor was mostly deserted at 8:10 p.m., and spokeswoman Jennifer Givner, who had left the office, said she was not expecting any announcement Monday night.
    Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, whose district includes Schoharie County, issued a statement saying, “I don’t know the facts of the situation. I will not accuse or condemn. At a time when we face such critical problems, we need the full attention of our governor.
    “Depending on the facts, and the truth — and the governor knows the truth — I hope he will do the right thing and put the people of the state first.”
    Away from the Capitol, reaction among area leaders was mixed.
    Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton, calling it “a very sad day,” said “I think everyone is shocked. Certainly those of us who have been friends and supporters of the governor are.
    “I think ‘stunned’ is a word I could aptly use for how I feel. Who expects that out of anyone? I’m almost speechless,” Stratton said.
    Fulton County Clerk William E. Eschler, a Republican, said the allegations are inconsistent with Spitzer’s stated goal of cleaning up New York.
    “He lost touch with the people of the state and made proposals that made absolutely no sense,” said Eschler, citing what he called the “use of state troopers to try to regain the state Senate,” the driver’s license controversy and the imposition of a variety of fee increases.
    Fulton County Democratic Chairman Albert Hayes said he heard of the allegations Monday but would reserve judgment until there is more information.
    Gloversville Mayor Tim Hughes, a Democrat, would say only “at this point these are just allegations.”
    Another Democrat, Amsterdam Town Supervisor Thomas DiMezza, said the revelations give the state a black eye and that Spitzer should step down.
    “I think he should do the right thing and resign. He’s done wrong as head of state. The governor, he’s held to a higher standard and he’s violated that standard so he needs to do the right thing, just step aside,” DiMezza said.
    “It’s more than morality, it’s something that’s illegal,” said Di-Mezza, a detective lieutenant with the Amsterdam city Police Department.

RICHARD DREW/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Traders watch a statement by Gov. Eliot Spitzer on a screen in a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday.

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Political observers believe Spitzer in ‘big, big trouble’
BY SARA FOSS Gazette Reporter

    Gov. Eliot Spitzer, linked Monday to an expensive prostitution ring, found little support among Capital Region political observers, with reactions ranging from sadness to disbelief and strong doubt about his ability to lead any longer.
    “If the reports are true, Spitzer is in big, big trouble, and not just with his wife,” said Joseph Zimmerman, a professor of political science at the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy. “If what [we’re hearing] is fact, he’ll probably be indicted by the U.S. Attorney.”
    That’s because Spitzer might have violated the Mann Act, which makes it a felony to transport women across state lines “for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose, or with the intent and purpose to induce, entice or compel such a woman or girl” to immoral acts. “It’s a very simple case for a jury to convict,” Zimmerman said. “He’s probably going to conclude that the prospects for conviction under the Mann Act are very, very good, and that, under the circumstances, rather than having the controversy continue for an extended period of time, it may be better to resign.”
    “Many people may not be aware of the Mann Act,” Zimmerman said. “They may see this as just a scandal. ... But [if this is true] he clearly violated the Mann Act, and that’s bad news for him, and bad news for his family. For his family, it really is a tragedy.”
    Alan Chartock, political commentator and professor emeritus at University at Albany, agreed. “This is a lot worse than having an affair,” he said. “He’s fully aware he’s breaking the law. At the very least, it’s a terrible lapse in judgment. … Girlfriends are one thing. Lots of people have girlfriends. Lots of people have boyfriends. Prostitutes are different.”
    Helen Desfosses, an associate professor of public affairs and social policy at Rockefeller College, suggested Spitzer may end up making a deal with prosecutors. “This isn’t only a political question,” Desfosses said. “It’s a legal issue.”
    Chartock said, “The fact of the matter is that he’s governor of New York. He’s prosecuted prostitutes. What could he have been thinking?”
    In New York, any elected official who is convicted of a felony must resign.
    On Monday, political observers expressed shock at Spitzer’s stunning political fall, one that was harder than most, given his reputation as reformer.
    “This is whatever the largest number on the Richter Scale is,” Desfosses said. “I’m totally stunned. I couldn’t be more stunned if my mother was involved.”
    Desfosses raised “a lot” of money for Spitzer. She cheered his election — “I couldn’t wait until he got into office” — and believed that, after a disastrous first year, the trajectory was up. “When I think about the people who uprooted their entire lives to serve in his administration, I feel sad,” she said. “I’m struck by the human tragedy. I saw people who work with him who had tears in their eyes today.”
    As of Monday night, Spitzer had yet to resign, but political observers said that it will be diffi cult for him to lead now, no matter what happens.
    “This removes his moral authority,” said Gerald Benjamin, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at SUNY New Paltz. “This brings into question his ability to govern.”
    “Governors in other states have been rogues and accepted as rogues,” said Benjamin, a political scientist. But that’s not true of Spitzer. “If you read his biography, there’s no discussion of sex or play, except for competitive athletics. … This an extremely sad moment. It’s sad for the state.”
    Benjamin noted that Spitzer’s first year was challenging, bogged down by the Troopergate scandal and his feud with the Legislature. What Spitzer is accused of is “a little different” than the “sexual peccadilloes we’re accustomed to hearing about,” such as affairs and the “hijinks people in Albany get into away from their spouses,” Benjamin said. Like others, he suggested that Spizer had squandered an opportunity to change New York for the better. “There’s an extremely high cost to this,” he said.
    “Spitzer ran for office as a reformer,” Zimmerman said. “He’s on record as being a very ethical person, until this. I really was not expecting anything like this. I never thought they’d dig up anything of this nature.”
    Zimmerman suggested that women, in particular, may feel betrayed by Spitzer.
    Chartock described Spitzer as a “brilliant lawyer” who made a “colossal mistake in judgment.”
    “I’m really unhappy, because I had such high hopes for Gov. Spitzer,” Chartock said.
    Benjamin said that if Spitzer resigns, the line of succession is clear: Lt. Gov. David Paterson will become governor.
    Chartock noted that Paterson had a good working relationship with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno when he was the minority leader, and that perhaps relations between the Legislature and governor’s office would actually improve with new leadership.
    “We don’t really know what will happen,” Chartock said. “There was really bad blood between Spitzer and Bruno.”

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Attention is now on lieutenant governor
Paterson next in line to succeed Spitzer
BY MICHAEL GORMLEY The Associated Press

    Less than two years after he reluctantly ran for lieutenant governor, David Paterson is suddenly in line to be only the third black governor since Reconstruction, and the first in New York.
    “He’s the next governor and probably quite soon,” said Maurice Carroll, director of Quinnipiac University’s Polling Institute and a longtime New York political reporter.
    Attention turned to Paterson immediately after word surfaced Monday that Gov. Eliot Spitzer had been linked to a high-priced prostitution ring. In a brief appearance in front of reporters, Spitzer issued a vague apology and did not mention resignation.
    If Spitzer quits, Paterson automatically becomes governor and would complete Spitzer’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2010.
    There was no immediate comment from Paterson.
    Paterson, a 53-year-old Democrat from Harlem who is mostly blind, is well respected by Republicans and Democrats.
    Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch recently called Paterson “very capable, not withstanding his near sightlessness. It’s never impeded his public actions or his personal actions, and he’s really overcome it in an extraordinary way.”
    Paterson, who does not use a cane or a guide dog, can make out shapes and even people up close. He lost most of his sight as an infant when an infection damaged his optic nerve. He still talks of his fragile self-esteem in childhood and recalls not being invited to parties because “people thought I would fall and hurt myself.”
    Paterson’s disability has never been an issue in Albany in his 20-year political career. He has memorized lengthy, impassioned speeches without missing a mark; cited arcane legal references in fast-paced floor debates; and won more victories for his party in the Senate than any other leader in the Legislature. His efforts brought Democrats to within a seat of taking the Senate majority for the first time in decades.
    Critics and supporters alike all point to the intellect, compassion and humor that Paterson brings to the Statehouse. When Spitzer picked him to be his running mate in 2006, Paterson deadpanned: “I told Eliot, ‘Whenever you are trying to reform a system, you need a person with vision and a person who is a technician,’ and that’s what I am … because I sure don’t have vision.”
    “He’s going to bring love to the executive branch and Legislature,” said Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn Democrat. “He’s a real mensch, plain and simple.”
    The only other black governors since Reconstruction were Deval Patrick, currently serving in Massachusetts, and L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, who left offi ce in 1994.
    Even New York Republicans have a healthy respect for Paterson.
    “I don’t think there’s an issue David Paterson and I agree on, but he’s one of the most decent, honorable guys I’ve ever met,” said Rep. Peter King of Long Island, who already was referring to Paterson as “the new governor.”
    Paterson has enjoyed a good relationship with Spitzer’s chief nemesis, Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
    In pointed yet humorous floor debates, a kind of father-son relationship was evident between the younger Harlem Democrat and the rural, upstate Republican, who is 78.
    Two years ago, Paterson was so focused on taking control of the Senate and becoming majority leader that he was surprised by Spitzer’s offer to be lieutenant governor.
    If he ascends to the governor’s office, Paterson would also have an advantage in that he would have nearly three years remaining in Spitzer’s term.
    “If he becomes governor, he can move forward with what he wants to do as governor and start to set a tone,” said Lee Miringoff of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “The state will have been shaken by all these revelations. And I think he’s someone who is widely respected, and he has a lot of experience in the corridors of Albany.”

JIM MCKNIGHT/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lt. Gov. David Paterson takes his oath of office in this Jan. 1, 2007, file photo at the Capitol in Albany.

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Those duties include acting as governor when the nominal office-holder is out of the state. Moreover, should Mr. Spitzer resign and if Mr. Paterson were unwilling or unable to take his place, Mr. Bruno would become acting governor—a possibility that would hold special irony, given the vicious and ongoing battles between Mr. Bruno and Mr. Spitzer over the last year.

And that's exactly why the SOB isn't resigning .... greed

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CAPITOL
Leaders express shock, outrage over scandal
Canestrari: ‘This place is rocked to its foundation’
BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter


Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, had no such doubts. After the news broke early Monday afternoon on The New York Times Web site, and before Spitzer issued his statement, Tedisco spoke to reporters in a Capitol corridor and said if the report is true, Spitzer should resign.
    Once Spitzer had spoken, Tedisco issued a statement saying “Today’s news that Eliot Spitzer was likely involved with a prostitution ring and his refusal to deny it leads to one inescapable conclusion: He has disgraced his office and the entire state of New York. He should resign his offi ce immediately. He is unfit to lead our state and unfit to hold public office.”
    Tedisco said it would be impos- sible for Spitzer to continue as a champion of high ethics, given his admission of wrongdoing. But he also said, “Our prayers go out to him and the family, and the kids.”

Quoted from bumblethru

There is a difference between the dems and reps on how they deal with their own. When a dem is a 'bad boy/girl' the party will rally around them, will throw money at them, create a patronage job for them and make excuses and provisions for them.

When a rep is a 'bad boy/girl', they eat their own, pull funding from them, distance themselves from them and throw them overboard and move on ahead.

And as far as Tedisco not being married....I believe that Tonko never married either. So your point PDQ?

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Tedisco threatens to push for Spitzer impeachment
March 11, 2008
By Jill Bryce (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

ALBANY — Assemblyman James Tedisco today repeated calls for Gov. Eliot Spitzer to step down in the next 24 to 48 hours and said that he can no longer lead the state.
Tedisco, of Schenectady, spoke a day after Spitzer was accused of paying for a prostitute on Feb. 13, who traveled from New York City to Washington.
"It's a sad day. There is a tremendous amount of anger out there," said Tedisco, R-Schenectady, who called for Spitzer to resign on Monday after the news broke and even before Spitzer issued a statement.
Tedisco told the pack of reporters today that Spitzer is "unfit to lead the state and unfit to hold public office" and that an article of impeachment will proceed if Spitzer does not resign. "People from both affiliations understand he is comprised and doesn't have the support of the people."
He said the Republicans will work with Lt. Gov. David Patterson, who would automatically become governor if Spitzer quits.
Tedisco said he spoke to Paterson on Monday and Paterson was angry, disappointed and upset when he heard about the allegations against Spitzer.
Dozens of news trucks and reporters from national broadcast networks and around the state are hovering around the Capitol awaiting news from the governor's office.
Spitzer was getting little support from his fellow Democrats in the state Assembly Tuesday afternoon, as reports and rumors indicated he may resign because of his involvement in a prostitution scandal.
"When you lose the moral high ground," said Assemblyman Jack McEneny, D-Albany. "When you can't do the job, it's time to do the right thing, and do it quickly." While his comments at about 2:40 p.m. clearly implied that the governor should resign, the veteran assemblyman said he was "avoiding the 'r' word."
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver declined Tuesday to answer directly when asked if Spitzer should resign.
"He has to evaluate the situation and do what's best for him," he said. Speaking shortly after 11 a.m. on the way out of his Capitol office, the speaker also said "My heart goes out" to the Spitzer family.
About an hour later, Silver said "The facts are still being uncovered" regarding Spitzer's situation, and "I think the governor has to make the determination" about whether or not he should resign.
Silver said the Assembly still plans to pass its one-house budget Wednesday, and that he spoke to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Monday night, and expects the Senate to act this week, too. Then, Silver said, they would proceed to conference committees Ñ indicating that legislative action on the budget can proceed despite the turmoil in the executive branch.
Scott Reif, a spok