NY governor in prostitution scandal

[Yahya]

Assalamualaikum,

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/ny...hp&oref=slogin

Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring

ALBANY - 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.

An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said that a wiretap recording 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 hotel room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

Mr. Spitzer today made a brief public appearance during which he apologized for his behavior, and described it as a “private matter.”

“I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong,” said Mr. Spitzer, who appeared with his wife Silda at his Manhattan office. “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better.”

“I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.”

Before speaking, Mr. Spitzer stood with his arm around his wife; the two nodded and then strode forward together to face more than 100 reporters. Both had glassy, tear-filled eyes, but they did not cry.

The governor spoke for perhaps a minute and did not address his political future.

He declined to take questions and promised to report back soon. As he went to leave, three reporters screamed out, "Are you resigning? Are you resigning?", and Mr. Spitzer charged out of the room, slamming the door.

The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution inquiry 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 the announcement for this afternoon after inquiries from The Times.

The governor’s aides appeared shaken before he spoke, and one of them began to weep as they waited for him to make his statement at his Manhattan office.

The man described as Client 9 in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, Emperors Club VIP, on the night of Feb. 13. Mr. Spitzer traveled to Washington that evening, according to a person told of his travel arrangements.

The affidavit says that Client 9 met with the woman in hotel room 871 but does not identify the hotel. Mr. Spitzer stayed at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on Feb. 13, according to a source who was told of his travel arrangements. Room 871 at the Mayflower Hotel that evening was registered under another name.

Federal prosecutors rarely charge clients in prostitution cases, which are generally seen as state crimes. But the Mann Act, passed by Congress in 1910 to address prostitution, human trafficking and what was viewed at the time as immorality in general, makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution. The four defendants charged in the case unsealed last week were all charged with that crime, along with several others.

Mr. Spitzer had a difficult first year in office, rocked by a mix of scandal and legislative setbacks. In recent weeks, however, Mr. Spitzer seemed to have rebounded, with his Democratic party poised to perhaps gain control of the state Senate for the first time in four decades.

Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force.

In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.

“This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure,” Mr. Spitzer said at the time. “It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring.”

Albany for months has been roiled by bitter fighting and accusations of dirty tricks. The Albany County district attorney is set to issue in the coming days the results of his investigation into Mr. Spitzer’s first scandal, his aides’ involvement in an effort to tarnish Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, the state’s top Republican.


wasalamualaikum warahmatullah
Yahya

[Kona_Silat]

NY Governor is PIMPIN LARGE

[Revert]

Kona_Silat said

NY Mayor is PIMPIN LARGE

He's not the mayor, he's the Governor of NY. Bloomberg is the Mayor.

[Purple_alien]

Finally! a governor around here caught up in a scandal- and him NOT be from Jersey.

[GOTFIVEONIT]

lol, news like this really brightens my day! this piece of trash, what a frickin hypocrite! he put me out of business, i hope his political career is finally over! i curse his name every single day of my life. let me tell you that.

NY governor linked to prostitution ring

By AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the crusading politician who built his career on rooting out corruption, apologized Monday after allegations surfaced that he paid thousands of dollars for a high-end call girl. He did not elaborate on the scandal, which drew calls for his resignation.

His stone-faced 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."

The New York Democrat'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.

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

According to the law enforcement official, Spitzer is the person identified in legal papers as "Client 9," who paid for a four-hour tryst with a woman identified as "Kristen" at a Washington hotel on Feb. 13.

A defendant, Temeka Rachelle Lewis, confirmed that the client would be "paying for everything — train tickets, cab fare from the hotel and back, mini bar or room service, travel time, and hotel," the court papers said.

Client 9 paid $4,300 in cash to the service, with some being used for the encounter and the rest apparently to be used for credit.

The prostitute, described in the complaint as a "petite, pretty brunette, 5-feet-5 inches, and 105 pounds" met the client in Room 871 at about 10 p.m., according to the complaint.

In a conversation with the booking agent, Kristen said that she liked the client and that she did not think he was difficult, according to the papers.

The agent said she had been told the client "would ask you to do things that ... you might not think were safe ... very basic things," according to the papers, but that Kristen responded by saying, "I have a way of dealing with that ... I'd be, like, listen dude, you really want the sex?"

Spitzer has not been charged, and prosecutors did not comment on the case. The four defendants charged in the case last week were charged with violating the federal Mann Act, a 1910 law that outlaws traveling across state lines for prostitution.

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

Spitzer spoke about an hour and a half later. Stunned lawmakers gathered around televisions at the state Capitol in Albany to watch, and a media mob gathered outside the office of Democratic Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who would become governor if Spitzer were 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.

Bruno wouldn't comment when asked what Spitzer should do.

"I feel very badly for the governor's wife, for his children," Bruno said. "The important thing for the people of New York state is that people in office do the right thing."

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.

___

Associated Press Writer Mike Gormley contributed to this report from Albany, N.Y.

[Nabisco007]

Purple_alien said

Finally! a governor around here caught up in a scandal- and him NOT be from Jersey.

I know right!!

[Revert]

Purple_alien said

Finally! a governor around here caught up in a scandal- and him NOT be from Jersey.

hahahahha word!

[Revert]

Theres already a thread on this MODS MERGE THESE THREADS!

EDIT: How did he put you out of business?

[Khairan]

Merjeed.

[PhDGirl]

Oh, it's always the holier-than-thou ones who get busted. *sigh*

I liked Spitzer too....

[YOUSUFofSD]

PhDGirl said

Oh, it's always the holier-than-thou ones who get busted. *sigh*

I liked Spitzer too....

liked a politician?...tsk tsk you should know better

[PhDGirl]

YOUSUFofSD said

liked a politician?...tsk tsk you should know better

I know, I know

[slime]

soooo looking forward to the daily show tonight

[ChotooMotoo]

PhDGirl said

Oh, it's always the holier-than-thou ones who get busted. *sigh*

I liked Spitzer too....

You mean like Sen. Lary Craig (R) ID and his gay sex scandal in the Minneapolis Airport? This scandal is a mear trifle compared to that one!

[IbnMardhiyah]

The irony of this is almost mind-boggling.