Both ABC and Bloomberg TV, citing sources, said Spitzer was going to announce his resignation as Governor of NY.
Briefing.com had previously cited Fox News that Spitzer was indicted by Federal Court in NY. Briefing.com: NY’s Spitzer expected to resign – WABC TV [Read More]
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Wall Street will be besides itself in an orgy of schadenfreude . . .
Update: March 10, 2008 3:45pm
Briefing update:
Court document in NY Prostitution case is not an indictment;
document in NY case doesn’t name Spitzer, according to Fox Reporter – DJ
>
Excerpt from ABC:
Sources tell Eyewitness News that Governor Eliot
Spitzer is going to resign, after being linked to a prostitution ring
in a published report.Spitzer officials wouldn’t immediately comment on the story. Spitzer, 48, is married and has three daughters.
Details about the prostitution ring were not immediately clear, but
last week federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed conspiracy charges
against four people accusing them of running a prostitution ring that
charged wealthy clients in Europe and the U.S. thousands of dollars for
prostitutes.The Times reported that a person with knowledge
of the governor’s role believes the governor is identified as a client
in court papers.The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP
displays photographs of the prostitutes’ bodies, with their faces
hidden, along with 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.Spitzer has built his political legacy on
rooting out corruption. He made headlines battling Wall Street while
serving as attorney general. He won an historic share of the
vote for governor in 2006, and took office vowing to continue his
no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation’s worst governments.
Here’s a pic of a $5500 escort for all that are curious. (Safe for work)
http://tinyurl.com/yv74pj
It quite unfortunate, for although he was probably an overzealous, holier-than-thou prosecutor, these times will demand much out of government. This will especially be true in re-regulation of Wall Street. Where was Monica when you needed her?
Duuuuuuuuuude!!!!!
G’dam it! That’s all I can say that’s fit to print.
Yeah – I looked at the picture…
(thx for the chuckle Snarfy)
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. A prick with a God Complex is a dangerous mix.
Don’t have much time to post right now. But food for thought: Spitzer gave Cramer credibility. When the future governor of NY comes on your show, hugs you, calls you great, says “Booyah” in his acceptance speech, it kind of gives you legitimacy. Now Spitzer’s judgement is called into question.
Too bad. We need hard asses policing Wall Street. This sets back public opinion on hard asses working in our collective favor to enforce laws.
Not that I have sympathy for Spitzer, if true. In fact, he makes the job tougher for the next guy.
The cockiest traders always get carried out in a box…that’s an absolute rule in trading….glad to see it pertains to politics as well!
>>>>Too bad. We need hard asses policing Wall Street.
Maybe getting Spitzer sidelined is part of “the plan” to keep the Pirates from walking the plank.
Bread & circuses
So, federal prosecutors in Manhattan are spending their time shutting down high-class prostitution rings, huh? It’s a good thing there aren’t more pressing problems to deal with these days…
What was he thinking? It must have crossed the fool’s mind that if you’re going to cross Wall Street, he’d better be prepared to be put under the microscope. Of course this isn’t to excuse his conduct. Just saying the next guy who decides to prosecute extremely resourceful crooks had better be spotless themselves.
check out reuters.com, You’re quote of the day!!
He pissed away a lifetime of achievement just for some sex? It boggles my mind that someone so smart could be so dumb.
Sex is just like everything else in this world: You get what you pay for. This whole situation just smells really funny to me.
Q: What’s the difference between a monoline insurer and a prostitution ring?
A: One looks to the NY Governor’s office for a capital infusion; the other provides insurance.
(suggestions for other punchlines welcome)
With all the important issues going on, should we really care about the the sex scandals of Spitzer, Craig, or Vitter? If no public money is involved, it’s a personal issue between each man, his wife, and potentially a sharp pair of scissors.
Giuliani, on the other hand, had some answering to do for his tax-payer funded bootie calls. That certainly didn’t help his Presidential aspirations.
That was the first thing that leapt to my mind too, Thinker. Getting him out of the way, is key to getting away with Monetary Murder on Wall Street. There are some parties going on there today, I’m sure.
Sad day. I liked his take-no-prisoners attitude, and frankly, think the Dutch have a much better take on prostitution.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/nyregion/20080310spitzer-complaint.pdf
go down to page 25ish of the complaint and look for Client 9… or search the PDF… Client 9 is Spitzer… I repeat Client 9 is Spitzer…
—
Looks like Wall Street was not cheered by this news today. Interesting. No orgy.
But, 11,740… OUCH!
Spitzer nailed a few really bad guys and a few prostitutes along the way. Who cares.
Lets focus on the real issues and the real bad guys, the Paulsons, Blankfeins and Mozillos and Greenspans who created this mess. A 20 year bull market, the longest ever, is now history. The prospects of an entire generation wiped out. If you are over thirty and not a millionaire by now you are not going to be one in your lifetime. We face a bear market that lasts et least 5 years with the Dow going back to 2k. I hope we find the people who are responsible for this and nail them.
He pissed away a lifetime of achievement just for some sex? It boggles my mind that someone so smart could be so dumb.
Posted by: lux | Mar 10, 2008 4:27:15 PM
?????????????????????????????
what the …., totally understandable why he did it. He should have gone to thailand or something discreetly. But I can understand why he did it.
LOL, Hey Elliott May I ask what is the password???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrhzA3Nb9ws
Nice job, Alfred.
“The prospects of an entire generation wiped out.”
That sums it up pretty good…
Hopefully, Spitzer will go form being client #9 to being Bubba’s bitch in cell block #9.
all men should be neutered at birth..sex gets men in so much trouble
Sad commentary alright…over $4000 for a night is a sad commentary on inflation.
I’m surprised they didn’t make him pay in euros or gold.
spitzer should resign. if you’re going to hold public office, and a senior one at that you have to be spotless when it comes to impropriety. now if a buddy of mine did it i wouldn’t care twice but public officials have to be beyond reproach so as not to be diminished when going about their civic duty.
speaking of resigning, i couldn’t help but think about clinton getting a bj under the table of the oval office from an intern and not resigning. seems to be that’s equal if not more disturbing then spitzer’s actions.
Hey, Kudlow… Yeah, you, Larry K.
You’re fixin’ to have to eat more shit than Escherichia coli, and that motor trucker lives its entire life in the gut:
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/E/Esch.coli.html
The only person that’s likely to eat more shit is Spitzer, and he chewed off a big mouthful today.
On Kudlow, I mean in regards to his persistent and perpetual bullishness.
word: Whoreible
value equation: 5.65 oz of Gold for a memorable performance (use your imaginatin and ______ in the blanks)
You made the Reuters feed, Barry:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080310/pl_nm/newyork_spitzer_dc_13
I’m with Alfred , Darkness and Sweeny on this. The priorities in law enforcement are FUBAR.
FUBAR.
If I was George Carlin, I could come up with some pretty funny shit concerning that acronym.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing funny about the state of the union…
At first, I thought we were going to hear he was OPERATING a prostitution ring. But, a client? Not a big deal.
First, he’s not some hypocritical Evangelical pushing legislation against sex (or marriage) between consenting adults. Banning sex is a selling feature of the Right (minus libertarians, obviously). Not Spitzer’s party.
Second, he didn’t perjure himself. When I was livid over the Clinton scandal, I in no way gave a damn about the sex. It was all about the perjury. (Most Democrats didn’t seem to accept that. They belittled Republicans for being upset about the sex, which, I believe, is why they lost the 2000 election.)
Too bad for Spitzer’s personal life. But, his public work should go on.
How does a public servant afford $4,000/hr prostitutes? The governor of NY only makes $179,000/yr. Where did the money come from?
His family is wealthy perhaps. What difference does it make where the money came from. For goodness sakes, what is this MALE syndrome to reach the pinnacles of power and then do such STUPID, REALLY STUPID things. Somebody needs to look in to this.
I just do not believe it is the sex. It just can’t be that. What is it?
He has to go. Zero credibility now, and I am astounded that he was that stupid.
That said, at least he likes women as opposed to the scandals involving the other party lately ;-)
Could Cramer have been a client too? These two seemed so buddy, buddy.
He doesn’t “have to go”. He paid for sex and cheated on his wife. I’m don’t give a darn about it and have to wonder about the priorities of anyone who does.
Prosecuting prostitution is a complete waste of time and money. Our laws and police enforcement have been on auto-pilot while the fraud of the century went on in plain view.
If it hadn’t involve a cash transfer (i.e: intern, secretary, sister-in-law) it could have been okay. He used the defence Clinton should have made back then. Unfortunately for him, this is another ballpark. If you screw around, that’s your problem. If you engage in a criminal activity, you’re toast. Just a technicality, but law works that way. He should know. Yet, he didn’t resign right away, and this is a bit embarrassing, b/c eventually, he will have to.
wunsacon, you are way off base. One does not attack human trafficking on one hand in the legislature and then traffic humans over state lines for their own pleasure.
I supported Spitzer and I do not think it should be illegal to charge for what a woman can give away for free. Regardless, he is a lawmaker who broke a law he was adamant about in his agenda. Sad to say, he has ruined his carreer and a chance at a future presidency.
Spitzer didn’t do the trafficking. It wasn’t his “prostitution ring”.
Sure wish they would spend as much time, money, and effort, going after folks that commit crimes that affect so many in so many ways. Really, is sex among consenting adults a high priority? Who cares, unless you are looking for ratings, I suppose. It’s a personal affair that is between their family and their god. Do I wish it didn’t occur. Yes. Now let him do his job, and lets judge him on that (assuming he wasn’t stupid enough to do something else). I do believe humans make mistakes (I prefer people that have that basic understanding in public office), and it’s what they do next, after they know better, that counts. She did make what, $5500. That ain’t Walmart wages. Does she have healthcare? Really, those that pollute (recognized now by the Vatican as a sin), commit social and environmental injustices do more harm. A bubble economy and those that perpetrated it have done more harm, or those that start a war on lies, and pay for it on the backs of our grandkids. Where did those billions that Paul Bremmer lost in Iraq go? How’s Wall Street doing these days, housing subprime loans, financial bailouts, politicizing courts and adminstrative functions, Halliburton, privatizing war, and all that stuff going down in the WH.
But having said that, I always wonder how men with kids, especially daughters, justify in their own minds, these types of actions. What is the message they give their daughters? Every father wants a cheating husband for their daughter, is that it? Is Spitzer saying, it’s okay if his daughters are prostitutes — or only other people’s daughters? Hope he doesn’t give us the finger like Clinton did. Of course, Bush gave us another type of finger, didn’t he. Ho hum. Hope they practiced safe sex.
The other night, Nightline did a show from a University, and the topic was porn.
A student had an interesting comment saying he thought employers in any industry are guilty of exploiting their workers. The guy defending antiporn, said women come to him saying their job is killing them, they have to get out. I don’t think that is isolated to one type of industry. We have all heard that from people in all types of jobs. That factory job is killing me, that coal mining job is killing me (literally), that sales job is killing me, that cashier job is killing me, etc.
Uh, I am pretty sure if you pay a prostitute to cross state lines (NY to DC), that is human trafficking.
I never said he was a pimp, I understand he was a client. Think people, think.
The man pushed human trafficking high up on his political agenda. Then paid to trafic a prostitute across state lines.
That is quite illegal.
People need to stop with the “people trafficking” thing, revealing a complete misunderstanding of these laws. These laws are designed, intended, and applied to situations where pimps buy and sell women – ususally underage or victimized -between each other and sell them like slaves to each other across state lines. Not a john paying first-class plane or train fare for a woman making $5,000 an hour to meet him out of state. It’s simply not what this law is for or should be.
Thanks for bringing this truth out.