The obligatory Eliot Spitzer post; Multiple updates below
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BUSTED: Client 9ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM |
The tapping of a high-rent sugar tree — Spitzer was a client, not a provider — should occasion no disturbance. Ask ten men, “If you knew you could get away with it, would you?” Nine of the ten will say yes. (The one who says no should not be allowed to handle cash.)ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
But of course Spitzer could not get away it. He has a wife and three teenage daughters. He’s the governor of our third largest state. And he made a name for himself righteously prosecuting others, including the promoters of prostitution. The odds of Spitzer keeping his secret were never good.ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
‘Twas the money trail that led the feds to him:ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
The federal investigation of a New York prostitution ring was triggered by Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s suspicious money transfers, initially leading agents to believe Spitzer was hiding bribes, according to federal officials.
It was only months later that the IRS and the FBI determined that Spitzer wasn’t hiding bribes but payments to a company called QAT, what prosecutors say is a prostitution operation operating under the name of the Emperors Club.
So what else is to be said, except that Spitzer must go?ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
“He has to step down. No one will stand with him,” said Rep. Peter King, a Republican congressman from Long Island. “I never try to take advantage or gloat over a personal tragedy. However, this is different. This is a guy who is so self-righteous, and so unforgiving.”
Democratic Assemblyman John McEneny said: “I don’t think anyone remembers anything like this. The fact that the governor has a reputation as a reformer and there is a certain assumption as attorney general that you’re Caesar’s wife. It’s a different element than if you were an accountant.”
Update: Although it stops short of calling for Spitzer’s resignation, the New York Times lays bare his hypocrisy:ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
As state attorney general, he prosecuted prostitution rings with enthusiasm — pointing out that they are often involved in human trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering. In 2004 on Staten Island, Mr. Spitzer was vehement in his outrage over 16 people arrested in a high-end prostitution ring.
How many lives did Eliot Spitzer destroy with his self-righteous moralizing? As Professor Bainbridge notes, “One can only hope Spitzer encounters a prosecutor who brings to the task the same zeal as Spitzer brought to his own crusades.”ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
Update: According to the New York Post, Spitzer has been visiting hookers for six years, maybe longer.ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
Update: For the sake of his family and his party, Spitzer should resign, promptly. The longer he hangs on, the longer the media muck about: “‘I’m sure he wanted anal sex without condoms’ Fleiss says, speculating but strangely confident.”ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
How long until Greta Van Susteren interviews one of the hookers, and tries to determine the angle of the legs?ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
Update: Reportedly, he will indeed quit, perhaps as early as tomorrow. His lawyers are haggling for a deal:ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
Gov. Eliot Spitzer is set to resign Wednesday, sources tell CBS 2 HD political reporter Marcia Kramer, but insiders say he’s going to use the resignation as a bargaining chip to cut a deal with federal prosecutors and he won’t step down until that happens.
Update: “Never talk when you can nod, and never nod when you can wink, and never write an e-mail because it’s death,” the then-New York attorney general said. “You’re giving prosecutors all the evidence we need.”ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
That from a man who “transferred $10,000 by breaking it into smaller amounts” and “then called the bank asking that his name be removed from the transactions.” Troubled by both the transactions and the request, the bank filed a Suspicious Activity Report with the Internal Revenue Service.ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM
As a former prosecutor well-versed in crimes of finance, Spitzer had to have known that the bank was likely to report him. Questions presented: Did he want to get to caught? Did he need to get caught? Take it away, Greta …ACTIVATION FINEREADER -BONKM