From “Mr. Clean” to “Client 9,” a bombshell federal affidavit may send New York’s top politician packing. Governor Eliot Spitzer, who was elected in 2006 on a pledge to continue his tough stance on crime, was himself linked in the document to a high-priced prostitution ring.
The affidavit unsealed recently includes information about a wiretapping of Client 9, who arranged for a hooker on Wednesday, February 13, haggled on the price and asked what his would-be tryst looked like. Law enforcement sources have said that the john is in actuality the governor.
As early as Monday, March 10, Republican state legislators began calling for Spitzer to step down within 24 to 48 hours or face impeachment proceedings for his prostitution patronization.
Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco said in a news conference that evening, “An apology is fine but he must relinquish his position.”
Queens Assemblymember Ellen Young, a Democrat who began her first term in the legislature at the same time as Spitzer took over as governor, said she could not sleep the night the Spitzer news broke, and she believed it might be best for him to step aside.
“I think it might be better for the people of New York and for his family,” Young said. “I think the sooner [that he resigns] would be better.”
As of Tuesday, March 11, Spitzer had made no public announcements about whether he would retain the role. The governor holed up in his Manhattan apartment since the scandal broke, except for a minute-long press conference a day earlier when he apologized to his family and to the public.
Then Spitzer, with his stricken-faced wife Silda Wall by his side, told more than 100 reporters in his conference room, “I do not believe that politics in the long run is about an individual. It is about ideas, the public good and doing what is best for the state of New York.”
Describing the situation as a private matter, the father of three did not deny allegations circulating in the media - that he used the services of call-girl service Emperors Club V.I.P. and paid for a tryst with a prostitute named “Kristen” at a Washington, D.C. hotel.
However, Spitzer has hired an attorney from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, his spokesperson confirmed in published reports.
The scandal, which developed 14 months into Spitzer’s first term, came to light when four people were arrested and charged with running the call-girl service. Federal officials believe that the ring netted more than $1 million by pimping out a bevy of more than 50 prostitutes in six cities.
For his part, Spitzer could be charged with “structuring,” a term for moving money in order to conceal the purpose or source as well as violating the Mann Act, which makes it a felony to transport women across state lines for prostitution. However, as of Tuesday, March 11, no charges against the governor had been filed.
The former attorney general was touted as crime fighting “Steamroller,” after he took down a number of Wall Street executives on fraud charges, and won a wide-margin victory over Republican John Faso.
During his gubernatorial run, a Spitzer ad proclaimed, “I had a simple rule. I never asked if a case was popular or unpopular. I never asked if it was big or small, hard or easy. I simply asked if it was right or wrong.”
Should Spitzer step down, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson by law would fill his shoes.
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