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Governor under pressure to quit
11/03/2008 09:09 - (SA)
New York - New York Governor Eliot Spitzer faces pressure to resign on Tuesday as well as questions about whether he will be prosecuted for any crime after a report linked him to a high-class prostitution ring.
A New York Times report said the man who made his name
fighting corruption hired a $1 000-an-hour prostitute and was
caught on a federal wiretap at least six times on February 12 and
13 arranging to meet with her at a Washington hotel.
Spitzer, a married 48-year-old Democrat who investigated
prostitution as New York's attorney general, apologised for
what he described as a "private matter" but said nothing about
resigning. He neither confirmed nor denied the report.
State Republicans called for him to step down.
New York State Assembly Republican Minority Leader James
Tedisco said on Monday night he had received a phone call from
Lieutenant Governor David A Paterson to discuss a possible
transition of power if Spitzer resigns.
Betrayed family and public
The New York Times said in an editorial Spitzer's
insistence it was a "private matter" displayed arrogance.
"He did not just betray his family in a private matter. He
betrayed the public, and it is hard to see how he will recover
from this mess and go on to lead the reformist agenda on which
he was elected to office," the paper said.
News of the scandal rocked Wall Street, where power brokers
resented Spitzer's high-profile inquiries into financial cases
when he was New York state's chief prosecutor.
Spitzer was elected governor with nearly 70% of the
vote in late 2006 following a stint as state attorney general
noted for high-profile investigations into Wall Street.
Will he quit, be charged?
The state capital, Albany, was rife with speculation about
if, or more likely when, Spitzer would resign and whether he
would be charged with any crime. Prosecutors rarely bring
charges against clients of prostitutes in such cases.
In an online poll on The Daily News web site, 83% of
respondents said Spitzer should resign.
At the heart of the scandal is a criminal complaint
unveiled last week charging four people with running a
multi-million dollar prostitution ring dubbed "The Emperors
Club".
The New York Times said Spitzer was an individual
identified as Client 9 in the court papers filed last week.
Client 9 arranged to meet with "Kristen", a prostitute who
charged $1 000 an hour, on February 13 in a Washington hotel and
paid $4 300 for services rendered and as a down payment for
future engagements, according to the court documents.
Among the charges brought against the four defendants last
week was transporting women across state lines for prostitution
purposes. It was not clear if a similar charge might be brought
against Spitzer if it were proven he arranged for "Kristen" to
travel from New York to Washington to have sex with him.
ABC News reported on its website that the probe of the
prostitution ring was triggered when a bank told the Internal
Revenue Service about suspicious money transfers by Spitzer.
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