"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."The NYT says that Spitzer is being implicated in a prostitution inquiry, and was known as "Client 9" of a prostitution ring called "Emperors Club VIP.""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.
As he went to leave, three reporters called out, "Are you resigning? Are you resigning?", and Mr. Spitzer charged out of the room, slamming the door.
A wiretap captured a man later identified as Spitzer "on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan". Spitzer then allegedly used the alias "George Fox" to meet the prostitute at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C, according to law enforcement officials. Unlike other famous alias, (Ron Mexico, for example) George Fox is a real person whom Spitzer may have "ID thefted" for the purpose of frequenting prostitutes.
Mr. Fox is a friend and donor to Mr. Spitzer. Asked in a telephone interview Monday whether he accompanied Mr. Spitzer to Washington on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, Mr. Fox responded: "Why would you think that? I did not."It's the Consumerist's position that whores are not an appropriate hobby for former attorneys general (or governors.)Told that the Room 871 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel was registered in Mr. Fox's name but with Mr. Spitzer's Fifth Avenue address, Mr. Fox said, "That is the first I have heard of it. Until I speak to the governor further, I have no comment."
Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring [NYT]
(Photo:Patrick Andrade for The New York Times)
ps. no wonder men keep cheating... their ladies keep letting them get away with it.
]]>Why oh why do the women always stay by their cheating husbands side when they address the public? To prove he is a good man and she is a good wife? Fuck that. It shouldn't be expected of the wife to stand there in shame.
]]>See, bribery and corruption(oh! and torture) is a white-collar, republican-voting, SUV-driving kind of crime. Prostitution is a low-class crime. That's why it's so bad.
]]>@rjhiggins: I saw her on the Today Show. She had the good sense to dump him eventually, though. I would probably take my kids and head for the summer home, or my parents house or something.
]]>Interesting angle I hadn't thought about before, and perhaps Spitzer's wife (an accomplished woman in her own right and certainly no doormat) was doing the same for their daughters. Must take enormous strength.
]]>Yes - just as soon as Bubba loses his license to practice law for his crimes. Ooops - I forgot. He was disbarred.
Well then, just as soon as Bubba pays the price that any other citizen would pay for perjury and obstruction of justice.
The crime was not Bubba's "playing around" - his perjury and witness-tampering actions are what should put that guy away.
I take no total comfort in the fact that he has gone down in history as an impeached President. His cronies in the Senate stifled that true punishment that he deserves.
]]>Shame, I left my extra 4 grand at home.
]]>Don't get me wrong, I'd go stand at the podium. But my husband would really regret letting me do it! Hell, I think a nice fat check would be in order, to keep me from talking.
]]>His mistake was having the hooker cross state lines.
Buy locally. Support local businesses.
]]>It shows an awful error in judgment on Sptizer's part. If he makes this type of error in his personal life, what confidence can you have that he won't do the same when making policy decisions.
]]>He is the sole one to blame here. He made the conscious choice to break the law.
]]>It's obviously his wife's fault. Women need to understand that for most men, sex is as necessary as breathing, eating, and drinking. And not just the four pump and dump. She probably hasn't blown him in 15 years and a man can only take it for so long. Same problem with the Clintons. So ladies keep my advice in mind if you want to keep your man from straying.
]]>This is why I don't fly.
]]>...Well, at least it would be no big deal if it didn't make him a bloody hypocrite.
]]>Unfortunately, because he did engage in such prostitution prosecution, this makes him a hypocrite.
]]>Well it could be worse for his wife, at least it wasnt with a guy LOL
]]>Stick it to the corporations, and go down.
]]>And Meg, IMO, I have no problem of the whore-ness of it all. Call a spade a spade.
]]>Those people concerned with whether or not prostitution should be legal should take note: the Mann Act provisions he violated are abotu human trafficking, and yeah I think that's a problem even if I do agree you ought to be able to rent out your vagina. Well, hell, mortgage is more like it, since he was paying like $5500 an hour.
]]>I feel much better about high-class prostitution now the Spitz has, er, inspected the business. My confidence as a consumer has only increased.
Now, how exactly is this hypocritical?
]]>How exactly is what he did corrupt now? Did he spend public funds? Did he do it while on the job? Unless I'm mistaken, he paid for whores with his own money and fucked them on his own time - seems simple enough to me.
]]>jeebus that's so hilarious@Sonnymooks:
]]>Would be savings billions.
]]>Clinton broke many, more laws (perjery [sic], obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, etc.)
This is just your opinion, right? Three different special prosecutors spent seven years and $60MM investigating Bill Clinton and none of them were able to establish that he committed any crime of any sort.
]]>All in all, I don't really care what he does in his off-time, even if it is illegal. I don't care if it's immoral or dirty. Prosecutors will deal with that. As long as it doesn't interfere with his job of being a hypocrite apparently, go for it.
]]>For what it's worth, this doesn't sully his image as a consumerist crusader - it's not like he got caught with a suitcase full of cash from Sony BMG. This just made him weaker after already going through the Bruno scandal.
]]>True, he broke the law. How many prosecution patrons go to prison? Do you think he should? I don't. He damaged his marriage, his children and destroyed a promising political career. He punished himself.
]]>@spinachdip:
I know he prosecuted some prostitution cases, so no doubt there is hypocrisy on his part. But he is best known for being very aggressive on consumer issues.
I think Spiter should step down - just like I thought Bubba should have, too.
What is more detestable? (1) Spitzer paying for it but at least doing it in a hotel room? or (2) Bubba doing it on a desk in the White House.
Spitzer broke the law re: prostitution - Clinton broke many, more laws (perjery, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, etc.)
IMO both should step down.
]]>Damn, I bet he's catchin hell at home!
As a true Consumerist,I was always too cheap to hire a whore..besides,there were too many giving it away for that!
]]>Though his signature issue was pursuing Wall Street misdeeds, as attorney general Mr. Spitzer 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."
@Sonnymooks:
"Damn, If I find ass thats worth 5 G's a night, I'm marrying it."
That makes a lot of sense from a consumer finance perspective. You are very wise.
]]>@rjhiggins:
I think the bigger crime in both cases was the damage done to their marriages, and to the public trust. And Spitzer really wasn't focused on prosecuting prostitution. He was very much a crusader for the consumer, going after insurance companies, wall street, etc. I took umbrage with the implication that if he were a Republican he would get away with it. And some other fool made a crack about Democrats afterwards.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Hypocrisy is the Governor's greatest sin and that's far worse in the electorate's eye than going to a hooker, lying about an infidelity or just plain being an idiot, like ClayS.
]]>Damn, If I find ass thats worth 5 G's a night, I'm marrying it.
That said, from what I read, it looks like he also didn't like using condoms.
]]>All Clinton did was tell a lie -- about his private sex life. If we force everyone who lies about their sex lives to resign...
]]>@deserthiker:
"I doubt anyone goes to jail on this but the Governor is done. If he were a Republican he could just go on but since he's not he'll have to quit."
You're an idiot. Like Clinton had to quit?
No one should go to jail for this, and I hope he doesn't. We have way too many people in prison as is. Yes, he probably should resign, because he demonstrated such poor judgement.
]]>As much as I hate to see this whole thing go down, I think Spitzer held himself to a higher standard, and any time the guy who vows to clean up the house dirties it up, he's going down no matter how seemingly small the crime is. Plenty of politicians would have skated right through this one (i.e. the Congressman from Louisiana who did the same damn thing). Sorry, as a fairly staunch Democrat who was disappointed Spitzer wasn't running for president a year ago, I think I gotta call a duck a duck here and say I'm really disappointed. Plus, sorry again, but after Clinton, any high profile Democratic politician who doesn't know enough to keep their damn pants on, I'm not sure what I can do to help you.
And this does belong on Consumerist, he was one of the most successful advocates for the causes many of us probably support. Don't get me wrong, 'Emperors Club' is going to be a great punchline for years to come, but that's why this really does kind of suck.
]]>@VA_white: seems to me if she would have laid down more she would not have to stand up there
]]>I doubt anyone goes to jail on this but the Governor is done. If he were a Republican he could just go on but since he's not he'll have to quit.
Unless, he could find a way to connect the banking crisis and some vast right wing conspiracy and......Never mind. No one would believe it.
]]>Another interesting observation: The DC Madam investigation went on for three years and Vitter's name never leaked out of the Department of Justice. He didn't fess up until Larry Flynt threatened to out him in Hustler magazine. Now, with the Emperors Club VIP, Spitzer's name leaks within a week of the initial arrest. I'm sure some 'loyal Bushies' are dancing with glee in the DoJ right now.
]]>I honestly am starting to think the best arrangement for marriage aside from a straight woman and a moral straight man, is a straight woman and two monogamous gay guys. The guys can have all the sex the woman doesn't want to have, plus they can still lift things around the house when necessary.
]]>He hired a prostitute, the issue is with his wife, not the public.
He broke various laws, well that is an issue but only as much as another crime of that level is. Honestly I think it is stupid that prostitution is illegal. I would rather see it highly regulated as both public health and workers rights issues.
Really the only issues I see is he broke a law, how big of a deal that is depends on NY laws. Hiring prostitutes when he was fighting that very business previously, he has egg on his face.
]]>He came after my industry (Wall Street finance) with a pitchfork, and I could tolerate it as long as he, too, is living by the rules. To me, this is intolerable and I hope he resigns.
]]>@erica.blog:
I'm guessing he will resign as part of a deal with the prosecutor.
Spitzer will now explain the difference between the love of a pimp and the love of a square man.
]]>I'd be really pissed if I was George Fox right now. Or Mrs. Spitzer. Or a resident of New York. As it is, I'm only thoroughly disgusted.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out (i.e. will he resign).
]]>This is between Spitzer and his wife, who unfortunately looks like she's been crying for awhile. Poor lady.
]]>This makes me laugh every single time I see it.
]]>How would that be worse? He'd still be breaking he same laws and cheating on his wife.
]]>So he screwed a whore. Ain't the first male to do that. As long as it isn't another male I really don't have an issue.
]]>It's bad enough that as an elected official he engaged in illegal activity (regardless of where you think it shoudl or should not be illegal, the fact it is that it's currently a crime). But it takes serious balls to seek out these offenders and then engage in the same illegal activities you are trying to root out.
]]>the only issue is the he personally prosecuted prostitute rings and put people in jail. just doing his job, I guess.
and yea... I'm sure those girls who were making more in one evening than most Americans make in a month were feeling REAL exploited.
]]>That said, they're expected to live up to a higher standard because they govern us. Look at Congress: If prostitution, pedophilia, rampant drug abuse, and homosexuality are good enough for them, why do they continue to pass laws making them more illegal?
Now, I'm not all for the pedophiles and drug addicts, but the question is perfectly valid.
]]>@bravo369:
More importantly, why is prostitution illegal in the first place?
Nevada seems to have no issue with it. Funny how Vegas and Reno don't show up much worse than other major cities on the crime scales.
----
Others to come (and Meg):
This is bad because he committed a crime, not because he was frequenting prostitutes.
Before you pull the "exploitation" card, keep in mind that the girls are only "exploited" when prostitution is illegal. It is amazing what legalization does for their willingness to go to the police when they really are exploited or abused.
]]>He should've just used Craigslist.
]]>@memphis9: What they forgot to mention is that the prostitute wouldn't let him out of the hotel room until he showed his receipt.
]]>Mecca lecca hi mecca heiney ho
]]>why is it so hard for politicians to keep their noses clean? this is what's annoying me about politics for the last decade. It's never about who you like more but who's less of a criminal or who you dislike least.
]]>I can't help notice that he leaves out of the list of things he violated the laws of the State of New York [and possibly D.C.] Considering his duty to uphold them, especially when he was AG, I think they're worth mentioning.
]]>Hmmmm his wife has a beautiful pearl necklace on in the photo.
]]>"chargeback" lmao... that cracks me up...
]]>You say "Likes Whores" as if it's a bad thing.
]]>Interesting. I'm not sure how this relates to comsumer affairs, unless we are taking the "shoppers bite back" in an entirely new light.
I feel bad for the Spritzer family. He was an amazing fighter for consumers and shareholders. If he departs from public life it will be a loss. I think he may have damaged his credibility too much to stay Governor of a major state though.
]]>(Disclaimer: I read specialized news blogs in part because there's less slogging through filler. I don't give a crap what Brittney is up to this week.)
]]>