N.Y. Governor Expected To Resign After Being Linked To Prostitution Sting

[JohnnyMack]

Oops.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23561606/

[Ike]

that was rather dumb of him...



On the other hand though, It's kind of sad to me the way people go crazy about who does what with their naughty bits behind closed doors.

[frankensooner]

So what is the going rate for a governor these days?

[GottaHavePride]

About tree fiddy.

[SicEmBaylor]

that was rather dumb of him...



On the other hand though, It's kind of sad to me the way people go crazy about who does what with their naughty bits behind closed doors.

I just started watching coverage, but it appears as if it's more than just using a prostitute's services. It sounds like he financed, in some way, an entire prostitution ring. That's a bit more grand.

[frankensooner]

About tree fiddy.

And for that what do I get? ;)

[sooner_born_1960]

Don't governors have interns? Why would he want to spend all that money?

[Ike]

I just started watching coverage, but it appears as if it's more than just using a prostitute's services. It sounds like he financed, in some way, an entire prostitution ring. That's a bit more grand.


Well, according to the article, which was all I had to go on, he was caught on a wiretap arranging to meet a gal at a washington hotel. The article also claims that some of the gals at the 'service' he was using charged up to 5,500/hour.

depending on how long he wanted to be with her, paying that much could be seen as financing the whole operation ;)

[sooner_born_1960]

I guess I'll just never understand the allure of prostitutes. What ever happend to just getting chicks drunk?

[Ike]

I guess I'll just never understand the allure of prostitutes. What ever happend to just getting chicks drunk?

Governors don't have that kind of time...

[TheHumanAlphabet]

that was rather dumb of him...


More like arrogant of him, given his previous "fightin' for the little guy" crusades.

Don't know about you $5K hookers is pricey...don't know many little guys affording that. Now if it was the "daytime hooker" that's another thing ;)

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Well, according to the article, which was all I had to go on, he was caught on a wiretap arranging to meet a gal at a washington hotel. The article also claims that some of the gals at the 'service' he was using charged up to 5,500/hour.

depending on how long he wanted to be with her, paying that much could be seen as financing the whole operation ;)

What's funny, he prolly did this when he was AG of NY.

[Mjcpr]

Stupid Ag's.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Okay,

Why do the wives of these people always seem to stand "by their man"? I can guarantee you that if I were in Spitzer's situation, Mrs. THA would be at the court house filing papers, not next to me while I talk about my dalliance and disrepect for her and the family. Just asking?

[Oldnslo]

I'm just wondering what one gets for his $5500/hr. I mean, do sparks fly out of your ***? Do you have to pull an entire pillow from betwixt yo' cheeks when she's done? Maybe it feels as if she's got a covey of quail down there.

I mean... $5500. For an hour.

"What I appreciate most is her professionalism. Plus also, she made my toenails curl up to the top of my ankles and I couldn't unclench my buttcheeks for 2 1/2 hours."

[Jerk]

I'm just wondering what one gets for his $5500/hr. I mean, do sparks fly out of your ***? Do you have to pull an entire pillow from betwixt yo' cheeks when she's done? Maybe it feels as if she's got a covey of quail down there.

I mean... $5500. For an hour.

"What I appreciate most is her professionalism. Plus also, she made my toenails curl up to the top of my ankles and I couldn't unclench my buttcheeks for 2 1/2 hours."

This is the best post I've read on SO this year.

[sooner n houston]

Did anyone see which political party he is with? Is he a dem, oh yea thats right if he was a Repub it would have been stated in the first sentence! No main stream meadia bias here, move along. :D

[StoopTroup]

I wonder if any NY Senators had callboys? :D

[olevetonahill]

No Punanay Is worth that Much .
Just sayin

[olevetonahill]

I wonder if any NY Senators had callboys? :D

Just that one who Had sicem as a Paige with His Ceegar :cool:

[royalfan5]

If I ever run for gov. of a state, it will be on a platform of doing nothing, banging hookers, and taking bribes. At that point I should be scandal proof.

[soonerscuba]

For those of you pointing out he is a Dem, I would counter that at least he was caught with a woman. Unlike certain closeted, self-hating Reps from FL or a wide standing Senator from ID.

That said, running a prostitution ring might be a CLM. I will have to check the manual.

[olevetonahill]

If I ever run for gov. of a state, it will be on a platform of doing nothing, banging hookers, and taking bribes. At that point I should be scandal proof.

Im running Next time !
A case of natty In every Fridge
Thats My platform :P :pop:

[olevetonahill]

For those of you pointing out he is a Dumass, I would counter that at least he was caught with a woman. Unlike certain closeted, self-hating folks from FL or a wide standing Senator from ID.

That said, running a prostitution ring might be a CLM. I will have to check the manual.

Had to Fix it fer Ya :P

[Curly Bill]

If I ever run for gov. of a state, it will be on a platform of doing nothing, banging hookers, and taking bribes. At that point I should be scandal proof.

You forgot driving drunk, boffing the baby-sitter, and being mean to dogs.

[olevetonahill]

You forgot driving drunk, boffing the baby-sitter, and being mean to dogs.

Im gonna Have to Whoop somes onesass Fer being Mean to a Dog !:mad:

[Vaevictis]

Okay,

Why do the wives of these people always seem to stand "by their man"? I can guarantee you that if I were in Spitzer's situation, Mrs. THA would be at the court house filing papers, not next to me while I talk about my dalliance and disrepect for her and the family. Just asking?

Ask yourself: What kind of woman would be willing to be married to the average politician?

I think that will clarify it for you.

[bluedogok]

If I ever run for gov. of a state, it will be on a platform of doing nothing, banging hookers, and taking bribes. At that point I should be scandal proof.
Kind of like when Jesse Ventura ran as governor. When asked about his past, he said read my book, it's all in there

[tulsaoilerfan]

No Punanay Is worth that Much .
Just sayin

i agree; if you can't just get them drunk and get some booty, then it's just not worth it:D

[NYC Poke]

Loose lips sink ships. From Talking Points Memo:


What Prompted Spitzer Investigation?
We've been trying to piece together the answer to that question this afternoon, and ABC News reports an interesting piece of the puzzle:

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. …

The suspicious financial activity was initially reported by a bank to the IRS which, under direction from the Justice Department, brought in the FBI's Public Corruption Squad.

"We had no interest at all in the prostitution ring until the thing with Spitzer led us to learn about it," said one Justice Department official.


The ABC report goes on to say that Spitzer will be charged with structuring, according to its source.

If I'm remembering my white collar crime law correctly, structuring is basically trying to avoid triggering the federal reporting requirement for any cash transaction that exceeds $10,000. So a series of $9,000 payments to the same person in a short period of time would raise suspicions, for example.

Typically, structuring is a charge prosecutors put together after the fact, by which I mean they reconstruct a financial transaction or series of financial transactions after they have already begun their investigation and are able then to piece together the elements of a structuring charge.

But banks and other financial institutions (including casinos, I believe) also monitor themselves for signs of money-laundering activity. So it's certainly possible that a bank could have tipped off the feds, though my sense is that it takes a pretty clear pattern of conduct involving substantial amounts of money before a bank's compliance staff takes notice. Readers with expertise in the area can correct me if I'm wrong.

--David Kurtz

and more:


Bribery Case Turned Vice Bust
The way the Eliot Spitzer story unfolded today initially made it sound as if the feds were going about their business busting a prostitution ring for money laundering when they stumbled across the New York governor, at which point they brought in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section.

A couple of things seemed off about that narrative.

First, the feds aren't usually in the business of busting prostitution -- a state crime -- unless there's organized crime ties or forced prostitution or some other more serious underlying federal offense. But even assuming they were involved in that kind of investigation, the time frame didn't seem plausible.

Spitzer's alleged call to the prostitution service came less than a month ago, Feb. 13. That would have meant the Public Integrity Section prosecutors were brought in, got up to speed on the case, and filed their complaint in less than a month. That's lightning fast, especially in a case where literally thousands of electronic communications were intercepted. Changing prosecutors midstream can delay a case by weeks or months.

In that sense, ABC's report that the investigation was triggered by suspicious money transfers by Spitzer and that it was handled by the Public Integrity Section from the outset is a lot more plausible than some scenario where Spitzer stumbled into a prostitution sting.

If ABC's account is accurate, the whole case is sort of anti-climactic. The feds start out thinking they have the New York governor on the hook for bribery -- and instead discover that he's just skulking around with high-priced call girls.

--David Kurtz

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

[olevetonahill]

i agree; if you can't just get them drunk and get some booty, then it's just not worth it:D

Yup
Booze em , Coose em, Lose em !:D

[Frozen Sooner]

Kurz is correct on the definition of structuring. And he's also correct that FI's have to report it if they find it.

Spitzer's a punk. Don't ever **** with AIG.

[frankensooner]

He should've gone with $20 crack hos. ;)

[TheHumanAlphabet]

He should've gone with $20 crack hos. ;)

At least then it would only be a state charge, not a Fed investigation...

I can't think of any good coming from using a ho. I have had so many "girlfriends or dates" requested of me in my travels...I always say no, then call Mrs. THA to "rate the "date""...;)

That way nothing can ever be misconstrued if I happened to talk of it innocently while inebriated or such.

[Pricetag]

Okay,

Why do the wives of these people always seem to stand "by their man"? I can guarantee you that if I were in Spitzer's situation, Mrs. THA would be at the court house filing papers, not next to me while I talk about my dalliance and disrepect for her and the family. Just asking?
Maybe she wants to run for governor some day.

[GrapevineSooner]

For those of you pointing out he is a Dem, I would counter that at least he was caught with a woman. Unlike certain closeted, self-hating Reps from FL or a wide standing Senator from ID.

That said, running a prostitution ring might be a CLM. I will have to check the manual.

I don't care that he took part in the ring. That's between Elliot and his family.

What bothers me is that he busted a few hooker rings as the New York State AG. He becomes Governor and the Feds accidentally stumble upon him financing a ring of his own.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Maybe she wants to run for governor some day.

Or prez???

I would love to be a fly in their bedroom to hear the conversations...

[Oldnslo]

I don't care that he took part in the ring. That's between Elliot and his family.

What bothers me is that he busted a few hooker rings as the New York State AG. He becomes Governor and the Feds accidentally stumble upon him financing a ring of his own.

nonononono. My understanding is that the only way he was "financing" the prostitution was as a customer.

Elliot was a John.

[Chuck Bao]

CNBC just reported that Spitzer expected to resign today, but it could be delayed if a plea deal is not successful.

Plea deal? Do you think he's so confused that he got that mixed up with his $5,000 an hour hooker's safe word?

[Boomer.....]

Press conference at 10:30 am CST.

[Pricetag]

Or prez???

I would love to be a fly in their bedroom to hear the conversations...
Yeah. As if I didn't dislike Hillary enough already, she'll never get my vote for letting Bill pwn her like that so many times over the years. It amuses me greatly that she is attempting to crack on Obama and his ability to be CIC when she has never had the guts to stand on her own politically.

[GrapevineSooner]

Or prez???

I would love to be a fly in their bedroom to hear the conversations...

If he wants to save his marriage, he may be financing a completely different ring. ;)

[fadada1]

dude just called it quits - effective st. patty's day. me thinks he might have himself a drink.

living here in NY, that's all we've heard about for the past 2 days. even the local officials are calling for his head. not sure what credibility they have as a town council member to ask for his resignation... nonetheless...

i hope that $5k/hr hooker was worth it. that better have been one hellovagood BJ.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Maybe she wants to run for governor some day.

Precient? Esp. since it is reported that she has been encouraging her lecherous hubby not to resign.

[picasso]

that was rather dumb of him...



On the other hand though, It's kind of sad to me the way people go crazy about who does what with their naughty bits behind closed doors.

I agree, breaking the law whilst being guvnah and a former prosecutor and offshore accounts and such is just little naughty behind closed door stuff and such.:texan:

[Frozen Sooner]

I'm with picasso.

Spitzer was a guy who made a living and a name out of busting corruption. Even if we overlook the fact that he was cheating on his wife, even if we overlook the fact that he was participating in prostitution, he was laundering money.

[fadada1]

...he was laundering money.

I don't know, I don't know. I don't even know what it means. It's
something I think, I think coke dealers do. -michael bolton


LAUNDERING. TO CLEAN...NO, UH, HERE IT IS. TO CHANNEL MONEY THROUGH A SOURCE OR BY AN INTERMEDIARY.

[Frozen Sooner]

Hey, it could lead to federal pound-me-in-the-*** prison.

[r5TPsooner]

$80,000 for poontang? I just hope his wife doesn't have an STD.

Honestly though, is there anyone more of a hypocrite than this guy? If his wife pulls a Hilary Clinton and stays with him, someone needs to get her professional help and a clue.

[texas bandman]

Remind me that if I ever run for office not to go to prostitutes. Of course, Texas Bandlady wouldn't be standing by me after the fact. She would cut my manhood off and wear it as a necklace. :D

[shaun4411]

when youre a billionaire, money isnt really a big deal to you.

if this had been a republican , it'd have been a much bigger deal. like the democrat who told an undercover about wanting to molest his children. it wasnt the media sensation tthat was when the lil bi-curious gop congressman experimented in a minnesota airport bathroom.

[tulsaoilerfan]

Hey, it could lead to federal pound-me-in-the-*** prison.

and you just know there are some guys dying to see him again:D

[Curly Bill]

and you just know there are some guys dying to see him again:D

Wouldn't that suck (no pun intended) to have sent a buch of bad-*** dudes to prison, then get sent there yourself. :eek:

[Frozen Sooner]

and you just know there are some guys dying to see him again:D

Spitzer really made his name fighting white-collar crime. Sued the bejesus out of AIG on behalf of the people of New York. Somehow I don't think a gang of actuaries is waiting for him.

[Curly Bill]

Spitzer really made his name fighting white-collar crime. Sued the bejesus out of AIG on behalf of the people of New York. Somehow I don't think a gang of actuaries is waiting for him.

You never know, prison could have turned them into hardened men. :P

[olevetonahill]

Wouldn't that suck (no pun intended) to have sent a buch of bad-*** dudes to prison, then get sent there yourself. :eek:

Ex cops and Child Molesters
Just Have to SUCC it up, coming and Going In Prison . :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Frozen Sooner]

You never know, prison could have turned them into hardened men. :P

Heh. You ever see a gang of underwriters who haven't met their sales goal for the month on the 29th? Dangerous men. Standover men.

[NYC Poke]

I'm just wondering what one gets for his $5500/hr. I mean, do sparks fly out of your ***? Do you have to pull an entire pillow from betwixt yo' cheeks when she's done? Maybe it feels as if she's got a covey of quail down there.

I mean... $5500. For an hour.

"What I appreciate most is her professionalism. Plus also, she made my toenails curl up to the top of my ankles and I couldn't unclench my buttcheeks for 2 1/2 hours."


An economist's take:


What $5,500 an Hour Buys

By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, March 12, 2008; Page A19

Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace (and very soon, it seems, from power) raises a host of serious concerns, not least our ongoing and often ludicrous conflation of the personal and the political in matters of morals. But flawed mortal that I am, I confess I keep coming back to one detail as this gloomy tale unfolds: $5,500.

That's what Spitzer and his fellow numbered clients were shelling out per hour if they booked the Emperors Club VIP's top-of-the-line providers.

I've given serious thought to this over the past day, and I'm not sure that I've even had a sexual fantasy that, if actualized, would be worth $5,500 an hour. Of course, fantasies can involve particular, unattainable persons, and an economist might say that if the client has an obsession that only a certain provider could satisfy, that could drive the price way up.

But that doesn't seem to have been the case for Client 9. Of all the details in the transcript of the back-and-forth between Spitzer and the Emperors Club's traffic manager, the one I find most mind-boggling is when Spitzer, just before he hooks up with his hooker, asks to be reminded of what the lady looks like.

He's paying $4,300 for this experience and he needs a refresher on her looks? Four grand and change and he can't remember whether he booked tall or short, blond or brunette? We're not talking obsession here. We're talking positional goods.

Positional goods are those commodities that are more valuable than their run-of-the-mill counterparts because a special status attaches to them, since only a select few can have them. Since the Web sites on which prostitutes advertise indicate that the average hourly rate is around $300, the Emperors Club maximum rate, which is roughly 18 times higher, could be justified by the particular appeals and skills of its hookers. I haven't conducted empirical research on this one, but let me just say: I doubt it.

I suspect that what makes a prostitute worth $5,500 an hour is that she costs $5,500 an hour. The value here doesn't dictate the price. The price, rather, dictates the value. These women are available only to the wealthy; the ability to hire them, like the ability to live on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park, means that you've made it. And even if your hour turns out to be a bit disappointing, that's okay, because $5,500 doesn't really mean anything to you -- which just means you've really made it.

And there, I suppose, is the thrill. The power of being able to command the world's priciest hooker, like the power of owning the world's priciest real estate, could be a turn-on in itself. The power of dropping thousands and not even remembering what type of woman you've booked: Boy, are you ever something! Whether or not you're getting one terrific woman, the transaction alone confirms that you're one terrific dude.

In fairness, Spitzer clearly thought he was also buying one other valuable commodity: secrecy. At those rates, everyone could be trusted to keep quiet. Spitzer, however, clearly forgot what he'd learned in Prosecutions 101, which is that nothing intrigues a prosecutor more than unexplained silence. Federal investigators told the New York Times that they were looking into the governor's cash withdrawals on the suspicion that he might be paying off a blackmailer. (Of course, after the railroading that the Bush-Rove Justice Department gave to Don Siegelman, the Democratic former governor of Alabama, currently incarcerated for what look to be no more than misdemeanors, no such investigation is itself above suspicion.) Without Spitzer's "cover-up" -- which in this instance simply meant paying in cash -- the crime, such as it was, would have gone undetected.

Clients 1 through 8 were surely in need of some secrecy, too, if not quite so patently as New York's governor. Men don't usually print their patronage of prostitutes on their business cards. But $5,500 buys a lot more than secrecy, and a lot more than sex. It buys a confirmation of status and power. It has all the positional upside of conspicuous consumption, though it remains -- or is supposed to remain -- inconspicuous.

There are real tragedies in this case, of course. And, politically, I suppose, the whole affair is one more argument against continuing tax cuts to the rich, even if Spitzer did invest his money here rather than in China.

But I keep coming back to price, even though I know it purchased a positional good. $5,500, huh? I need to work on my fantasies.

[email protected]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/11/AR2008031102463.html


"Positional goods." Heh.

[Whet]

Did anyone see which political party he is with? Is he a dem, oh yea thats right if he was a Repub it would have been stated in the first sentence! No main stream meadia bias here, move along. :D

This fits with your post:


The Man Without A Party
by Seton Motley

Posted: 03/12/2008
Ronald Reagan often said “I did not leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.”

For floundering and foundering New York Governor Eliot Spitzer -- a twist on the Gipper’s words. Spitzer didn’t leave the Democratic Party: the Media just didn’t see the need to mention the fact that Spitzer was -- at least until noon Wednesday -- one of the most powerful Democrats in the nation.
On Monday afternoon, the Big Three Networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) and the Associated Press led the charge of the wall-to-wall coverage of the breaking news that Spitzer was involved with an interstate prostitution ring. And with near unanimity they failed to mention that Spitzer is a Democrat.
Spitzer -- who since his years as the Big Apple’s swashbuckling anti-capitalist Attorney General the Press has glowingly called the Champion of the Everyman -- was caught on one or more wiretaps dialing for damsels to the tune of $5,500 an hour.

Only the press can fail to see the irony of calling someone who inherited $500 million -- and who hires ladies of the evening at hourly rates equal to a semester’s tuition at a state university -- a champion of the everyman.
Ronald Reagan also said, “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.” Spitzer has finally, formally joined the two in the latest installment of the late New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s on-going game show “Defining Deviancy Down.”
The media, as expected, inundated us with Spitzer stories. They went on and on at great length analyzing the merest minutiae and every detail related to the Spitzer saga – save one. Nearly all their reports were bereft of any mention that he is a (shhh!) Democrat.
NBC has been the worst offender. They have not -- as of early Wednesday morning -- yet labeled Spitzer as a Democrat in any manner.
They led off their Monday Nightly News cast with “Fall From Grace”, a four minute story on Spitzer that made no mention -- in either word or graphic -- of the fact that he is a Democrat. Tuesday morning on their Today show they ran eleven Spitzer stories -- in none of them did they label him a Democrat in any way. Tuesday’s evening news again made no mention of Spitzer’s Party affiliation, but somehow managed to verbally and graphically identify Republicans in their story on Spitzer.
That is thirteen NBC stories on Spitzer over nearly two full days, with no reference whatsoever to him as a Democrat.
ABC fared just barely better. Through Tuesday night, no one on either World News Tonight or Good Morning America said the word “Democrat” in reference to Spitzer. Two times for a total of six seconds -- once on Monday night and once on Tuesday morning -- a “D” was placed by his name in an on-screen graphic.
Like NBC, they too identified Republicans in their Spitzer stories as Republicans, and managed the added coup of assailing the Rs as partisan for wanting the apparently unaffiliated Spitzer to resign.
Congratulations ABC, for being six seconds more credible than NBC.
This is devolving into the network news equivalent of the Gong Show, where one utterly miserable contestant takes some sort of perverse pride in being gonged six seconds later than another utterly miserable contestant.
Hurrahs to CBS’s Katie Couric, who on her Evening News actually called Spitzer a Democrat once. But the glory soon faded, as no one on Tuesday morning’s Early Show did, relying on two spots totaling fourteen seconds worth of graphically delivered “D”s, and diminished further still with Tuesday night’s news also failing to deliver the label.
Gong!
Our old friend, the Associated Press (http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-motley/2008/01/17/dis-associated-press), broke the story with 590 words Monday afternoon, without any Spitzer Party mention. They then came back with a “BREAKING NEWS UPDATE” -- perhaps it had come to their attention that he is in fact a Democrat? Alas, no. Eighty-six additional words, nary a “Democrat” amongst them.
Another, related question also remains unanswered -- of what Party affiliation is Customer #9 (Spitzer’s Emperor Club call-sign)’s favorite girl, Kristen? The Media may very well deliver this before they do Spitzer’s party.
And this is by no means the first time that a Democrat in hot water is transformed by the Media as if by magic into Unaffiliated Man.
Recall Gary Condit, the California DEMOCRATIC Congressman who in 2001 ran into trouble when his Capitol Hill intern and secret paramour Chandra Levy turned up missing and later dead? The Big Three Networks ran a total of 179 stories over the course of the saga -- only 14 contained a reference to him as a Democrat, less than 8%.
And current DEMOCRATIC Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick -- embroiled in a sex scandal involving his chief-of-staff -- has been repeatedly delivered to the public as Unaffiliated Man by Media outlets great and small since the story broke in January.
Just more episodes in the never-ending Gong Show -- Media series. (The real) Gong Show host Chuck Barris, somewhere, is smiling.

[StoopTroup]

I'm pretty sure that almost every shot of the Gov where they had his name posted had that he was a "Dem".

Fox News was still lathered up like a dog with rabies today.

[Whet]

Fox was the only one!

[Curly Bill]

I'm pretty sure that almost every shot of the Gov where they had his name posted had that he was a "Dem".

Fox News was still lathered up like a dog with rabies today.

I love me some Fox News!

Hell, someone has to balance out CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC...

[TheHumanAlphabet]

I'm pretty sure that almost every shot of the Gov where they had his name posted had that he was a "Dem".

Fox News was still lathered up like a dog with rabies today.

Nope, "DEM" and "D" sadly missing in almost every TV shot...

Now the ho is being outed as growing up wealthy, step father an oral surgeon and the house next door offered for sale at $1.5 Million. People in the area saying to reporters, "this is not a gang area do you think?" with boxwood hedges and white pickets fences...