In case you haven't heard...
Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York, is in hot water. According to the New York Times, the feds have identified him as "Client 9" in their investigation of an international prostitution ring. It seems Spitzer hired a New York call girl to drive down to Washington and, uh, "escort" him. To a hotel room. Here's an interesting wrinkle from the Times article:
So apparently we're not dealing with good, old-fashioned, David Vitter-style whoremongering here. No, this is a federal case. With wiretaps. Spitzer hasn't resigned yet, but I have to assume he will sometime soon -- being mentioned alongside "human trafficking" just isn't a good look, even in New York.
By the way, there's a good profile of Lieutenant Governor David Paterson here (via Ben Smith). Like Spitzer, Paterson is a Clinton supporter, and now I'm wondering how this will affect the superdelagate race. Any thoughts, fellow bloggers?
Federal prosecutors rarely charge clients in prostitution cases, which are
generally seen as state crimes. But the Mann Act, passed by Congress in 1910 to
address prostitution, human trafficking and what was viewed at the time as
immorality in general, makes it a crime to transport someone between states for
the purpose of prostitution.
So apparently we're not dealing with good, old-fashioned, David Vitter-style whoremongering here. No, this is a federal case. With wiretaps. Spitzer hasn't resigned yet, but I have to assume he will sometime soon -- being mentioned alongside "human trafficking" just isn't a good look, even in New York.
By the way, there's a good profile of Lieutenant Governor David Paterson here (via Ben Smith). Like Spitzer, Paterson is a Clinton supporter, and now I'm wondering how this will affect the superdelagate race. Any thoughts, fellow bloggers?
Labels: David Paterson, Eliot Spitzer, New York, superdelegates
3 Comments:
If he were resigning, wouldn't he have announced it at the press conference?
Good point. On the other hand, the New York Post -- admittedly, not a paragon of journalistic integrity -- briefly posted a blind item on its website saying he would resign. It's gone now, but I'll try to find a cached version. And it's worth noting that the outfit investigating Emperors Club VIP is tasked with public corruption cases, not vice. That can't be a good sign for Spitzer.
Looks like you're right. Still, kind of crap that Larry Craig AND David Vitter get off while Spitzer gets railroaded out.
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