Legal News

Report: Spitzer Allegedly Says He Was Involved With Prostitution Ring

By Dan Slater

Second Update: This just in: According to the NYT, Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month. Click here for the NYT story. An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said the wiretap captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room. A person briefed on the case identified to the NYT Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

Update: Just a bit ago, Governor Spitzer gave the following statement:

Today, I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family and that violates my — or any — sense of right and wrong. I apologize first, and most importantly, to my family. I apologize to the public, whom I promised better. I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals. It is about ideas, the public good and doing what is best for the State of New York. But I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard that I expect of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family. I will not be taking questions. Thank you very much. I will report back to you in short order. Thank you very much.

This just in: The NYT is reporting that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in a prostitution ring.

Last week, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed conspiracy charges against four people accusing them of running a prostitution ring, reportedly called the Emperor’s Club, charged wealthy clients in Europe and the U.S. thousands of dollars for prostitutes. Here’s that report, from the Associated Press, and an earlier story on the operation from the New York Sun. It’s currently unclear if the Emperor’s Club story is related to the situation with Spitzer.

The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP (located here, courtesy of the Smoking Gun) displays photographs of the prostitutes’ bodies, with their faces hidden, along with hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.

Mr. Spitzer has built his political legacy on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor’s office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation’s worst governments.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 10, 2008 (boomark / email).