Spitzer’s career on the brink, resignation now expected

March 11, 2008

Fox News reported yesterday afternoon that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) would resign last night. Like most of the network’s scoops, that turned out to be false.

That said, the sex scandal that shocked the political world is likely to end Spitzer’s career.

Top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Tuesday morning that they expect the governor to resign his office, although the timing of the resignation remains uncertain.

Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson and his staff have begun laying the groundwork for him to take over as governor and are reaching out to members of the Legislature, the aides said.

The developments came a day after law enforcement officials said the governor was a client of a high-priced prostitution ring broken up last week by federal authorities.

It sounds more like a matter of “when,” not “if.”

At the same time, Republicans in the State Assembly are ratcheting up the rhetoric, suggesting that if Spitzer isn’t willing to step aside, they’ll force him out through impeachment.

Reuters had this report:

State Republicans threatened on Tuesday to impeach New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer if he does not quit over a report linking him to a prostitute that has raised questions over whether he could face criminal charges.

The threat added to pressure on Spitzer, a Democrat and former state chief prosecutor who made his name fighting corruption, to step down.

“If he does not resign within the next 24 to 48 hours, we will prepare articles of impeachment to remove him,” said Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco.

“We need a leader in place that has the support of people on both sides of the aisle,” Tedisco told Reuters.

That last part sounds a little silly — Would any governor enjoy bi-partisan support? Did Spitzer as of yesterday morning? — but impeachment may not be as easy as state Republicans would like. As Eric Kleefeld noted, “Assembly Democrats currently enjoy a 108-42 majority. So if an impeachment were to get off the ground, it would require a lot of Dems to be eager to throw Spitzer overboard.”

Whether that desire exists among New York Dems remains to be seen, though all indications are that Spitzer won’t leave them in an awkward position for too much longer.

Don’t the Republicans in the New York legislature meet in a stall in the basement men’s room? Where there’s room for all of them with room left over, even with their “wide stance”???

  • At the same time, Republicans in the State Assembly are ratcheting up the rhetoric, suggesting that if Spitzer isn’t willing to step aside, they’ll force him out through impeachment.

    Ahem.

    And why the hell can’t Co-Invertebrate Leaders Pelosi and Reid do that …? I mean. it’s a little late now at the federal level, but Eliot’s problems are relatively minor.

    (Not to condone Spitzer’s actions by any means, but can we get some righteous outrage about something besides BJs in this country?)

  • Bee thousand (2): Ahem

    Or how about a little righteous outrage from Republicans in the US Congress, too? Or even the Republicans who comment here.

  • It’s so sad to see a promising politician brought down like this.

    If he just would’ve had sex with a lobbyist, this wouldn’t have happened, and he would have caused some money to flow to his state as well.

  • I’m a resident of New York City. While Spitzer should get rightfully hit with the ‘hypocrisy’ label, I’m beginning to wonder if sex scandals have as much impact as they did in pre-Clinton days. It’s gotten to the point that a US Senator (from Idaho for God’s sake) can solicit gay sex in a airport bathroom, and not be forced to resign. Sen. Vitter seems to have surpassed his past with prostitutes without much long-lasting damage to his reputation. The Spitzer scandal relates to out-of-wedlock sex with a prostitute, not with little boys. While the “Elliot Ness” label with have to go into the trashbin, we’re not in the “Age of Innocence” any longer. If I were him, I would stick it out. The threat from the NY Republicans has a good chance of making residents feel they’re piling on and thereby increase the sympathy vote for Spitzer.

  • I’m sure the Republicans will go after Vitter with the same gusto, right?

    (crickets)

  • … if Spitzer isn’t willing to step aside, they’ll force him out through impeachment.

    Well, of course they will. We all know that impeachment is meant for sexual offenses.

    Treason and other trivial things need not apply.

  • Maybe it is time for Americans to give up voyeurism and hypocrisy as their lifestyles. We should take a hint from the Dutch and the French about sex. The Dutch have made sex prostitution legal, while the French have a much more relaxed attitude about extra-marital sex: many married Frenchmen have mistresses, while many married Frenchwomen have lovers, and somehow, gasp, life goes on…

    Absolute fidelity for three, five, ten, fifteen or twenty years is an absurd requirement for anyone in the 21st century.

    The two Republican Senators involved in sex scandals have not resigned, so why should the New York Governor? It’s all silliness and stupidity…”Who really cares?” to quote an old Bob Dylan song.

  • This isn’t an original thought, but no one died due to Spitzer’s actions and we just found out after extensive and costly investigations that their was no Saddam – al Qaeda connection, no WMD’s and no link to 9/11. And the f*ckers responsible for this sham of an Iraq war are still roaming free.

    Spitzer did something with his own body, on his own time, with his own cash and he’s getting publicly berated while tens, if not hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars are being wasted for some politically beneficial lies. While everyone’s getting all atwitter about Elliot’s unsafe sex, we have over 130,000 troops in harms way. Who cares if Spitzer reigns, when will Bush and Cheney?

  • I sent him an e-mail asking that he press the issue. In my opinion, there is alot more to this issue than a misdemenor. When you consider his enemies on Wall Street, the corrupt politic DOJ and the Bush Admin then you’ve got to think something stinks about this whole affair. Yes, he moved money around and yes it was to pay a prostitute ($!,000/hr-Good God!) but it still is a misdemenor and one of the oldest at that. Nearly never prosecuted and generally paid for with a fine. What’s going on?

  • While the press whores are lusting after the conveniently leaked-by-Justice-department Sptizer hullabaloo, I hope someone is paying attention to what the Busies are doing during this distraction.

    I can dream, can’t I?

  • For those who like vast right-wing conspiracies, check out The Opinionator blog in the New York Times written by Tobin Harshaw and titled “Enter Skeptics, Stage Right.”

  • I’ll be one of the few who call for Spitzer’s resignation. I agree its sad that so much energy is spent on sex issues and also that it is frustrating that Republicans seem to be allowed lately to hold on through such scandals, but neither point supports Spitzer’s staying in office. First, it seems pretty clear that he was a regular customer of prostitutes. That is not just a sex issue. It means he repeatedly broke the law and in conjunction with organizations that he himself condemned because they are often fronts for the mob or connected with human trafficking. And it is the law – even though we may disagree with it. Moreover, since it is unlikely that he started seeing prostitutes when he was govenor, this behavior likely goes back to when he was Attorney General- the state’s chief law enforcement officer. Such illegal conduct really cannot be tolerated in these high government positions, even if it understandable as a by-product of human falliability.
    Second, staying on will actually only do more to damge both him and the democratic party in New York. His reputation was uniquely built on his Mr. Clean image- now that this has been lost, so has a lot of his effectiveness. If he resigns, however, he might be able to recover his reputation and it strengthens the democrats by showing that we are really the party the puts values into practice, not just use them as meaningless campaign slogans. The distraction ends and new Governor Paterson will be able to go on and be a strong and effective leader.
    It really is the best esult under the circumstances that Spitzer himself created.

  • I tend to agree in principle with Truthsquad @14 but in my heart I really wish he’d come out swinging and say he’ll resign when Sen. Vitter does the same. It just burns my cookies when Republicans (i.e. “lying scum”) get away with doing the same kind of stuff and our guys have to walk the plank just to show we’re better than they are.

    Makes me question the whole notion of balance and justice in the universe sometimes, that’s all.

  • I suggest that Spitzer offer to resign only if all of the other customer names are publish and provided to the public on a level equal to the info released on him.

  • Truthsquad is right. Take off the label of Demo or Rethug and you’re stuck with someone who repeatedly broke the law – made worse if he was doing this as AG. If the Dems take the high road on this one, it will really show up the Rethugs and all their dirty little (BIG) deeds for which they refuse to resign.
    This should really be a no-brainer!

  • Olbermann said last night that they think his trying to use his resignation as leverage against an indictment. They are going after him for violating the Mann Act.

    From Wikipedia:
    “White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910 prohibited white slavery. It also banned the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes.” Its primary stated intent was to address prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking. The act is better known as the Mann Act, after James Robert Mann, an American lawmaker.”

    According to Countdown Spitzer made many enemies on the way up and now on the way down they all want a piece. He is in serious trouble.

  • If a politico”takes a wide stance” and says”This is wrong and I’ll prosecute.”, and then secretly is guilty of the selfsame thing- hypocrisy compounds the crime- much like Mark Foley being on the Child Protection Task Force and secretly IM’ing barely legal teens. The state GOP has no business impeaching- if the do that then Pelosi, Reid and co. should throw a fast-track impeachment at Cheney in the very least. Sex with a hooker is worse than torture? Peace mission my left patootie, he’s scoping out real estate.

  • ScottW is probably right. He has far more leverage as governor than as ex-governor. He probably has not resigned so that he can make his resignation part of a bargain. As ex-governor he wouldn’t have anything as significant as his resignation to offer.

  • btw, on the impeachment front, Spitzer has a lot of enemies among Democrats in Albany, including the heavily Democratic Assembly (he had a big dustup with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver last year over the appointment of a new Comptroller). I rooted for Spitzer in those disputes; a lot of powerful Albany Democrats represent the worst stereotypes of the kind of Democrats netroots rail against; a lot of them are actually mad at Spitzer for trying to flip the NY State Senate from Republican to Democratic (they like the status quo).

    I agree that there’s a double standard between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the consequences of this kind of thing (see Vitter, David), but as a self-interested progressive Democrat, I hope that Spitzer resigns. I think that the kind of political and substantive agenda Spitzer would push, one that I’m avidly in favor of, could be more effectively done by someone else at this point.

  • I find it politically heartbreaking that Eliot Spitzer has acted in a manner that is likely to end his career. I have a TON of admiration for his efforts to curb the corruption and excesses that undermines our financial markets. But, it appears that he flauted the law – the law that he was elected to uphold. Perhaps I am just a hopeless priss, but I feel his actions should have consequences. Perhaps the prostitution transaction should not be illegal, but it presently is. When politicians engage in behavior that risks disfavor with the public, it reveals an element of recklessness and/or hubris. Eliot Spitzer was on the track to snag the gold ring of a White House run. He effed it up. I believe he is damaged, and he has likely damaged the causes he has effectively served. It is a damn shame.

  • The end result was the same, the shagged hookers, that is the only parallel to Vitter.

    If you are going to break the law you had better know what the law is before you do it. Don’t get caught with 1.1 ounces of smack if the break point between between probation and 5 years is an ounce.

    If you are going to shag a hooker, don’t transport her over state lines, especially if you were a AG and prosecuted people for the very same violation.

    In DC it can’t be that rare to take a hooker to out-of-state, either across the border to fly them off somewhere. Anyways has a politician every been indicted on the Mann Act ??

  • I’m from New York, and I voted for Spitzer, thinking that he was helping to end the long Republican night. I hope he will not resign. As far as I know, this is New YAWK, where prostitution is not a hanging offense. I don’t mind, though, if this wipes that smug moralistic smile off his face. His weakness as governor has been that, like Giuliani, he did not understand the difference between an executive and a prosecutor. If he survives this mess and learns a few lessons about forbearance and cooperation, he can still be the governor I hoped he would be.

    And the bigger picture, I think, is about wiretapping a bordello. And chasing down cash transactions of less than $10,000. Using the resources of the United States Department of Justice to prosecute a John (the only one of at least nine) reminds me of the observation made during the U.S. Attorney hearings last year, that the problem we should worry about is not the ten US Attorneys who were fired, but the 170 or so “loyal Bushies” who were retained in office. Spitzer was stupid to think that the sharks were not out to get him, and arrogant to think that his shit could not possibly stink, but that does not excuse the obviously political slant of the prosecution.

    Sorry, but I can’t take the impeachment idea too seriously. The Republicans hold the New York State Senate by 2 votes and have a large minority in the Assembly. New York State politics is often screwed up, and often by Democrats, but I can’t imagine that an impeachment bill could actually get through two houses of the legislature. The death penalty for abrasiveness would have to be a hard sell.

  • I find the begining paragraph of CNN´s article quite disturbing. “Crime-fighting New York Governor Eliot Spitzer came under mounting pressure to resign Tuesday, a day after the key ally of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was linked to a prostitution ring.”

    Spitzer´s problems are his, and to bring Clinton´s name to this event is irrelevant, and somehow a linkage is suggested, and worse, CNN can actually be quoted as saying: “Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was linked to a prostitution ring.”

    So this is either a very stupid unprofessional lack of judgement or true Goebbelian masterpiece of propaganda.

  • Totally agree that Americans need to step into the present and stop trying to make sex illegal and scandalous. Everyone does it, everyone loves it and if you can’t get it you have to buy it. Sheesh, we’re not all rock and roll stars.

    • Comments are closed.