Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.
The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, 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 room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.
The governor learned that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe when a federal official contacted his staff last Friday, according to the person briefed on the case.
My favorite part:
Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he 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.
The New York Post has a headline that the man is going to resign:
Spitzer, who is married with three children, made cleaning up the ethics of state government a priority when he was elected.
Feds last week busted a diamond-studded international call-girl ring that offered well-heeled johns “fashion models, pageant winners and exquisite students” for up to $5,500 an hour – after one of the prostitutes turned on her pimp. The Times reported that it was unclear whether this was the ring Spitzer was involved with.
Today’s New York Sun reported that prosecutors specializing in government corruption cases were leading the investigation into that prostitution ring. Three of the assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to the case were part of the U.S. attorney’s public corruption unit, the Sun reported. The unit investigates possible wrongdoing by government officials.
The johns paid as much as $50,000 for a weekend with a prostitute and had the option of purchasing a “buy out” of their favorite girls, which allowed them to book trysts directly with the hookers, Manhattan federal prosecutors said.
The Emperors Club, an upscale escort service, ranked its hookers on a seven-diamond scale on its Web site and then charged its wealthy clientele accordingly for “dates,” court papers said.
50 grand for a weekend! Wowza
And now Fox News is reporting he will be indicted.
UPDATE
Copy of the complaint is up:
80. At approximately 4:58 p.m., TEMEKA RACHELLE LEWIS, a/k/a “Rachelle,” the defendant, using the 6587 Number, received an incoming call from Client-9. During the call, LEWIS told Client-9 that his package arrived today, and Client-9 said good. LEWIS asked Client-9 what time he was expecting to have the appointment. Client-9 told LEWIS maybe 10:OO p.m. or so, and asked who it was. LEWIS said it was “Kristen,” and Client-9 said “great, okay, wonderful .” LEWIS told Client-9 that she would give him a final price later, and asked Client-9 whether he could give “Kristen” “extra funds” at this appointment in order to avoid payment issues in the future. Client-9 said maybe, and that he would see if he could do that. LEWIS explained that the agency did not want a model accepting funds for a future appointment, but that she was going to make an exception that way a deposit could be made so that he would have a credit, and they would not have to “go through this” next time. Client-9 said perfect, and that he would call her regarding the room number. (Call 9686R) .
And Newsbusters tells us that the MSM is again leaving out an important fact…..the man is a DEMOCRAT and involved in the first big sex scandal of 2008.
Big shocker.
UPDATE II
Democrat Governor Spitzer’s statement via NRO:
You can read the whole complaint here and a quick glance shows that the hookahs are named as defendants, but not Spitzer….isn’t that interesting.
UPDATE III
“I don’t know anyone who is more self-righteous or unforgiving than Eliot Spitzer. So he’s going to have a hard time finding friends right now…
“Spitzer himself was very severe going after prostitution rings that had to do with white collar crimes. He was very hard-nosed with his tactics. To leave himself open to blackmail — putting himself and the state in a compromised position like that — it’s just awful.”
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