NocturnalRob
11-06-2008, 03:57 PM
I mean, seriously? This is absurd.
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Eliot Spitzer, who quit as governor of New York amid allegations that he patronized a ring of high- priced prostitutes, won't face criminal charges in a probe of the matter, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.
U.S. prosecutors were investigating whether Spitzer made suspicious payments to an international prostitution ring called the ``Emperors Club VIP.'' Four people connected with the enterprise were arrested in March, and all have pleaded guilty.
``After a thorough investigation, this office has uncovered no evidence of misuse of public or campaign funds,'' Garcia said today in a statement. ``In addition, we have determined that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against Mr. Spitzer for any offense relating to the withdrawal of funds for, and his payments to, the Emperors Club VIP.''
Spitzer, a Democrat, quit as governor in March, just 15 months into his term, after he was identified as an Emperors Club client. He was elected in 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, a record high in a New York governor's race, on a promise to shake up the state's politics. David Paterson, Spitzer's lieutenant governor, replaced him.
``I appreciate the impartiality and thoroughness of the investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office,'' Spitzer, 49, said today in a separate statement. ``I acknowledge and accept responsibility for the conduct it disclosed.''
Client 9
A March 6 complaint against four people connected with the ring said ``Client 9,'' whom it didn't identify, paid $4,300 for sex with a New York prostitute named ``Kristen'' at a Washington hotel in February. Front companies including QAT Consulting accepted the payments, according to the complaint.
Spitzer was Client 9, a law-enforcement official familiar with the case said in March.
Mark Brener, who ran the Emperors Club, Cecil Suwal, his lieutenant, Tanya Hollander, a booking agent, and Temeka Lewis, another booking agent, pleaded guilty to federal money laundering and prostitution charges. Lewis cooperated with prosecutors, her lawyer said.
Kristen was identified by the New York Times as Ashley Alexandra Dupre. She hasn't been charged in the case.
Spitzer, a Princeton University and Harvard Law School graduate, took office as governor in January 2007 after a career spent largely in public service.
As head of the labor racketeering unit in Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's office in 1992, he helped topple the Gambino crime family's control of trucking in New York's garment district. He won election to office as New York Attorney General in 1998 on his second try, ousting Republican Dennis Vacco.
Wall Street
In his new post in Albany, Spitzer took aim at Wall Street. He won a $1.4 billion settlement in 2002 from securities firms that he said misled customers with biased stock research. The next year, he led a probe into late trading and market timing in the mutual fund industry. In 2004, he sued former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso to recoup most of a $190 million pay package.
The son of a real estate developer and literature teacher who grew up in the Riverdale section of New York City's Bronx, Spitzer was elected governor in November 2006 by the largest majority in state history.
``We must transform our government so that it is as ethical and wise as all of New York,'' he said in his inaugural address in January 2007.
Within a year, Spitzer's approval rating had fallen to 35 percent after bruising political battles with then-New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican. Among Spitzer's defeats was a plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
On March 10 of this year, the New York Times reported on its Web site that Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute. He announced his resignation less than 48 hours later.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a249vHA2b8xI&refer=home
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Eliot Spitzer, who quit as governor of New York amid allegations that he patronized a ring of high- priced prostitutes, won't face criminal charges in a probe of the matter, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.
U.S. prosecutors were investigating whether Spitzer made suspicious payments to an international prostitution ring called the ``Emperors Club VIP.'' Four people connected with the enterprise were arrested in March, and all have pleaded guilty.
``After a thorough investigation, this office has uncovered no evidence of misuse of public or campaign funds,'' Garcia said today in a statement. ``In addition, we have determined that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against Mr. Spitzer for any offense relating to the withdrawal of funds for, and his payments to, the Emperors Club VIP.''
Spitzer, a Democrat, quit as governor in March, just 15 months into his term, after he was identified as an Emperors Club client. He was elected in 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, a record high in a New York governor's race, on a promise to shake up the state's politics. David Paterson, Spitzer's lieutenant governor, replaced him.
``I appreciate the impartiality and thoroughness of the investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office,'' Spitzer, 49, said today in a separate statement. ``I acknowledge and accept responsibility for the conduct it disclosed.''
Client 9
A March 6 complaint against four people connected with the ring said ``Client 9,'' whom it didn't identify, paid $4,300 for sex with a New York prostitute named ``Kristen'' at a Washington hotel in February. Front companies including QAT Consulting accepted the payments, according to the complaint.
Spitzer was Client 9, a law-enforcement official familiar with the case said in March.
Mark Brener, who ran the Emperors Club, Cecil Suwal, his lieutenant, Tanya Hollander, a booking agent, and Temeka Lewis, another booking agent, pleaded guilty to federal money laundering and prostitution charges. Lewis cooperated with prosecutors, her lawyer said.
Kristen was identified by the New York Times as Ashley Alexandra Dupre. She hasn't been charged in the case.
Spitzer, a Princeton University and Harvard Law School graduate, took office as governor in January 2007 after a career spent largely in public service.
As head of the labor racketeering unit in Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's office in 1992, he helped topple the Gambino crime family's control of trucking in New York's garment district. He won election to office as New York Attorney General in 1998 on his second try, ousting Republican Dennis Vacco.
Wall Street
In his new post in Albany, Spitzer took aim at Wall Street. He won a $1.4 billion settlement in 2002 from securities firms that he said misled customers with biased stock research. The next year, he led a probe into late trading and market timing in the mutual fund industry. In 2004, he sued former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso to recoup most of a $190 million pay package.
The son of a real estate developer and literature teacher who grew up in the Riverdale section of New York City's Bronx, Spitzer was elected governor in November 2006 by the largest majority in state history.
``We must transform our government so that it is as ethical and wise as all of New York,'' he said in his inaugural address in January 2007.
Within a year, Spitzer's approval rating had fallen to 35 percent after bruising political battles with then-New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican. Among Spitzer's defeats was a plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
On March 10 of this year, the New York Times reported on its Web site that Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute. He announced his resignation less than 48 hours later.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a249vHA2b8xI&refer=home