Awaiting Word
Here’s some of the story we’ve moved this morning:
ALBANY _ State lawmakers tried to get back to work today as leaders at the state Capitol waited for the likely announcement that Gov. Eliot Spitzer will resign amid a scandal linking him to a prostitution ring.
With a state budget to approve by April 1 and a $4.6 billion deficit looming, the state Capitol was brought to a standstill Monday after Spitzer was linked to sex scandal involving his hire of a high-priced prostitute at a Washington D.C. hotel last month.
Legislators said they will try to push forward Tuesday, but were more importantly waiting to find out Spitzer’s next move.
“Who’s the governor?” asked Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, Westchester County.
Spitzer was holed up in his Fifth Avenue apartment late last night and this morning, aides said. He has hired a high-powered New York City law firm to represent him as he weighs his legal options and political future.
But lawmakers were increasingly convinced that Spitzer’s resignation would come sooner rather than later. Lt. Gov. David Paterson would be the state’s next governor, Becoming the first African-American governor in the state’s history.
Paterson aides said today they were still awaiting word on Spitzer’s next move. Paterson called legislative leaders on Monday night seeking their support for an eventual takeover.
Still, legislators said budget negotiations would stall until the executive branch determines its new leader.
“The place is paralyzed unless he resigns,” said state Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira.
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Spitzer said he was going to change Albany, but I doubt this was how he planned it…
Something I just read in the Times hits me…
“The New York Times began investigating Mr. Spitzer’s possible involvement with a prostitution ring on Friday, the day after the prosecutors arrested the four people on charges of helping run the Emperor’s Club. After inquiries from The Times over the weekend and on Monday, the governor canceled his public schedule. An hour after The Times published a report on its Web site saying Mr. Spitzer had been linked to the ring, the governor made his statement.”
I have no doubt that the leaking of Spitzer’s name to the Times was politically motivated. He’s not a well-liked guy, in many circles. But one thing conspicuously absent from the coverage so far- Why was Spitzer’s name the ONLY one leaked? Who are the OTHER clients of the Emperor’s Club? I’m sure that he was not their only client, so how about answering THAT question, Journal News?
Barrett, wipe the partisan spittle off your monitor and read the stories that indicate that the investigation was STARTED because Spitzer’s movement of funds was suspicious to the banks, who alerted the IRS, which started a public officials corruption investigation—into Spitzer! So, Spitzer was not just Client 9, caught up in a prostitution sting. The investigation resulted from his attempts to hide his shuffling funds to pay for his hookers.
Yeah, but they only busted the people running the Emperor’s Club Friday, and the stuff leaks that same day?
Wow, I’m impressed (not really), you managed to find my last name, not that it’s been a secret. I can only speculate on your name, and what the “R” stands for, but I have my theories, none of which I think you’d find complimentary.
Partisan spittle? Look in the mirror, Sara…
You’re the guy with the well-worn spit valves—not me.
To Walt..it really doesn’t matter who the other clients
are…what matters is that the governor of the state
of new york and the former attorney general of the
state are involved in a scheme to hire a prostitute,
hide the money, and totally compromise the office
he holds..that is worth leaking because the public
has an absolute right to know…we usually do not
care about personal sexual practices unless it involves
our paid public officials because then it is not
a PRIVATE matter it is a public matter..so stop
trying to make this political….you sound like
a democrat who is not able to be objective and is
suffering from the same denial that elliot is suffering from
when he claimed he was dealing with a private matter
No, Walt is on to something. The Times WAS eventually going to do its investigation, though probably not as quickly as it was forced to. “Three can share a secret if two are dead,” as Ben Franklin wisely observed. Somebody within the investigation may have suggested something to an outsider.
These coups de’tat occur regularly, throughout the world and since society began.
But, as Walt said, the governor was not well-liked outside of his circle, and he took pains to aggravate others while maintaining that self-righteous demeanor of his.
The post-mortems are going to be fascinating. I can’t recall a greater or more sudden fall of a politician while he was on his way up than Spitzer’s; nothing seems comparable in Post War politics. We’re not talking about the Larry Craigs of the world here; we’re looking at a man who was once formidable, whose arrogant hubris brought him down.
I wonder what would have happened if he’d simply paid the escort service in cash, or by credit card (Mann Act excepted) instead of laundering the payments through shell companies, thus attracting the IRS? After all, it is NOT a sex scandal: it’s an ethics/honesty scandal with an official who promised ethics greater than everyone’s.
The fun in the timing of this mess is that it came just one day after the series conclusion of The Wire, and many of that great show’s elements are present here.
Life imitates art, and vice versa.
Comparisons: G. Mennen Williams and George Smathers come to mind; undoubtedly, Walt and consultant will have other good comparisons. Williams was a serious national contender when he was governor of Michigan; Smathers was on his way up big time in Florida after he beat Claude Pepper in the 1950 Dem Senate primary. Nixon is not comparable; neither is Agnew. Both were at the zenith of their political careers; Spitzer was possibly on his way to the presidency until he took on Bruno.
The hypocrisy of it all will be doubled when and if we find out that the plane ride to D.C. was charged to the taxpayer as “official business.”
You know what truly amazes me is the lack of comment from a certain State Senator from the 35th Senate District-anyone remember the one voice commercial-if not take a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLCW91w3HjI
Senator Cousins it apprears you have gone from
ONE VOICE TO NO VOICE
DYSFUNCTIONAL TO NON FUNCTIONAL
Is this DAY ONE TAKE TWO
“what matters is that the governor of the state
of new york and the former attorney general of the
state are involved in a scheme to hire a prostitute,
hide the money, and totally compromise the office
he holds..that is worth leaking because the public
has an absolute right to know…we usually do not
care about personal sexual practices unless it involves
our paid public officials because then it is not
a PRIVATE matter it is a public matter..so stop
trying to make this political….you sound like
a democrat who is not able to be objective and is
suffering from the same denial that elliot is suffering from
when he claimed he was dealing with a private matter”
Mike, how can you say that with a straight face? You were all about denial when it was John McCain and the lobbyist. The difference there is that with McCain, the prostitutes have to register with the government, and get called a nicer name.
I’m sure you got the word from Colety and the boys that the GOP has to hammer Dems on this. I also know for a fact that emails are already going out from the NRCC trying to tie reps like Gillebrand and Hall to Spitzer.
Get this, Mike, after Spitzer’s announcement, I think he should resign, too. The difference is that I’m still gonna think that it all started out politically motivated. All the local Dems will say that it’s terrible that his family is going through this time, and all the GOP soundbites will be calling for him to resign. In the great political kabuki play, Republicans get a pass when it’s their scandals, but Dems get tarred and feathered. Don’t even think that I’m wrong about this, because then I’ll have to point out that Larry Craig and David Vitter are still in office. Double standard much?
Well, what do you know? Today it was confirmed that the Steamroller flew into Washington at our expense. Oh, well, let bygones be bygones. Bruno does it, so we’re all even on that one. Or, better put, THEY are even. We paid.