New York Governor Eliot Spitzer faced growing pressure to resign yesterday after becoming entangled in a sex scandal linking him to a high-priced prostitute.
Investigators said he was clearly a repeat customer who spent tens of thousands of dollars -- perhaps as much as US$80,000 -- on the service over an extended period of time.
Spitzer and his family, meanwhile, remained secluded on Tuesday in their Fifth Avenue apartment, while Republicans began talking impeachment, and few if any fellow Democrats came forward to defend him.
The scandal raises the possibility of criminal charges and the end of the political career of a man once considered a rising star in his party.
Several local media cited sources saying that Spitzer, 48, who is married and has three daughters, would resign as early as yesterday. Un-identified aides told the New York Times his wife, Silda Spitzer, was urging him not to step down.
Public opinion was heavily in favor of the governor leaving office, a WNBC/Marist poll showed, finding 70 percent of registered New York voters wanted Spitzer to quit.
"It's a big thumbs-down from New York voters," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, New York. "He's in a politically untenable position as far as public opinion is concerned."
Legal observers speculated Spitzer, the state's former chief prosecutor who built a reputation fighting white-collar crime on Wall Street, hoped to reach a deal with prosecutors over possible criminal charges before leaving his post.
Although clients of prostitutes typically are not charged with crimes under state laws, the Spitzer case is in the hands of federal authorities.
He could face charges of structuring, which entails payments of money made in such a way as to conceal their purpose and source.
The scandal erupted after the New York Times said Spitzer hired a US$1,000-an-hour prostitute and was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet her at a Washington hotel.
Spitzer apologized on Monday for what he called a "private matter." He said nothing about resigning nor did he confirm or deny the report.
He retreated to his Manhattan apartment building and has not appeared in public since.
Spitzer was elected with nearly 70 percent of the vote in 2006 following a stint as state attorney general, when his high-profile financial probes attracted publicity but also resentment on Wall Street.
New Yorkers were split on what should happen to Spitzer, with roughly half saying he should face criminal charges and half saying he should not, the WNBC/Marist poll said.
If Spitzer does not resign, 66 percent said the state legislature should impeach him, the poll said.
On Tuesday, James Tedisco, head of the Republicans in the legislature, said if Spitzer did not resign in 24 to 48 hours, they would prepare articles of impeachment.
At the heart of the scandal is a criminal complaint unveiled last week charging four people with running a prostitution ring dubbed The Emperors Club.
Spitzer was identified as Client 9 in court papers in that case, according to the Times. Client 9 arranged to meet with "Kristen," a prostitute who charged US$1,000 an hour, on Feb. 13 in a Washington hotel and paid her US$4,300, the papers said.
Unidentified sources told New York's Newsday that Spitzer had as many as eight liaisons over the past several years with prostitutes supplied by an international ring based in New Jersey. Spitzer paid several thousand dollars each time, the sources said.
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