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.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS