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The Times is reporting that Governor Eliot Spitzer has just admitted to his senior staff that he has been involved in a “prostitution ring.” No more details have been released, but he is set to make an announcement momentarily. Stay tuned!
Spitzer is Linked to Prostitution Ring [NYT]
Related: You Can Say This About the Girls of the Emperor’s Club: They’re No Morons
Update: Just to catch you up, yes, this is the same Eliot Spitzer who as New York attorney general prosecuted at least two prostitution rings. And yup, he’s the one who has a wife and three children, too.
Update 2: The Times mentioned the recent bust-up of the Emperor’s Club prostitution ring. No word yet whether it is the group in question, but since they are being investigated right now, it’s a likely candidate. The Times connects Spitzer to an Emperor’s Club liaison the day before Valentine’s Day. The unnamed John in question, who may have been Spitzer, was Client #9.
Update 3: In what is probably an awkwardly coincidental typo, the New York State Website now lists David Paterson as governor. [Ed note: Though we can no longer log onto the state Website, we’re told by others that it’s now back to normal.]
Update 4: According to GoDaddy.com, the domain names www.clientnumber9.com and www.clientnumbernine.com have already been purchased today. Man, the Internet is fast.
Update 5: The Associated Press reports that a source confirms that Spitzer was actually named as a client in court papers surrounding the Emperor’s Club investigation.
Update 6: Spitzer just made a brief statement, in which he apologized to his wife and children, and the public. “I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals; I believe it is about ideas and the public good, and doing what’s best for the State of New York,” he said. “I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.” He did not take questions or specifically address the prostitution reports and did not announce his resignation.
Update 7: We just noticed that “Client #9” was the client mentioned in the court filings as “difficult,” the one that self-aware prostitute Kristen was talking to her pimpette, Rachelle, about in our post from the other day. Quoth the court papers: “From what she had been told ‘he’ (believed to be a reference to Client #9) ‘would ask you to do things that you might not think were safe’ … ‘I have a way of dealing with that,’ Kristen responded. ‘I’d be like, dude, you really want the sex?’” So, wait: Spitzer is not only involved with prosties, he’s the Weird, Kinky Dude?
Update 8: NBC reports that investigators may have phone records linking Spitzer to the prostitution ring. Our reporter on the scene of the brief announcement earlier by the governor says that the tensions among the press corps were running high. When Spitzer finished his cryptic utterance — “I will not be taking questions, I will report back to you in short order” — a camera operator yelled out: “Fucking asshole! What are you doing?” He then called the governor a euphemism for a male body part. Other reporters angrily yelled questions about whether he was resigning as he walked away. For more on the governor’s experience in Albany, click here. For more about the lives of New York’s high-priced call girls, click here.
