NY Governor Involved In Prostituion Ring?

[Kuja]

Resignation effective Monday. Man, this has been a week of zaniness in New York.

[LMSx]

Things

Stuff

Hmmm, thanks for the articles both of you. Sounds like a good idea with some terrible practical effects of use.

[Edward Yee]

Resignation effective Monday. Man, this has been a week of zaniness in New York.

Welcome to Noo Yawk.

Very stupid of him to do what he did knowing how many enemies he had waiting in the wings. He gave them a sword, and they ran him through.

The real source of his downfall, it seems. He might have gotten away with not resigning as Bill Clinton did, but that'd require his opposition to have not been as bipartisan... and for some, personal.

His own successor as NYSAG, Andrew Cuomo, is a Democrat who investigated the state police affair, and the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, a Democrat, has officially been against the Spitzer administration at least three times (on driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, over the Joe Bruno/state police affair, and the state comptroller affair). They're not the only ones to have been publically against him either.

[Glocksman]

IANAL or a bank official, but the impression I get from reading various articles is that Spitzer was caught because not only did he 'structure' his cash withdrawals in a manner that appeared to dodge the $10k reporting requirement (in itself a violation), he actually asked the bank to not file a required 'suspicious activity report' as required by law.

If the bank wasn't going to file the report before, the request certainly shot up enough red flags to make them legally required to do so, and they did.

You'd think a former AG whose specialty was white collar crimes would know about all of this, but perhaps he was so arrogant that he thought the bank would bow to his request to break the law.

He thought wrong.
No matter the party, there's always some joy in seeing an arrogant, power mad asshat like Spitzer (or Larry Craig, for that matter) being brought down by their own hypocrisy.

[Stuart]

IANAL or a bank official, but the impression I get from reading various articles is that Spitzer was caught because not only did he 'structure' his cash withdrawals in a manner that appeared to dodge the $10k reporting requirement (in itself a violation), he actually asked the bank to not file a required 'suspicious activity report' as required by law. If the bank wasn't going to file the report before, the request certainly shot up enough red flags to make them legally required to do so, and they did.

That would certainly do it. Nothing like telling a bank to break the law for drawing attention to oneself.

However, there's whispers on the wind that there are some aspects of this case that go a lot further. For example, its reported that Spitzer transferred some US$80,000 to the escort agency and only a proportion of that can be accounted for by his payments to the ladies. Even the proportion that was attributed to them contained a percentage of "advance payments". This, say the voices, can only be explained by one thing - that he wasn't just a client of the agency, he was an investor in it.

And that puts a whole new aspect on things. It explains the stress on the phrase "involved with a prostitution ring" not "hired a hooker". Remember what I said about the close links between prostitution and the mob. If its true that he was an investor in the agency, then he was also a partner with the mob. Worse, he was hammering the prostitution groups in New York at exactly the time he was becoming a partner in his own agency. So he wasn't cleaning up the city, he was using his official position to remove the competition.

So, if speculation is accurate, he puts an entirely new definition on the term "corrupt". A city AG and then State Governor who was a Mob associate.

[Edward Yee]

That's what source such as the Washington Post pointed out too, hoisted by his own petard. Oh, and here's Hillary on Spitzer:

I'm deeply saddened by this turn of events and my thoughts are with Governor Spitzer's family during this painful time. I would also like to express my support for Lt. Governor David Paterson. I look forward to continuing to work with him on behalf of the people of New York. David has overcome every obstacle and broken every barrier in his path – and I know that he'll continue to display that leadership and determination as governor.

*looks at Stuart's reported "whispers in the wind"*

... ooh sheeeet.

[MKSheppard]

So, if speculation is accurate, he puts an entirely new definition on the term "corrupt". A city AG and then State Governor who was a Mob associate.

He's going to go away for a long time. He pissed off too many people on Wall Street with his heavy handed tactics while he was AG and ruined far too many lives over nothing; AND it turns out he possibly has ties to the Mob?

No way can he squeak out of this

[FSTargetDrone]

Yup. he's gone. The Yahoo photoslide show shows his wife looking very unhappy. He'd be well advised to wear five pairs of underpants before going to bed tonight,

Bed? He'll be lucky to get the couch.

Anyway, his replacement has an opportunity to shine. Let's see how well he does.

[Big Orange]

If you want proof that this is just a Wowser Walpurgisnacht, take a look at what happened in New Jersey when Dem. Governor John Corzine's motorcade crashed and burned at over 90 mph (the speed limit was 65) -nearly killing the governor and several others. Speeding is a misdemeanor (like paying for sex), and several people were seriously injured and almost killed. And yet there was no mass hysteria, because recklessly endangering the lives of others is nothing compared to the evils of pussy.

When Mel Gibson was heard by police ranting about Jews starting wars, his aggressive driving while being drunk seemed to be oddly played down as well; saying racist crap is bad, but actively putting many lives at risk while drink driving is so much worst. Six people dying violently at the hands of a idiotic drunk is blatantly worse than trash talking (which Gibson got more into trouble about, with other more "respectible" celebrities not so heavily penalized when drink driving, even though I have little sympathy for Gibson either way, and was known as an insipid bigot long before 2006).

[MKSheppard]

OOOH GOODY

[url=http://gamepolitics.com/2008/03/10/brea ... tion-ring/[/url]

During the 2006 campaign Spitzer called out the video game industry for excessive violence and, ironically, sexual content in its products:

Like all parents, I know it is increasingly difficult to protect our children from negative influences… we have learned that when self-regulation fails, government must step in… we must do more to protect our children from excessive sex and violence in the media…

Media content has gotten more graphic, more violent and more sex-based… Currently, nothing under New York State law prohibits a fourteen-year old from walking into a video store and buying… a game like ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ which rewards a player for stealing cars and beating people up. Children can even simulate having sex with a prostitute…

[Patrick Degan]

He's going to go away for a long time. He pissed off too many people on Wall Street with his heavy handed tactics while he was AG and ruined far too many lives over nothing; AND it turns out he possibly has ties to the Mob?

No way can he squeak out of this

Sure he can —by turning stoolie for the Feds, who will put him in witness protection if he knows where enough bodies are buried and what secret banks the Mob has its money in.

[aerius]

And here's a picture of his special paid escort. Not bad, not bad at all. I can't say she's worth $5000, but I think she could definitely pull in $300-400 an hour.