From Troopergate To Shtupergate

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's fall from grace was already a swift one, going from a landslide 69% victory in November 2006 to a negative opinion rating of 80% in February 2008.

Today's bombshell admission by the Governor of his involvement in a prostitution ring might tend to hasten this downfall.

The governor’s travel records show that he was in Washington in mid-February. One of the clients described in court papers arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, the Emperors Club VIP on the night of Feb. 13.

Mr. Spitzer appeared on a CNBC television show at 7 a.m. the next morning. Later in the morning, he testified before a Congressional committee.

An affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan in connection with that case lists six conversations between the man, identified as Client 9, and a booking agent for the Emperors Club.

The Emperors Club reportedly arranged for female accompaniment at rates as dear as $5,500 an hour and also offered investment advice.  Full service, indeed.

I'll say it again:  Don't blame me, I voted for Faso.

The Governor is about to hold a press conference to address this latest scandal.

Previously:  4 Out Of 5 New Yorkers Agree: Spitzer Is Lousy

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Update:  Hot Air is poised to put up video of the presser.

Update:  It sounds like this may be the result of a deal cut by one of the four people charged last week in connection with the bust of the Emperors Club.  [Update: Or not - the trail may have started with a federal probe into Spitzer's suspicious money transfers ]

All four were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution laws: Mark Brener, 62, and Cecil Suwal, 23, who live together in Cliffside Park, N.J.; Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, of Brooklyn; and Tanya Hollander, 36, of Rhinebeck, N.Y.

Brener, accused of being the leader and recruiter of the prostitutes, and Suwal, accused of controlling the operation's bank accounts, also were charged with conspiracy to launder more than $1 million in illicit proceeds.

Lewis and Hollander were accused of arranging meetings between prostitutes and clients. They were released late Thursday on $250,000 bail each.
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In a criminal complaint, FBI agent Kenneth Hosey said clients were told a wire transfer to the Emperors Club would be identified as QAT Consulting to appear to be a business transaction.

No guarantees this is the same organization, but here's a web site for QAT Consulting Group, with plenty of double entendre fodder.

As our client, you will be protected with “attorney- client privilege of information”, as defined and secured by the Law of the United States—your privacy is strictly yours and your business/tax affairs will always remain yours private matters.
...
Our services are comprehensive and hands on. We combine our business management and financial expertise with the expertise of our highly qualified associates- investment consultants, lawyers, bankers,independent trustees, marketing and promotion specialists, artists and feng shui masters.

And via Allah, here's the more overt Emperors Club site, featuring the likenesses of their various "spokes models."

Flashback:  Little did we know this was dirty talk.

Update:  Fox News reports that sources say the Governor will resign.

Update:  Incidentally, I've had a FOIL request pending in Governor Spitzer's office (in connection with the State Sunshine project) for more than a month for all governmental e-mails sent or received by the office for the 4-day period immediately preceeding Spitzer's Washington trip in question.

I received some static from Spitzer's assistant counsel, stating that the office couldn't comply with the request until I clarified the term "governmental e-mail."  Excerpted from my reponse:

I'm not sure which word ("governmental" or "e-mail") is problematic, so I'll try to offer clarification on both:

By "governmental" (in the context of "governmental e-mail sent or received by the Office of the Governor"), I'm referring to all e-mail messages sent or received by personnel employed by or in the Office of the Governor during the date range identified, whether or not those messages were related to government business and whether or not those messages were transmitted via government-issued accounts or hardware, so long as they were sent or received by the respective personnel either during normal working hours, or during any hour while at their physical place of employment, or during any hour in any location if those messages were transmitted in furtherance of official or unofficial duties or tasks assigned to the sender or recipient by a superior, by the Office of the Governor, or by another state agency or official.

By "e-mail", I'm referring to all inbound and outbound electronic mail messages transmitted via Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol (POP), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), X.400, or web-based protocols, as well as electronic messages transmitted via SMS or other text messaging protocols.

Please let me know if any further clarification is required.

That was 10 days ago.  It'll be interesting to see what this turns up.

Prosecutors apparently have text messages in their possession related to the case, which were included in my FOIL request.

Update:  The Governor just released a brief statement, acknowledging a failure to live up to his own standards and apologizing to his family.  He did not announce his resignation, but said he would have more to say "in short order."

Update:  Sources says Spitzer has been indicted, but that seems to be in doubt.  The federal complaint itself appears to mention him only as "Client #9."

Update:  Here's video and a transcript of the non-resignation.

Over the past nine years, eight as attorney general and one as governor, I’ve tried to uphold a vision of progressive politics that would rebuild New York and create opportunity for all. We vowed to bring real change to New York and that will continue. Today, I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family and that violates my — or any — sense of right and wrong. I apologize first, and most importantly, to my family. I apologize to the public, to whom I promised better. I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals. It is about ideas, the public good and doing what is best for the State of New York. But I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard that I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family. I will not be taking questions. Thank you very much. I will report back to you in short order. Thank you very much.

Update:  Hillary quickly purged Spitzer (a superdelegate who has pledged to support Clinton) from her endorsement list.  But will she *reject* his vote at the convention?  Hillary taught us the importance of the distinction between *denouncing* and *rejecting* in her tiff with Obama over Louis Farrakhan.

Update:  Here's the federal complaint.

Update:  So far, Hillary neither denounces nor rejects, only wishes well.

"I don't have any comment on that, but I obviously am sending, you know, my best wishes and thoughts to the governor and to his family," she said.