Spitzer Sex Scandal

Eliot Spitzer had $2.9 million in the bank for a presumed reelection campaign, but the disgraced New York governor has done something rather uncommon for politicians: offered a refund. An email obtained by the New York Post reports that Spitzer will return what remains in his campaign coffers to anyone who makes a request. "When have you ever heard of getting a refund from a politician?" said one stunned Dem. More »

The woman accused of arranging the infamous liaison between "Kristen" and "Client No. 9" pleaded guilty today, the New York Times reports. Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, admitted to charges of promoting prostitution and money laundering in the bust that brought about Eliot Spitzer's downfall. She could face up to 25 years in prison. More »

Playboy's June issue introduces a new term into modern sexology parlance—"to Spitzer"—the New York Post reports. The flesh mag defines the nod to disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer as the act of asking a prostitute for sex sans condom, as in "I Spitzered her, but she was like, 'Duh, not a chance, pal.' " More »

The call girl who once serviced New York's governor is now charging $10 million—in a lawsuit against Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis, People reports. Ashley Alexandra Dupré alleges that Francis persuaded her to be filmed topless when she was underage and exploited her name and image for profit. More »

The music manager who orchestrated Mariah Carey's comeback is shopping Eliot Spitzer’s 22-year-old call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupré, to top music labels, the New York Daily News reports. More »

Americans love their ironic T-shirts, especially when they make coy references to politicians' sex scandals. The Internet is awash with "Client #9" and "Zippergate '98" gear, but the phenomenon isn't restricted to the digital age. It's version 2.0 of the traditional smear campaign—"as American as apple pie," one political analyst told Radar . More »

The bidding for a tell-all on former New York governor Eliot Spitzer begins at $350,000, the Daily News reports, though publishers don't appear certain of a big market for such a book. An agent for Peter Elkind, a Fortune writer and co-author of an Enron tome, said she expects a deal to be done today. More »

A second hooker has confirmed to federal investigators Eliot Spitzer's proclivity for prostitutes and unprotected sex but has also revealed another embarrassing detail: the disgraced New York governor's fondness for sex toys, the New York Post reports. More »

An Elliot Spitzer-like sex saga is headed to the small screen, reports the New York Daily News. TV's Law & Order has begun casting for an episode that will feature a politician nabbed in a prostitution ring. Meanwhile, life is getting harder for Silda Spitzer, wife of the disgraced former New York governor, who is now coping with devastating health problems suffered by her sister's husband and father-in-law. More »

For years Silda Wall Spitzer knew her disgraced husband patronized prostitutes—and she looked the other way, the New York Post reports. While his reps deny the rumors, a source tells the Post that former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is telling friends that the mother of his three daughters "doesn't care, so why does anybody else care?" More »

The prostitution ring that Eliot Spitzer patronized had at its center an unlikely quartet: a 62-year-old former tax specialist and three highly educated women, one only 23 years old. All four have pleaded not guilty to a host of charges, including prostitution, in federal court. The New York Times investigates what drove the managers of the 3-year-old Emperor's Club to careers as a pimp and madams. More »

Another high-powered fella has taken an interest in Ashley Alexander Dupre, but unlike Eliot Spitzer, Donald Trump’s interest in the former call girl is all about TV (well, money, too). People reports that Trump wants Dupre for his new MTV reality show, said to be a sort of "My Fair Lady" competition. “She is an interesting candidate, very interesting," sayeth the Donald. More »

Eliot Spitzer was more involved a smear campaign against political rival Joe Bruno than he cared to admit, according to a report today. Spitzer's answers to investigators were possibly "not truthful," Albany District Attorney P. David Soares said—but Soares is not seeking prosecution, in part due to Spitzer’s sudden resignation in a call girl sex scandal, the New York Times reports. More »

Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer was a client of an upscale prostitution operation busted Tuesday in Manhattan, the New York Post reports. The news comes less than two weeks after Spitzer stepped down for patronizing a similar operation based in New Jersey. And as that saga had "Kristen," the paper charges Spitzer's favored woman here might have been proprietor Kristin "Billie" Davis. More »

A GOP operative who was a teenage participant in the Watergate affair played a role in uncovering Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution habit, Talking Points Memo reports. But Roger Stone was likely too late to the scene to deserve credit for breaking the story. Stone, who was recently involved in leaving threatening messages on Spitzer’s father’s answering machine, tipped the FBI in November about the governor’s habits. More »

One week after revealing he had extramarital affairs, New York Gov. David Paterson has also admitted using marijuana and cocaine. Patterson used drugs in the 70s when he was 23, he said in an interview on TV news channel New York 1. Paterson, the state's first black and first blind governor, succeeded Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in a call-girl scandal. More »

The Justice Department's unusual pursuit of the Emperor's Club—and its most famous client—grew out of suspicions of corruption, not moral turpitude, department officials tell the New York Times. Agents tailed Eliot Spitzer, tapped his phone, and pored over his financial records, steps more costly and intrusive than prostitution cases usually merit. More »

Playgirl feels sorry for Eliot Spitzer, what with the public-opinion crucifixion and $1 million Hustler offer to call-girl “Kristen." He’s unemployed, and might face some stiff legal fees in the near future, so the girls are extending an offer on their blog: “How about making some loot back, by showing us what you saved for such a select few?” More »

Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis thought he'd hit the jackpot when he discovered he had raunchy videos of the call girl from the Spitzer sex scandal on file. But his find may prove less of a bonanza than he'd hoped, now that Ashley Alexandre Dupre has said she was under 18 when she spent a week on the Girls Gone Wild bus, the AP reports. More »

The banks were watching Eliot Spitzer—and they’re watching all of us, too. These days, all large banks and most small ones are equipped with anti-money laundering software, Technology Review explains, which tracks even the most mundane transactions of every customer. Moves that don’t conform to a pattern—like Spitzer’s three $5,000 deposits—get flagged. More »