Affairs of State

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his ex-chief of staff were charged today with perjury, obstruction of justice, and misconduct in office related to their denials under oath that they were romantically involved, the Detroit News reports. Kilpatrick, who faces eight felony counts, said at a press conference shortly after the county prosecutor announced the indictments that he expects "full and complete vindication." More »

Here's to the US sex scandal! Eliot Spitzer and Larry Craig make American politicians seem almost human, Gabor Steingart writes in Der Spiegel . He claims that prudish Americans are fueled by secret lust—"and, in the case of some politicians, naked lunacy." Which makes public shame "an invaluable benefit" to the body politic. More »

David Paterson, who succeeded Eliot Spitzer as governor of New York yesterday, has his own history of extramarital relations. He and his wife Michelle admitted in a joint interview with the New York Daily News that they were unfaithful during a rocky period in their 15-year marriage. But both denied the "sporadic rumor in Albany" that Paterson had fathered a love child. More »

Jim McGreevey has backed up his aide's claim that the two were involved in three-way sex with his estranged wife, contradicting her earlier denial. "This happened, this happened in the past, and now we need to move on with our lives," the former New Jersey governor told the AP. The McGreeveys' bitter divorce case is before the courts, and the aide is expected to be called as a witness. More »

Eliot Spitzer didn't patronize a pricey call girl ring just for the sex, Chris Smith writes in a  provocative New York post-mortem. What really attracted him was the covert op. The silver-spoon-fed Ivy Leaguer was always rebelling against being squeaky clean; as a young prosecutor, he got "hooked on the clandestine" while running stings on the Gambino crime family. More »

A Diane Sawyer special about sex workers will air this week after 2 years on the shelf, Rush & Molloy report in the New York Daily News, and the ABC newshound can thank Eliot Spitzer. Previously considered too sensational for prime time, the show is now closer to "ripped from the headlines." It highlights legal brothels like Nevada's Moonlite Bunny Ranch, where Sawyer "really hit it off with all my girls," the owner says. More »

Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's wife Dina was all over the media last week blasting Eliot Spitzer for hypocrisy and empathizing with this aggrieved wife. That was too much for Teddy Pedersen, a former McGreevey driver and aide who says  “she’s out there being as dishonest as anyone could be.” Pederson says Dina had to know her hubby was gay all along because Pedersen had three-way sex with the couple on numerous occasions. More »

With the New York Times in the spotlight for breaking the Eliot Spitzer story, the paper’s urban-affairs correspondent tackles a flood of reader questions, ranging from whether Hillary Clinton will still get Spitzer’s superdelegate vote (“she loses it”) to how the Times got the story in the first place (“we do not discuss anything on sensitive reporting”). More »

Disgraced soon-to-be-ex-governor Eliot Spitzer's troubles could get even worse as prosecutors probe whether he used campaign funds for his meetings with prostitutes, the New York Times reports. Criminal charges linked to the payments could follow if federal investigators discover campaign money paid for the hotel rooms and transportation Spitzer used for his call-girl trysts. More »

Although Eliot Spitzer’s political career is over, it remains unclear what legal fate awaits the disgraced New York governor, the Wall Street Journal reports. Spitzer’s resignation wasn’t part of any deal, the feds confirm, but makes him less of a legal target. One possibility is a deferred-prosecution settlement, in which Spitzer would admit to the crime—but ultimately won't be prosecuted. More »

The richest man in England has been linked to the prostitution ring patronized by Eliot Spitzer, the New York Daily News reports. Sources identified Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, as Emperors Club “Client 6,” who arranged four visits in late 2006. Grosvenor is a close friend of Prince Charles—and godfather to Prince William, second in line to the throne. More »

At the center of Eliot Spitzer’s fall from grace is 22-year-old Kristen, aka Ashley Alexandra Dupre, a high-priced escort and aspiring R&B singer who left her self-proclaimed "broken family" in New Jersey at age 17 to pursue a musical career in New York. “I just don’t want to be thought of as a monster,” she told the New York Times . More »

Eliot Spitzer is going up in flames, but Americans are wondering why his wife has to go with him: The Los Angeles Times talks to angry people on the street, including one divorcee who insists, “She should’ve said, ‘This is your fight. ... You stand there and get yourself out of it.’” But professors disagree, saying sticking on your politician husband’s arm is simply “one last spousal duty.” More »

Eliot Spitzer, with his wife again at his side, announced his resignation in a short press conference this morning. The New York governor apologized for his "private" misconduct, again without making direct reference to the prostitution scandal that has ended his political career. "I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me,"  he said. “I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people’s work.” More »

New Yorkers want embattled Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign from office—or they’ll throw him out, reports the AP. A poll yesterday found 70% of state residents want Spitzer to quit; if he doesn’t, 66% say he should be impeached. "It's a big thumbs down," said pollster Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. More »

David Letterman has made as many Eliot Spitzer jokes as anyone since the governor’s indiscretions broke, but last night he went on a punchline-free rant against Client 9. “He should have stepped down yesterday,” he said. “Get out of office. Who is running the state, for the love of God?” The audience applauded wildly, the Daily News reports. More »

Eliot Spitzer needs a lawyer, and luckily, the ex-AG knows a few. Client 9 has put his fate in the hands of Michele Hirshman, his top deputy from his days as New York State's top lawyer. Now a partner at a top-tier New York firm, Hirshman also spent 11 years as a federal prosecutor, heading up the Public Corruption Unit, which just happens to be the outfit Spitzer’s in trouble with. More »

Silda Wall Spitzer, the Harvard-educated lawyer who stood grimly alongside her husband during his somewhat perplexing apology yesterday, joins the ranks of political wives who suffer publicly the sex scandals of their disgraced mates, ABC writes. She follows in the footsteps of Larry Craig's wife, Suzanne; Jim McGreevey's then-wife, Dana: and, of course, Hillary Clinton, an exception in that she didn't share the podium with Bill at his nadir. More »

As Eliot Spitzer mulls his options, the editorial boards of the state's newspapers are weighing in: Wall Street Journal: "The stupendously deluded belief that the sitting governor of New York could purchase the services of prostitutes was the last act of a man unable to admit the existence of, or need for, limits." More »

Eliot Spitzer's reported involvement with a pricey call-girl ring has left, well, everyone scratching their heads, the AP reports. What makes a public figure show such jaw-dropping disregard for the consequences of private actions? One analyst calls it "the psychology of the exception. People in power sometimes feel they can do things that us, mere mortals, are forbidden to do. There's a sense, as with adolescents, that 'I won't get caught.'" More »