Not quite the sex scandal anyone was expecting out of New York. It involves the Democratic governor of New York state, Eliot Spitzer, caught on a federal wiretap arranging details of meetings with prostitutes, reports the New York Times:
The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr Spitzer as Client 9.
The Smoking Gun site has links to papers about the bust that were released on Thursday, before Spitzer's involvement was mentioned. They include details of discussions between prostitutes about Client Nine - involving a visit to a hotel that the NYT identifies as the posh Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue in Washington DC.
In the FBI affidavit listed on the Smoking Gun, one prostitute is quoted as saying "that from what she had been told 'he' (believed to be a reference to Client 9) 'would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe - you know, I mean that ... very basic things.'"
The National Journal's Hotline blog points out that Spitzer was already facing some rocky poll ratings even before the scandal broke.
Matt Yglesias (as seen in the New York Times) comments:
I used to think Elliot Spitzer was going to be our first Jewish president, but that scenario's seeming less likely.
Should Spitzer step down, his replacement would be deputy governor David Paterson - who is legally blind.
Bringing the whole thing back to the on-going Democratic primary, Ben Smith of the Politico notes:
Spitzer is very much a one-man show in Democratic politics. Hillary Clinton is probably relieved right now at how thin their connections are
