KEY POINTS:
In the end Eliot Spitzer didn't put up much of a fight for his job. He may try a little harder to avoid a jail term.
Spitzer resigned as New York Governor yesterday as the American media identified the woman that linked him to an international prostitution ring as 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre from New Jersey,
The New York Times said she was the petite brunette identified in federal court papers as "Kristen", a callgirl for the big-bucks Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring. It identified Spitzer as "Client 9".
The New York Post said he spent up to US$80,000 ($100,000) on callgirls going back 10 years to his time as New York state attorney-general. It also said Dupre was an aspiring singer who described herself as coming from a "broken home", having used drugs, been abused, and been "broke and homeless", according to a self-penned biography on her MySpace page.
Prosecutors are more likely to consider going after Spitzer, a Democrat, for money laundering or misusing his office than for prostitution because customers of callgirls are rarely pursued by federal authorities, several lawyers and ex-prosecutors have said.
"Given the rarity of federal prosecutions of this kind of conduct, the motives of the prosecutors might be called into question," said Steven Peikin, a former US prosecutor in Manhattan.
"The facts that are not well known are those surrounding the financial transactions. That would be an area of greater concern."
US Attorney Michael Garcia in New York declined to say if he's investigating Spitzer. He said only that "no agreement" had been reached with the ex-governor.
The assistant prosecutor handling the case against the prostitution ring is chief of Garcia's public corruption unit, formerly headed by Spitzer's lead lawyer Michele Hirshman.
Spitzer's defence team includes Theodore Wells, who unsuccessfully defended former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby last year for lying about the leaking of the identity of a US intelligence agent.
As he announced his resignation with his wife Silda by his side, Spitzer said: "Over the course of my public life I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct.
"I can and will ask no less of myself. For his reason I am resigning from the office of governor.
"I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work. The remorse I feel will always be with me."
He will be replaced by lieutenant governor David Paterson.
- BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
