Considering that it’s the NY Post (a thousand right-wing lies in every issue!), I think I’ll reserve judgment on whether he’s done anything wrong. But if he is, all I can wonder is WTF was he thinking?

Oh, right. Another case of using the wrong head for the specified activity.

The fact is, Spitzer is going down, the stock markets will go up, the witch is dead. Ding dong.

Digby hits it on the head, AFAIC. But then, she almost always does.

Well, clearly the guy is a moron. I mean come on. $5,500.00 for a prostitute? Hasn’t he even heard of Craigslist? He could have gotten himself some ass for free!

Oh I don’t know. Five gees buys a lot of…um…nevermind. Forget I spoke.

The fact is, I’ve been having a bit of an incontinence problem lately. Anyone know of a good butt plug that can help with this?

Spitzer meets swalower?

Pols are crazy people with oversized appetites for damn near everything. You have to be mentally ill to want to hold a maor public office in this country, no matter your party or state.

Here, Gary. Stick this in your ass and you’ll feel the love of Christ as well as solve the incontinence problem.

Of course, that cross might be a tad inconvenient…or it might enhance your pleasure. ‘sup to you, meng.

The fact is, will that also allow me to fart Gospels?

Y’know, he coulda been more proactive on this…

“Citizens of New York, I am today announcing the results of a long-term undercover operation, in which I have personally taken great risks to document a number of threats to the health and safety of our populace…”

Let’s see how this plays out. Brian Ross at ABC has a story claiming the trigger for the investigation was suspicious transfers of funds by Spitzer.

The federal investigation of a New York prostitution ring was triggered by Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s suspicious money transfers, initially leading agents to believe Spitzer was hiding bribes, according to federal officials.

It was only months later that the IRS and the FBI determined that Spitzer wasn’t hiding bribes but payments to a company called QAT, what prosecutors say is a prostitution operation operating under the name of the Emperors Club.

[…]

The suspicious financial activity was initially reported by a bank to the IRS which, under direction from the Justice Department, brought kin the FBI’s Public Corruption Squad.

“We had no interest at all in the prostitution ring until the thing with Spitzer led us to learn about it,” said one Justice Department official.

From the complaint (pdf), it’s clear Client 9 insisted on paying in cash and not by credit card, at least for the 2/13/08 encounter. Did Client 9 exercise the same precaution and pay QAT Consulting the same way in the past? The complaint doesn’t say. I’d like to know what kind of “suspicious money transfers” the federal officials cited are talking about. Wire transfers from Spitzer’s account or accounts to QAT’s? Multiple transfers between Spitzer’s accounts that eventually led to large or repeated ATM withdrawals?

As others have pointed out, this is the Bush Administration’s Justice Department we’re talking about.

Gary Ruppert said,

The fact is, I’ve been having a bit of an incontinence problem lately. Anyone know of a good butt plug that can help with this?

I can get you a deal on a couple of wetsuits to go with that.

Ok, well, I haven’t been paying any attention to this today, I’m on the other coast and, at the bottom of it all, Spitzers a cop and I really don’t like cops, so I had a little kneejerk schadenfreunde, but I can’t help but be struck by the great american sex disconnect.

Kill, maim, steal, lie, cheat – all forgivable offenses in our great nation where the dollar is what we worship and the only thing that can hold our attention for more than thirty seconds is TITS or FUCKING, which many of our leaders will say is a bad thing as soon as they pull their pants back on.

But sex. Or, even worse, butt sex. Man, that’s all kinds of hell wrapped up in a puritanical pantsuit, ain’t it. Ever wonder why it gets everybody, from the local alderman to the county sheriff to a governor or two to the freaking PRESIDENT? Um, it’s because everybody does it because we are hardwired to do it and it’s a lonely, sad, brutal short trip and we need love and intimacy and sex as much as we need food, water and air.

We don’t hire these guys to be chaste. It ain’t in the job description. We hire them to lead a department, or a state, or the nation. Now sure, if they are at the forefront of the “SEX IS EVIL” chastising brigade, they very well should pay a price for their hypocrisy.

But at some point either we will find a way to arrest our freefall into theocratic house of mirrors or this is going to be the kind of place where everyone rats out everyone for actions not even officially proscribed. Hell, already the mullahs in Tehran or Basra ain’t a whole lot ahead of what counts for behavior police in the US, except our behavior police giggle like second graders before composing themselves to utter a serious denouncement for this awful, coarse rutting behavior.

Honestly. Is this what we want our nation to be like?

mikey

Dude? No love for the Magic Hat #9?

And to follow on with what Snowwy added …
if you ask someone to tickle you with a feather, no big deal.
You ask someone to tickle you with a chicken? Well, it may cost extra.

That’s nice (I like the sizing, and the handle can be quite useful actually) but he asked for a butt plug.

The fact is, the Christ dildo was a great idea. The fact is, I’ve already fashioned a replica using a screwdriver handle and some pop sickle sticks. The fact of the matter is, it works just fine.

Honestly. Is this what we want our nation to be like?

No. But the American Taliban likes it fine. Especially if they get a free pass for their own perversions.

“Love Ness!”

The only difference is, if Spitzer was a Republican, the prostitute would be male.

You ask someone to tickle you with the Colonel’s Kentucky Fried Chicken, you’re going to get banned from the premises. Again.

it’s kind of tame compared to the Republican scandals: pedophilia, two wet suits, closeted gay preachers, airport bathroom stall sex….

…if Spitzer was a Republican, the prostitute would be male.

Only about 99% of the time. There was old “Diapers” Vitter – so I guess kinky shit with women is OK for the Redoublechins.

From the prostitutes’ pics floating around the Spitzer case, his tastes seemed pretty vanilla. I’ll retract that if it turns out the particular acts weren’t, but for now he seems to be a plain old john.

I disagree that it’s all about sex, or at least that’s not the important thing for me about this.

What’s important for me is that the guy was a Prosecutor – a District Attorney. And he prosecuted people for prostitution and running prostie operations.

You can’t get a free pass for doing something you’re throwing other people’s butts in jail for.

It’s freaking sad, the arrogance of the guy. I mean, I’m cool if the guycommits adultery, has a gay affair, whatever he wants to do that’s free and legal – but the fact that he’s participating in a criminal activity that he himself has prosecuted people for is what I see as the big problem here.

Also, check out the unfortunate picture of him being used on the CNN webpage – snapped just at the wrong moment. How’d you like to have that mug going down in history?

At least Spitzer wasn’t suiting up as a cartoon character to get his nut off.

As far as we know.

This is very disappointing as I used to hold Spitzer in very high esteem. He’s from my neck of the woods, Riverdale, up in the north end of the Bronx. He seemed like such a badass. Whether or not you think soliciting a prostitute is a crime that should cause one to resign, you have to admit it’s spectacularly stupid for a man of Spitzer’s profile. Don’t these guys ever learn?

The fact is, this is proof that Bush’s warrantless wiretapping plan is working. God-fearing Heartland folk like me don’t need wiretaps because we live with our mommas who screen our calls and we only talk on party lines anyway.

The fact is, we in the heartland want our money back from Karl Rove.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/16437701.html

Hey JK47,

I never lived in the Bronx, but a friend of mine did (in Riverdale). I took the subway up and played at both Van Cortlandt and Mosholu for a while when I lived in NYC.

To me it’s just sad. Guy just wanted some action, and instead got the whole puritan brigade up his ass.

“Exterminate the prudes”

Iggy Pop

For SamFromUtah, from the criminal complaint:

85. On February 14, 2008, at approximately 12:02 a.m., TEMEKA RACHELLE LEWIS, a/k/a “Rachelle,” the defendant, received a call from “Kristen.” During the call, “Kristen” told LEWIS that “he,” a reference to Client-9, had left. LEWIS asked “Kristen” what time he got there, and “Kristen” said “15 after . . . maybe 10.” LEWIS asked “Kristen” how she thought the appointment went, and “Kristen” said that she thought it went very well. LEWIS asked “Kristen” how much she collected, and ‘Kristen” said $4,300. “Kristen” said that she liked him, and that she did not think he was difficult. “Kristen” stated: ‘I don’t think he’s difficult. I mean it’s just kind of like . . . whatever. . . I’m here for a purpose. I know what my purpose is. I am not a . . . moron, you know what I mean. So maybe that’s why girls maybe think they’re difficult . . . . ” “Kristen” continued: “That’s what it is, because you’re here for a [purpose]. Let’s not get it twisted – I know what I do, you know.” LEWIS responded: “You look at it very uniquely, because . . . no one ever says it that way.” LEWIS continued 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. . . . “Kristen” responded: “I have a way of dealing with that . . . I’d be like listen dude, you really want the sex? . . . You know what I mean.” Near the end of the call, LEWIS and “Kristen” discussed “Kristen’s” departure via Amtrak, the room that Client-9 had provided for “Kristen,” and “Kristen’s” share of the cash that Client-9 had provided to her. (Call 9750R).

I’m with you on Spitzer’s hypocrisy and hubris, g, but I sure as hell don’t trust the Justice Department, not after what Bush and Gonzales have done to it.

Well, at least the taxpayers finally got a payoff from the GOP’s survellience of Democrats. We all figured it’d be a waste but Karl Rove said “We’re bound to pick SOMETHING up and if not, we’ll just make something up!!”.

At least it’s not another Republican corrupted by young Democrat boys!!

Did Spitzer wear diapers? Try to hook up with strangers in public rest rooms? If he did, there is NO reason he shouldn’t keep his job.

Huh. Thanks, J-, though I’m not sure what that all means. Sooner or later we’ll find out what Client-9 was asking for that didn’t sound safe.

Like, trapeze without a net?

Yeah, it’s hard to tell what went on. My guess is that Client 9 said he preferred without protection, and Kristen shot that down real quick. But who knows.

kenga – Magic Hat #9? Awful stuff. Fat Angel’s not bad. I usually drink Saranac, tho.

That was the first thing I thought of, too, J-.

But there just might be venomous toads involved, we’ll have to wait and see.

I also agree with g about the hypocrisy and hubris and with you about the shadiness of the Bushco Justice Dept. This case may end up pointing out just what those secret wiretaps and “national security letters” and stuff were all about.

Oh my.

I, for one, am rooting for venomous toads.

‘Cause that’d be cool. Heh heh….

/buttheadvoice

mikey

I’m with you on Spitzer’s hypocrisy and hubris, g, but I sure as hell don’t trust the Justice Department

Jane at firedoglake has an interesting take on it.

1) the government is saying it came to light when the bank reported to the IRS reported some “suspicious” transfer of funds from Spitzer’s bank account. As Jane points out, the transfers were for a couple thousand, not big sums for a guy with his income. Why would that be suspicious? Plus, why wouldn’t the bank first contact the account holder, instead of blindly reporting it to the IRS?

2) US Attorneys don’t usually get involved in prostitution cases.

couple other points. Go read it.

Of course, even if they trapped him, lured him, or went after someone in with disproportionate force for the crime, it still appears that he did it, and that’s a major fuckup on his part.

You can’t really compare it to Clinton, because what Clinton did was LEGAL.

You’d think Spitzer could get female companionship legally and free – he’s not a bad-looking man.

Oh come on. It may not ever get spoken, the thing that cannot be said, but this is EXACTLY why the bush administration wanted to be able to conduct surveillance without warrants. Why would you fear warrants? Only if you wanted to vacuum up everything and search for the most self serving pieces. How could anyone ever question why they decided that, at all costs and risks, they HAD to avoid being forced to get warrants…

mikey

It is odd, that, the bank calling in the Feds. They have to transactions larger than $5K (? or something) but his were under that. OTOH, I suppose the big nabobs at the bank wouldn’t hesitate to keep an eye on the DEM guv’s account, just in case, y’know?

Can’t say much for your taste in men, g. But then I’ve been a chicken hawk since I was one.

This is just the Bush Crime Family’s way of “proving” how much protection the telcos need. Osama’s minions my left foot, those huge unpaid NSA phone taps were all about hunting for Teh Nasty, or at least the moderately embarrassing, in their Democratic enemies’ underwear drawers. J. Edgar Hoover may be dead, but his legacy lives on.

but this is EXACTLY why the bush administration wanted to be able to conduct surveillance without warrants

Well, yeah. I believe the Nixonites called it ratfucking. Very effective, even without the tacit approval of Congress.

Oh, and my alternate prediction for tomorrow’s Post headline:

Number Nine? Number Nine? Number Nine?

They have to report transactions….

this is EXACTLY why the bush administration wanted to be able to conduct surveillance without warrants.

Absolutely. That was the whole point from the start.

J. Edgar Hoover is dead? WTF? When did that happen? I thought they were keeping his brain alive down there in the FBI bowels.

Smiler: Now you’ve got the kids running to the goog. Good for you.

Ooops. It wasn’t the Hoove. It was that other cross dresser

5500.00 an hour hookerz?

fup fup fup fup fup fup fup..

Yes, PeeJ, but are they googling “ratfucking” or “Number Nine”? No matter, it’s a win-win!

couple other points. Go read it.

Hamsher’s point 3:

3. Mike Garcia is a Chertoff crony. Sources familiar with the investigation say that he sent a prosecution memo to DC two months ago asking for authority to indict a public figure (Spitzer). Which means they had their case made long before the wire tap of February 13. Why did they then include this line from that conversation in the complaint?

LEWIS continued 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….”Kristen” responded: “I have a way of dealing with that…I’d be like listen dude, you really want the sex?…You know what I mean.”

This salacious detail does not seem like it’s necessary to make their case, and appears to be added for no other purpose than to destroy Spitzer’s career.

Not only did they include that line in the complaint, but the section on Client 9 is far more detailed than any of the others. In the complaint the transactions of ten numbered clients are described. Almost all include brief descriptions of financial negotiations and payments and minimal details on logistics (city, hotel room number, time, confirmation of sex worker’s arrival and departure). The exception is the section on Client 9, which is very long and very detailed on the money negotiations, the logistics, and this other subject (see my longer quote above), which doesn’t come up in the other nine cases. Spitzer’s section stands out.

Digby said it ages ago, you know they were using their shiny new toys to spy on Democrats. They have proven countless times that they’ll do anything to win. Why would they not do this too? Morality? Respect for the law?

On a happier note, my dad saw the Clovers at the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC. I don’t know if they played “Love Potion #9.”

I’m not agreeing with the hypocrisy charges.

Yeah, the guy USED to be a prosecutor. But now he was the freakin Governor.

I mean, I used to be a fry cook, and if I dropped dog doody in the deep fryer, I’d be fired. But now, if I do it, I’m creative.

Yeah, it’s illegal and all, but as mikey points out SHEESH. Can we all just get over the puritanical 50’s morality already? If selling is legal, and fucking is legal, why isn’t selling fucking legal?

As Jane points out, the transfers were for a couple thousand, not big sums for a guy with his income. Why would that be suspicious? Plus, why wouldn’t the bank first contact the account holder, instead of blindly reporting it to the IRS?

First of all, I’m going to just be all out suspicious of our Injustice Department.

See Donald Siegelman, Dammit!

Second of all, Bank Secrecy Act.

Remember when I was whining about that crap?

Hey, we work for Nazis now. Not vegetarians. See Jonah the Pig get even fatter (because some animals are more equal than others).
~

“ELIOT MESS”

more cleverer than “love potion #9” by half. suck it, Jesus.

Jeez. Whodathunk, after the Nixon domestic spying debacle, that anything like that would ever happen again?

I mean, spying on American citizens? For political purposes? That would be against the law and the GOP is the rule of law party, yes?

Who’dathunkit?

Guess this kills the myth that wingtards get away with more illicit sex because they’re used to paying their wives for it.

If selling is legal, and fucking is legal, why isn’t selling fucking legal?

George Carlin agrees

I’m mostly disappointed in that I though Spitzer might have a chance to be the guy who cleans up some of the cesspool. He won’t get the chance now.

‘PIMP MY STATE’

‘NEW PORK, NEW PORK’

‘LUBE-HER-NATORIAL’

‘TRIX ARE FOR SPITZ’

‘HARD OUT HERE FOR A GOV’

‘THE LOVERNOR’

‘JIZZ HONOR’

‘GOVERNOR-CUM-FELON’

‘E.(lio)T., CALL HO’

‘SPITZ HITS TITS’

‘AL-BINT-Y’

‘THE LOVE GOV’

‘CUM-UPPANCE’

I think ‘Elliot Mess’ wins, but I’m actually partial to ‘Spitz Meets Swallows’

Yikes. ‘E.(lio)T., CALL HO’ should be ‘E.(lio)T. PHONE HO’ … marginally less lame, that is.

Here’s my question:

What was Spitzer working on currently? And,who would benefit the most from his career going down in flames?

And of course all this spying under cover of “OMG!! Waiter there’s a Terrorist in My Soup!!”was about ratfucking. High tech ratfucking of anyone liberal,democrat,or a threat to conservatives. If they were nailing true threats to the country all over the place,the bastards would never shut up about it. This has helped the country exactly zilch.

Ever classy, the post ended up choosing “Ho No!” as their headline. (no joke)

Spitzer needs to stay put and fight an impeachment. Maybe if he gets impeached we’ll wake-up and realize that there are others who should be impeached.

Or not.

Admit it, it’s clever.

I was waiting for something punny like the whorehouse being run by a Madam Ruth. Troubles, indeed. Oh well, I guess we can’t have everything.

“Love Potion #9”

Tbogg suggests: “Horton Hires a Ho.”

“This is very disappointing as I used to hold Spitzer in very high esteem. He’s from my neck of the woods, Riverdale, up in the north end of the Bronx. He seemed like such a badass. Whether or not you think soliciting a prostitute is a crime that should cause one to resign, you have to admit it’s spectacularly stupid for a man of Spitzer’s profile. Don’t these guys ever learn?”

Homeboy! I didn’t know he was from Riverdale. (I was at PS 81 K-6 at some point during the Cretaceous…)

I really don’t care much about his sexual preferences, but to put his family through this is awful. It also points to a lack of judgment: he was snared by the kind of information trail he might have used in one of his own investigations. The missus thinks that maybe he wanted to be caught. Oh the irony…the hypocrisy…it really is a bit of a Greek tragedy.

“…it really is a bit of a Greek tragedy.”

It’s a bit of a Trojan tragedy, from what I hear.