Spitzer resigns; future in limbo

NEW YORK — New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a rising Democratic Party star who won election promising to fight corruption, announced his resignation Wednesday after being ensnared in a federal investigation that exposed his use of high-priced prostitutes.

With his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, at his side, Spitzer apologized for what he said were his "private failings" and said he is stepping down so as not to "disrupt the people's work." He said the resignation will take effect Monday, to give his successor, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, time to make a smooth transition.

Spitzer, 48, a father of three teenage daughters, ended by offering his prayers for Paterson, whom he called a friend.

Spitzer's resignation leaves him in legal limbo, with prosecutors having given no public signals whether he might face prosecution. Three high-profile criminal-defense attorneys who accompanied Spitzer to his Manhattan office, where he made his announcement, are trying to resolve his legal predicament with federal prosecutors.

Legislators of both parties rushed to praise Paterson, 53, who will become New York's first African-American governor.

"When one door closes, another door opens up," said state assembly member James Tedisco, a Republican who had threatened to lead impeachment proceedings against the governor. "We've gotten this distraction over with. ... We're excited about the potential of our new governor."

Spitzer's fall was all the more stunning since he had been elected in November 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, the most ever in a governor's race in the state, and some Democrats said he could possibly become the country's first Jewish president.

But his life and career began unraveling last week, when federal agents, acting on wiretaps, busted a high-class New Jersey-based prostitution ring, Emperors Club VIP, and arrested four people. The criminal complaint listed an anonymous "Client 9," who was heard calling the escort service to arrange for a call girl called Kristen to meet him for a Feb. 13 tryst at Washington's Mayflower Hotel.

The client allegedly paid for the girl's train tickets to Washington from New York and $4,300 for a two-hour session. Law-enforcement sources confirmed this week that Spitzer was "Client 9."

Sources said Spitzer remains under investigation for possible violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate travel for "for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery" or other "immoral purposes."

He could also face conspiracy and money-laundering charges, the sources said. A more streamlined case could involve charges that Spitzer structured his payments to the escort service in a way that was designed to evade bank-reporting requirements.

Negotiations between Spitzer and prosecutors likely are complicated by many variables, including his desire to avoid losing his license to practice law, said New York University Law School professor Stephen Gillers.

Even if Spitzer avoids criminal charges, state legislators may look into what they said were several unanswered questions and possible ethics violations. Those include whether he used public funds to travel out of the state for meetings with prostitutes under the guise of government business and whether the state troopers who provide his protection were aware of his trysts.

His reputation during his years as New York's attorney general was as an incorruptible "Mr. Clean," whom tabloids had dubbed "Elliot Ness," after the federal agent who brought down Al Capone, and "the Sheriff of Wall Street" for his crusades against white-collar crime and insider trading. He also led two high-profile prosecutions of prostitution rings.

When Spitzer ran for governor, he promised to focus on those who abuse the public trust, pledging to root out corruption and change the capital's way of doing business.

In announcing his resignation Wednesday, Spitzer, echoing the feeling of many who saw tragedy in his rapid fall, said, "I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been."

This Washington Post story published March 13, 2008 reported incorrectly that his successor, David Paterson, would be the nation's first blind governor. Bob Riley, who was legally blind, was governor of Arkansas for 11 days in 1975.