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CAPITOL
Leaders express shock, outrage over scandal
Canestrari: ‘This place is rocked to its foundation’
BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter


Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, had no such doubts. After the news broke early Monday afternoon on The New York Times Web site, and before Spitzer issued his statement, Tedisco spoke to reporters in a Capitol corridor and said if the report is true, Spitzer should resign.
    Once Spitzer had spoken, Tedisco issued a statement saying “Today’s news that Eliot Spitzer was likely involved with a prostitution ring and his refusal to deny it leads to one inescapable conclusion: He has disgraced his office and the entire state of New York. He should resign his offi ce immediately. He is unfit to lead our state and unfit to hold public office.”
    Tedisco said it would be impos- sible for Spitzer to continue as a champion of high ethics, given his admission of wrongdoing. But he also said, “Our prayers go out to him and the family, and the kids.”

I believe Mr. Tedisco made two separate statements about Mr. Spitzer's future in public office, and the tragic impact on his family and children.  

Spitzer was the first Democrat I've voted for in a very long time (I thought he did a fantastic job as AG), and I see it came back to bite me.  

With that said, I don't entirely agree with the statement below.  While its silly to even discuss how each party deals with a scandalous politician (Republicans and Democrats have both consistently failed the people of NY), it seems how each party deals with said politician depends greatly on how popular they are at the time of the scandal.  Nixon was still pretty popular when Watergate broke, and Republicans rallied around him (even Gov. Ronald Reagan with his remark on what was done was illegal but not criminal, because the burglars were not criminal at heart) well into the investigation until his popularity started sinking like the Titanic.  The situations are indeed different and maybe its apples and oranges, but just wanted to get the idea across that all politicians like to play the blame game until its no longer adventageous to do so.

Quoted from bumblethru

There is a difference between the dems and reps on how they deal with their own. When a dem is a 'bad boy/girl' the party will rally around them, will throw money at them, create a patronage job for them and make excuses and provisions for them.

When a rep is a 'bad boy/girl', they eat their own, pull funding from them, distance themselves from them and throw them overboard and move on ahead.

And as far as Tedisco not being married....I believe that Tonko never married either. So your point PDQ?

http://www.dailygazette.com

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Tedisco threatens to push for Spitzer impeachment
March 11, 2008
By Jill Bryce (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

ALBANY — Assemblyman James Tedisco today repeated calls for Gov. Eliot Spitzer to step down in the next 24 to 48 hours and said that he can no longer lead the state.
Tedisco, of Schenectady, spoke a day after Spitzer was accused of paying for a prostitute on Feb. 13, who traveled from New York City to Washington.
"It's a sad day. There is a tremendous amount of anger out there," said Tedisco, R-Schenectady, who called for Spitzer to resign on Monday after the news broke and even before Spitzer issued a statement.
Tedisco told the pack of reporters today that Spitzer is "unfit to lead the state and unfit to hold public office" and that an article of impeachment will proceed if Spitzer does not resign. "People from both affiliations understand he is comprised and doesn't have the support of the people."
He said the Republicans will work with Lt. Gov. David Patterson, who would automatically become governor if Spitzer quits.
Tedisco said he spoke to Paterson on Monday and Paterson was angry, disappointed and upset when he heard about the allegations against Spitzer.
Dozens of news trucks and reporters from national broadcast networks and around the state are hovering around the Capitol awaiting news from the governor's office.
Spitzer was getting little support from his fellow Democrats in the state Assembly Tuesday afternoon, as reports and rumors indicated he may resign because of his involvement in a prostitution scandal.
"When you lose the moral high ground," said Assemblyman Jack McEneny, D-Albany. "When you can't do the job, it's time to do the right thing, and do it quickly." While his comments at about 2:40 p.m. clearly implied that the governor should resign, the veteran assemblyman said he was "avoiding the 'r' word."
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver declined Tuesday to answer directly when asked if Spitzer should resign.
"He has to evaluate the situation and do what's best for him," he said. Speaking shortly after 11 a.m. on the way out of his Capitol office, the speaker also said "My heart goes out" to the Spitzer family.
About an hour later, Silver said "The facts are still being uncovered" regarding Spitzer's situation, and "I think the governor has to make the determination" about whether or not he should resign.
Silver said the Assembly still plans to pass its one-house budget Wednesday, and that he spoke to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Monday night, and expects the Senate to act this week, too. Then, Silver said, they would proceed to conference committees Ñ indicating that legislative action on the budget can proceed despite the turmoil in the executive branch.
Scott Reif, a spokesman for Bruno, confirmed that the Senate plan remains to pass the budget on Wednesday, and then go to conference committees with the Assembly.
Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York, also declined to say Tuesday whether Spitzer should resign. "I'm going to withhold my judgment but not withhold my prayers," said Egan, who was at the Capitol to lobby legislative leaders about other issues.
A senior legislative staffer said he had heard that the staffs of Spitzer and Lt. Gov. David Paterson are holding transition talks. However, in remarks quoted on The New York Times' Web site, Paterson said he has not been in transition discussions.
On Monday, Silver did not meet publicly with reporters regarding the Spitzer prostitution scandal, but put out a one-sentence statement saying: "The allegations against the governor are before the public. I have nothing to add at this time."

Paul Tonko is by no means is a mean spirited demigod who stands on soapbox and rails against a man with a family when the state so desperatly needs to come together.  Rene is right with her point of "tearing of the fabric of our civilized society in general."  This time its Spitzer, next time maybe a Republican; god knows it has happened before.  Tedisco has a nasty streak in him when a Democrat falls from grace, much like his crony Armando Tebano did but not a hoot what so ever from Jim Tedisco when Tebano resisted the calls for resignation.  Jim Tedisco has no feelings for a hurting wife and devastated children.  Mr. Minority Leader has been the only "leader" to make the TV rounds all over the countryside.  As Ron Canostrari aptly stated in the TU "Tedisco Take" was "tasteless."  His stature as a leader will be tarnished by his egomaniac, self centered rants of impeachment.

Quoted from 153

Paul Tonko is by no means is a mean spirited demigod who stands on soapbox and rails against a man with a family when the state so desperatly needs to come together.  

I must say that you're sort of right.  I don't ever remember him standing up and having a backbone on ANY subject the entire time he was in office.  

Quoted from 153

Rene is right with her point of "tearing of the fabric of our civilized society in general."  This time its Spitzer, next time maybe a Republican; god knows it has happened before.  

I agree.  

Quoted from 153

Tedisco has a nasty streak in him when a Democrat falls from grace, much like his crony Armando Tebano did but not a hoot what so ever from Jim Tedisco when Tebano resisted the calls for resignation.  Jim Tedisco has no feelings for a hurting wife and devastated children.  Mr. Minority Leader has been the only "leader" to make the TV rounds all over the countryside.  As Ron Canostrari aptly stated in the TU "Tedisco Take" was "tasteless."  

I won't comment on this because I really don't know what the situation is / was with Mr. Tebano.  What I do know is that this is the second major Democratic political leader who has found himself in a position like this (Clinton / Spitzer).  When a Republican finds themselves in this type of position, their party is the first to jump out and try to take care of the situation in whatever means necessary.  If that means getting the person out of office, so be it.  The Democrats seem to find themselves trying to pad these things each time to find a way out of whatever the situation is and keeping themselves going.

Quoted from 153

His stature as a leader will be tarnished by his egomaniac, self centered rants of impeachment.

I don't really think so.  I think that someone has to stand up and call Spitzer to the floor for what has happened.  I think, instead, this is the position that Spitzer finds himself in.  Well, I guess the steamroller has been towed off to the junkyard about 2 1/2 years early.  People said he wouldn't get re-elected, but I would guess that before this last week, most people at least thought that he would make it around to election day again, even if he didn't want to run for a second term.

Mr. March:

I believe Larry Craig, the Gov. of Louisianna, Chief Judge Sol Walchlter, Clarence Rapplyea, Mark Foley were all Republicans with similar ethical crisis and I don't recall the rhetoric being as intense as Tedisco's.  He is starting to morph into a political zealot which is unbecoming a state leader.  Needs to reign in his viritol and lead not divide. He is an upstate assemblyman for crissakes not a Brooklyn pol.  If he keeps it up he will inherit the steamrollar moniker.  Then again maybe thats the part of his personna he desires.   JMHO  

The only difference with the people you mentioned is they weren't accused of federal felonies.  I'm not saying Spitzer is guilty - or innocent ... but the allegations are made and a public apology like we heard yesterday is certainely telling.  If it was UNtrue, he would be out spreading his face to the media every minute ... instead, he's squirreled away in his Manhattan apt like a coward.  This isn't just an "ethics" issue, this is a federal offense that's looming over his head. Charged or not, everyone, including him, knows it.

So.....is he a 'sex offender' or just a plain old criminal but not at heart???? This is pointless and I hope his 'penial ways' dont obfuscate the publics eyes for the rest of the political follies and illegalities and ethical detours......there is something to be said about NYS gaming and horse racing too......not to mention the Thruway Authority.....NYS has a monkey on it's back and the shepherds are wolves in sheeps clothing.......

Mr.Spitzer needs to just pack his bags and walk away and hope his wife isn't Elaina Bobbit.....as for Mr.Paterson,,,,what kind of an acceptance speech would he give?---"Uh, Gee. Thank you for this opportunity, and I am honored to fill his shoes and hope I will be acceptable to you and serve the public well."????????

Quoted from 153

Mr. March:

I believe Larry Craig, the Gov. of Louisianna, Chief Judge Sol Walchlter, Clarence Rapplyea, Mark Foley were all Republicans with similar ethical crisis and I don't recall the rhetoric being as intense as Tedisco's.  He is starting to morph into a political zealot which is unbecoming a state leader.  Needs to reign in his viritol and lead not divide. He is an upstate assemblyman for crissakes not a Brooklyn pol.  If he keeps it up he will inherit the steamrollar moniker.  Then again maybe thats the part of his personna he desires.   JMHO  

Then I guess you weren't listening very closely to ANYTHING when these were all going down.  They were the first thing on the news every night, especially Larry Craig and Mark Foley.  And the reason you weren't hearing the rhetoric is probably because he was hearing it from behind closed doors.  Plus, the talk radio mafia were letting them have it all the time.  You can't tell me that they weren't going after them guns-a-blazing.  

So what if Jim Tedisco is an "upstate assemblyman."  Every day, I hear how there's really no difference where you're from.  We're all supposed to be working together to make this one big happy state, right?  SO what diference would it make if he was from the Bronx, Harlem, Schenectady, Buffalo, Poughkeepsie, or anywhere else?  And he's not the one that had to get bleeped when someone (Spitzer) became the self-proclaimed "F'ing Steamroller."

http://www.dailygazette.com

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Official: Spitzer a repeat customer
BY MICHAEL GORMLEY
The Associated Press

    With pressure mounting on Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign over a call-girl scandal, investigators said Tuesday he was clearly a repeat customer who spent tens of thousands of dollars — perhaps as much as $80,000 — with the highpriced prostitution service over an extended period of time.
    Spitzer and his family, meanwhile, remained secluded in their Fifth Avenue apartment, while Republicans began talking impeachment, and few if any fellow Democrats came forward to defend him. A death watch of sorts began at the state Capitol, where whispers of “What have you heard?” echoed through nearly every hallway of the ornate, 109-year-old building.
    On Monday, when the scandal broke, prosecutors said in court papers that Spitzer had been caught on a wiretap spending $4,300 with the Emperors Club VIP call-girl service, with some of the money going toward a night with a prostitute named Kristen, and the rest to be used as credit toward future trysts. The papers also suggested that Spitzer had done this before.
    Speaking on condition of anonymity, a law enforcement official said Tuesday that Spitzer, in fact, had spent tens of thousands of dollars with the Emperors Club. Another official said the amount could be as high as $80,000. But it was not clear over what period of time that was spent.
    Still another law enforcement official said investigators found that during the tryst with Kristen on the night before Valentine’s Day, Spitzer used two rooms at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington — one for himself, the other for the prostitute. Sometime around 10 p.m., Spitzer sneaked away from his security detail and made his way to the room where she was the official said. The three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
    In the court papers, an Emperors Club employee was quoted as telling Kristen that Client 9 — Spitzer, according to investigators — “would ask you to do things that … you might not think were safe,” and Kristen responded by saying: “I have a way of dealing with that. … I’d be, like, listen, dude, you really want the sex?”
    A law enforcement official said Tuesday the discussion had to do with Spitzer’s preference not to wear a condom and the call-girl’s insistence that he use one.
    Spitzer’s vast personal wealth would have made it easy for him to spend thousands of dollars on prostitutes. The scion of a wealthy Manhattan real estate developer, Spitzer reported $1.9 million in income to the IRS in 2006.
    Meanwhile, Albany insiders on Tuesday said the governor was still trying to decide how to proceed. Options included quitting immediately, or waiting to use resignation as a bargaining chip with federal prosecutors to avoid indictment.
    Democrats privately floated another option, telling The Associated Press that Spitzer was considering what was almost unthinkable immediately after Monday’s bombshell apology: hanging on.
    “If the public is fine, he’ll stay,” said a Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
ALLIES UPSET
    Still, Spitzer’s many enemies from Albany and Wall Street were emboldened, and some of his friends went from shock to outrage.
    “Particularly because of the reform platform on which he was elected governor, his ability to govern the state of New York and execute his duties as governor have been irreparably damaged,” said Citizens Union, a good-government group that supported the crusading attorney general for governor in 2006 and provided critical support in his effort to reform Albany. “It is our strong belief that it is now impossible for him to fulfill his responsibilities as governor. Accordingly, Citizens Union urges him to resign as governor.”
    The case against Spitzer, a 48-year-old married man with three teenage daughters, started when banks noticed frequent cash transfers from several accounts and fi led suspicious-activity reports with the Internal Revenue Service, a law enforcement official told the AP. The accounts were traced back to Spitzer, prompting public corruption investigators to open an inquiry.
    The governor has not been charged, and prosecutors would not comment on the case. Michele Hirshman, Spitzer’s former deputy attorney general and now a member of the high-powered New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, has been retained to represent the governor.
    In Albany, Democratic Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who would become governor if Spitzer resigned, was talking to legislative leaders about a possible transition.
    Reporters, government workers and the public milled around the state Capitol on Tuesday, waiting for any developments. News vans lined up around the building, and camera operators sat next to their tripods on the front lawn waiting for something to happen.
    Assembly Republican leader James Tedisco warned that if Spitzer did not resign within 48 hours, he would call for impeachment. But any impeachment would face a difficult road in the Democrat-controlled Assembly, where articles of impeachment would require a majority vote to go to a trial. A trial would be decided by a combined vote of the full Senate, which has a slim GOP majority, and the Court of Appeals.
    Tedisco was an early target of Spitzer’s abrasive and uncompromising style in Albany. In a private call, an angry Spitzer once described himself to Tedisco as a “steamroller” — he attached a profanity for emphasis — and warned: “I’ll roll over you and anybody else.”
    Privately, several Democrats in the Legislature and in the administration said resignation appeared inevitable. “He’s weighing the rest of his life,” one Democratic official said sadly.
    Late Tuesday, freshman Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand became the first Democratic member of New York’s congressional delegation to mention resignation. “This is very grave and sad news,” she said. “If these serious allegations are true the governor will have no choice but to resign.”
    But more than a day after the scandal broke, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other senior Democrats in the delegation had yet to call on Spitzer to quit.
    On Wall Street, where Spitzer built his reputation as a crusader against shady practices and overly generous compensation, cheers and laughter erupted Monday from the trading floor when news broke of his potential ruin.
    Many in the financial indus try had long complained that the man known as “Mr. Clean” and the “Sheriff of Wall Street” was a sanctimonious bully who was just trying to advance his political career. Many Wall Streeters were delighted to see him get his come uppance.
    “The irony and the hypocrisy is almost too good to be true,” said Bryn Dolan, a fundraiser who works with many Wall Street employees “If he had any shame, he would’ve already resigned.”

http://www.dailygazette.com

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Methods he once used as prosecutor snared governor
BY SAMANTHA GROSS AND DEVLIN BARRETT
The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — Eliot Spitzer knew how to catch bad guys by following the money.
    As attorney general, he once broke up a call-girl ring and locked up 18 people on corruption, money-laundering and prostitution charges. He ruthlessly investigated the pay packages of Wall Street executives and was so familiar with shady financial maneuvers that he rose to become the top racketeering prosecutor in Manhattan.
    But in the end, it appears that Spitzer may have been done in by the same behavior he built a career out of prosecuting.
    In fact, it seems he was tripped up by some of the very financial accounting methods he used so successfully against multibilliondollar Wall Street firms.
    For one thing, the governor initially drew the attention of federal investigators because of cash payments to an account operated by a call-girl ring, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of because of the sensitivity of the case.
    Banks are required to file Suspicious Activity Reports to the government whenever they observe something they fear may be a crime.
    In court papers, Client 9 — identified by another law enforcement official as Spitzer — hurried to get more than $4,000 in cash to pay a call girl at a Washington hotel.
    That kind of activity, repeated over time, is just the kind of thing that would set off alarm bells with a bank’s compliance officer, who is trained to be on the lookout for what is called structuring or “smurfing” — a pattern of transactions aimed at hiding the nature or purpose of certain money.
    Spitzer of all people should have known that, said Miami-based lawyer Gregory Baldwin, credited with coining the term “smurfi ng” in the 1980s as a federal prosecutor.
    “I think he’s done enough cases where he’s charged money laundering that he would know exactly what kind of information you get from the banks. It’s such a perfect example of what goes around, comes around,” he said.
    By the time the scandal broke this week, Spitzer’s financial transactions had been monitored, his phone calls had been caught on tape, and his actions had been scrutinized by federal prosecutors. It could have been straight out of the Spitzer prosecution playbook.
    Whether Spitzer thought he was smarter than the feds because of his own professional experience is, for now at least, a matter for psychologists to speculate on.
    As New York attorney general, Spitzer was also familiar with how to bust up a prostitution ring.
    Spitzer proudly announced on April 8, 2004, that authorities had arrested 18 people on promoting prostitution and related charges — including money laundering and falsifying business records — in an investigation of escort services in New York.
    “This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure,” Spitzer said at the time. “It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring, and now its owners and operators will be held accountable.”
    In the 2004 probe, investigators used wiretaps and other surveillance to build their case, said Vincent Romano, who defended the man accused of running the ring. Prosecutors also charged some of the defendants with enterprise corruption — a charge carrying heavier penalties than simple prostitution. No charges were brought against the ring’s customers, just those accused of working for or running the service.
    “It was a big splash. They had the perp walk. He caused a lot of embarrassment to a lot of people in the case to his benefit. What he put their families through at the time, he’s probably experiencing now: the level of embarrassment and ridicule,” Romano said.
    “He’s got this overzealous, meanspirited prosecution, but behind closed doors in another state, he’s doing the identical thing that he’s accusing others of doing,” he added. “And the other irony of it is that you’ve made a career off of a wiretap, and your demise is by the same prosecutorial tool.”
    The investigation that could spell Spitzer’s ruin found that Client 9 was apparently a repeat customer with the Emperors Club VIP, a lucrative prostitution service where some call girls pulled in $5,500 an hour. The governor has not been charged, and prosecutors would not comment on the case.
    A person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the probe began with a referral from banks to an Internal Revenue Service office on Long Island about suspicious transactions involving accounts ultimately traced to Spitzer. The IRS studied the records and then referred the case to federal prosecutors in October. It was then assigned to the public corruption unit of the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan.
    The precise details of what set off alarm bells for federal authorities are still unclear.
    But authorities believe Spitzer may have spent tens of thousands of dollars, apparently transferring only personal funds — not campaign contributions or state taxpayer dollars — between accounts to pay for the prostitute service, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
    Another official said the amount could be as much as $80,000.
    A half-million or so times every year, banks alert the federal government that a suspicious transaction has occurred. Although the public sometimes thinks it requires a transfer of $10,000 or more to attract attention, banks can label transactions suspicious even if they involve far less money, said Walter Pagano, a former IRS agent who has testified in court on white-collar crime.
    Spitzer might have tried to keep his transfers below the $10,000 threshold, underestimating the scrutiny that banks give to lesser amounts.
    Spitzer prosecuted cases in New York for two decades before becoming governor. From 1986 to 1992, he was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. While there, he rose to become chief of the labor racketeering unit.
    While attorney general, he also went up against two men he accused of using their tour company to promote “sex tourism” in the Philippines and Thailand — fi rst suing them in civil court and then bringing criminal charges.
    One defense attorney on the case said it was politically motivated.
    “He prosecuted a couple of little guys who were easy targets when he was running for governor,” Daniel Hochheiser said. “The whole situation is marked by irony, hypocrisy and self-righteousness.”

http://www.schenectadyrants.info/

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What can we say? Nothing.

Be careful how you treat people on your way up. ’cause you’ll be passing them again on your way back down.

Idiot Spitzer. Client #9

Will he have to register??? What level would he be??  He has alot of choices for places to live....he makes alot in his realestate endeavours and owns alot of property.....would the neighborhood 'evict' him??? Will he need a background check and fingerprinting?? Where will his mugshot end up??....he made such a statement as the defender of the elderly getting beat up in nursing homes and the requirement for background checks and all.....guess what, you can do background checks on everyone(including yourself),,,but,,,, there is no prophet as to the eventual choices a person makes......NO MINORITY REPORT....you are only a criminal when you are caught AND convicted.....politics is built in a glass house.....there are other client names behind those numbers.......

You don't register as a sex offender for patronizing prostitutes ... if that were true, half of schenectady would be on the list.

AP Says Spitzer is going to announce resignation at 11:30 (from NY) - effective MONDAY!

Quoted from 147

You don't register as a sex offender for patronizing prostitutes ... if that were true, half of schenectady would be on the list.

AP Says Spitzer is going to announce resignation at 11:30 (from NY) - effective MONDAY!

Is it not an 'offense'???? if it is not then why are we having this discussion in NYS??? Oh, that's right it's only illegal because the government cannot collect taxes and it is 'non-taxable trade'......

Who wanted to tax the drug dealers????? there is an article somewhere on this forum about, I think it was called a black tax??? Do we get to collect from this illegality????