Spare Us, Please, the Sanctimonious Mr. Spitzer
By Examiner Editorial
- 12/2/08
While the former attorney general of New York crusaded against the lack of transparency on Wall Street, he hypocritically used a shell company to hide his payments to the “Emperor’s Club,” a high-priced prostitution ring. The suspicious transfer of funds reported by his bank eventually triggered the federal investigation that led to his resignation. The so-called Sheriff of Wall Street also kept more than $400,000 in campaign contributions from attorneys with Milberg Weiss, a class-action lawsuit factory whose four senior partners were convicted of paying $11.4 million in kickbacks to plaintiffs.
The Examiner has repeatedly questioned Spitzer’s unearned reputation as a white knight, pointing out that most of his high-profile cases ended in settlements, not guilty verdicts, with very little of the $13 billion he essentially extorted from wealthy corporations and individuals ever making it back to the small investors he was supposedly defending.
Spitzer was on his way to testify before the House Financial Services Committee when he arranged to have a prostitute meet him at the Mayflower Hotel. The same committee members who want to know whether the FBI investigation of Spitzer was “politically motivated” failed, for political reasons, to investigate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – which were Ground Zero for the toxic mortgage-backed securities that triggered the financial meltdown in the first place.
Spitzer was right when he confessed that his conduct was “unworthy of an elected official” – or any public servant, for that matter. If President-elect Barack Obama really wants change, he will launch a major bipartisan investigation into the fraudulent behavior that triggered the trillion-dollar bailout - not only on Wall Street, but in Washington as well. But unlike Spitzer, the character of any individuals chosen to lead such an effort must be beyond reproach.
6 Comments
Reader Comments:
POSTED Dec 2, 2008
Al Capone: "Shakedown king is more like it. He was a disaster. Spitzer has no shame Democrats always reincarnate, a good rehab or story and poof, your back in stride. It was mastered by the Ted Kennedy drive off a bridge."POSTED Dec 2, 2008
Frankly Speaking: "He should have use the Barney Frank defense, or came out of a closet."POSTED Dec 2, 2008
Peter McLean: "Sen. Ted Stevens (R) is looking at 7 years -- and deservedly so -- but Atty. Gen. Elliot Spitzer (D) gets off free from Federal charges of Conspiracy, Fraud, Money Laundering and Pandering charges while the ladies go to jail. And this guy wants anyone to take him seriously? In this bipartisan year, let's give him a cell next to Ted Stevens."POSTED Dec 2, 2008
Momma58: "He was a disgrace to our state and would be a disgrace to the nation. But then, he's only living up to the immoralities of many other Dems: Clinton and Kennedy come to mind."POSTED Dec 3, 2008
TUL: "Spitzer's sexcapades have nothing to do with his financial, political, and policy expertise. The only laws he violated were the Church's, his wife did not divorce him and you've got to have separation of church and state. He is a great Democrat and should be in high office."POSTED Dec 3, 2008
Disgraced Republican Leaders STILL IN OFFICE: "Shall we count the number of Republican leaders STILL IN OFFICE who have been disgraced by illegal, extra-martial sexual activities? Does the Examiner discount every statement by THOSE leaders? Of course not. It's not illegal or unethical if you're a Republican. Your editorial page is a joke."