NY Gov. Spitzer under pressure to quit over sex case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer facespressure to resign on Tuesday as well as questions aboutwhether he will be prosecuted for any crime after a reportlinked him to a high-class prostitution ring.

A New York Times report said the man who made his namefighting corruption hired a $1,000-an-hour prostitute and wascaught on a federal wiretap at least six times on February 12and 13 arranging to meet with her at a Washington hotel.

Spitzer, a married 48-year-old Democrat who investigatedprostitution as New York's attorney general, apologized forwhat he described as a "private matter" but said nothing aboutresigning. He neither confirmed nor denied the report.

State Republicans called for him to step down.

New York State Assembly Republican Minority Leader JamesTedisco said on Monday night he had received a phone call fromLieutenant Governor David A. Paterson to discuss a possibletransition of power if Spitzer resigns.

The New York Times said in an editorial Spitzer'sinsistence it was a "private matter" displayed arrogance.

"He did not just betray his family in a private matter. Hebetrayed the public, and it is hard to see how he will recoverfrom this mess and go on to lead the reformist agenda on whichhe was elected to office," the paper said.

News of the scandal rocked Wall Street, where power brokersresented Spitzer's high-profile inquiries into financial caseswhen he was New York state's chief prosecutor.

Spitzer was elected governor with nearly 70 percent of thevote in late 2006 following a stint as state attorney generalnoted for high-profile investigations into Wall Street.

The Wall Street Journal said Spitzer had shown his lack ofrestraint in overly aggressive tactics as attorney general,making "extraordinary threats" to entire firms and to those whocriticized his pursuit of high-profile Wall Street figures.

"The stupendously deluded belief that the sitting Governorof New York could purchase the services of prostitutes wasmerely the last act of a man unable to admit either theexistence of, or need for, limits," the Journal wrote in aneditorial about what it said was almost a Shakespearean fall.

"Governor Spitzer, who made his career by specializing innot just the prosecution, but the ruin, of other men, ishimself almost certainly ruined," the paper said.

IF, OR WHEN, HE'LL QUIT

The state capital, Albany, was rife with speculation aboutif, or more likely when, Spitzer would resign and whether hewould be charged with any crime. Prosecutors rarely bringcharges against clients of prostitutes in such cases.

In an online poll on The Daily News web site, 83 percent ofrespondents said Spitzer should resign.

At the heart of the scandal is a criminal complaintunveiled last week charging four people with running amulti-million dollar prostitution ring dubbed "The EmperorsClub."

The New York Times said Spitzer was an individualidentified as Client 9 in the court papers filed last week.Client 9 arranged to meet with "Kristen," a prostitute whocharged $1,000 an hour, on February 13 in a Washington hoteland paid $4,300 for services rendered and as a down payment forfuture engagements, according to the court documents.

Among the charges brought against the four defendants lastweek was transporting women across state lines for prostitutionpurposes. It was not clear if a similar charge might be broughtagainst Spitzer if it were proven he arranged for "Kristen" totravel from New York to Washington to have sex with him.

ABC News reported on its Web site that the probe of theprostitution ring was triggered when a bank told the InternalRevenue Service about suspicious money transfers by Spitzer.

ABC quoted an unidentified Justice Department official assaying Spitzer could be prosecuted under an obscure financialstatute, in what would be an irony for a man who used wiretapsto nail major names in finance.

In a interview two years ago, Spitzer, then-attorneygeneral, told ABC News he had some advice for people who breakthe law. "Never talk when you can nod, and never nod when youcan wink, and never write an e-mail because it's death. You'regiving prosecutors all the evidence we need," he said.

(Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Robert Campbell;editing by Stuart Grudgings)