By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - State Republicans threatened onTuesday to impeach New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer if he does notquit over a sex scandal that has raised questions over whetherhe could face criminal charges.
The threat added to pressure on Spitzer, a Democrat andformer state chief prosecutor who made his name fightingwhite-collar crime on Wall Street, to step down after a reportthat he hired a high-priced prostitute.
The Wall Street Journal quoted a person close to Spitzer,who is 48 and married, as saying he could resign as early asTuesday but he wanted to deal with his family crisis first.
"If he does not resign within the next 24 to 48 hours, wewill prepare articles of impeachment to remove him," saidAssembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco.
"We need a leader in place that has the support of peopleon both sides of the aisle," Tedisco told Reuters.
The New York Times said on Monday that Spitzer hired a$1,000-an-hour prostitute (499 pounds) and was caught on afederal wiretap at least six times on February 12 and 13arranging to meet with her at a Washington hotel.
Spitzer, who investigated prostitution as New York state'schief prosecutor but was best known for his high-profile probesof Wall Street, apologized on Monday for what he described as a"private matter" but said nothing about resigning.
He neither confirmed nor denied the report.
"Eliot Spitzer, the onetime nemesis of Wall Street nowengulfed in a sex scandal, is likely to resign, perhaps asearly as today, according to a person close to him," the WallStreet Journal said on its Web site on Tuesday.
Tedisco said on Monday night he had received a phone callfrom Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson to discuss a possibletransition of power if Spitzer resigns.
Spitzer, viewed as a rising star in the Democratic Party,spent the night holed up at his Manhattan home, besieged bymedia.
The New York Times, citing unnamed law enforcementofficials, reported on Tuesday that the investigation beganlast year during an Internal Revenue Service review ofsuspicious financial transactions as reported to it by banks.
"The payments were made over a period of several months ina way that investigators believe was intended to conceal theirpurpose and source, which could amount to a crime calledstructuring," punishable by up to five years in prison, theTimes said.
Spitzer was elected governor with nearly 70 percent of thevote in late 2006 following a stint as state attorney generalwhen he conducted a series of investigations into financialcases, attracting much publicity but also resentment on WallStreet.
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The Times said in an editorial that Spitzer's insistence inhis brief appearance on Monday that it was a "private matter"displayed arrogance. "He did not just betray his family in aprivate matter," the newspaper said.
"He betrayed the public and it is hard to see how he willrecover from this mess and go on to lead the reformist agendaon which he was elected to office."
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," it said in an editorial.
At the heart of the scandal is a criminal complaintunveiled last week charging four people with running aprostitution ring dubbed The Emperors Club. Prosecutors rarelybring charges against clients of prostitutes in such cases.
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.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta and Robert Campbell,and Joan Gralla in Albany; editing by Frances Kerry)
