Great questions and insight, Jane!

Keith: Spitzer is the “two-fisted Democrat governor of New York…”.

OMG, thanks Keith ol’ boy. He must be making points with Karl Rove.

I thought the company was QAT.

After reading that, It is starting to look as if they caught him in a wiretap and then reversed “engineered” the criminal charges to get the Dem.

Odd how the barons of Wall Street didn’t force something long ago.

And, if the Rs conspired to out Spitzer, as the unanswered Qs imply, then they did the Ds a service.

shocking, just shocking that they would think to do such a thing!

Keith has on a guest named Elliot Flesh. Just kind of ironic!

I don’t see what the big deal is. Afterall, a certain Republican senator from Louisiana still has a job… ditto for one from Idaho.

OT..I would like to know what a person “gets” for $5k/hour.

Jane…right on.

Who came to know that Client #9 was Spitzer, and how did that get into the media?

I just read the post. Wow. I hope you can uncover some of these things, Jane.

Excellent post.

Actually if it had been a pol from LA then it would be nothing new—nothing to see here, move along. At least historically speaking.

But this is Gov. Squeeky Clean. Not good.

QATgate

You don’t think the Pukes would actually use the Justice Department to go after political rivals, do you?

CNN has one of their “Quick Votes” up asking if Spitzer should resign and it is running 75% - 25% towards resignation.

I think they should re-phrase the question and ask if “NY Governor Spitzer, Idaho Senator Craig, and Louisiana Senator Vitter should resign?”

I doubt if the numbers would remain the same percentages.

Spitzer was wrong, but how instigated the hit job on him…who revealed that he was Client #9?

Who are Clients 1-8 and 10-plus?

AFAIK, the banks are supposed to report transfers of money greater than $10,000. So unless he was transferring more than $10K at a shot, I don’t know how it would trigger an investigation.

Never, they would never, ever to that!

Frankly if he did it, he should. I’m not a believer in double standards. That’s for the repig. party.

I don’t think DOJ did, but I think that someone had access to DOJ’s info and that’s how it got out to the media. Somebody leaked it on purpose…recently.

Thanks for posting these excellent questions Jane.

What Eliot has done is beyond stupid and the schadenfreude must be overwheming among the “big boys”.

That said, I think this is a no-holds-barred message to those who would oppose the corporatists. Don’t f*ck with us. There’s no way that this is not, in part or in process, politically motivated.

That’s also my understanding.

According to the transcript, he was a cash paying customer.

During the Libby trial, no one leaked who the “targets” were…it was surmised. This was leaked…like Plame.

true, but Vitter was the family values guy. Spitzer’s the anti-graft guy. Nothing to see here, IMO.

There is a lot that smells, to be sure, but there’s also the very obvious sense that Spitzer gave anyone at DOJ or elsewhere a huge target to aim at.

All the questions here are about what happened after Spitzer couldn’t keep his pants zipped.

The bank, IMHO, probably did nothing more than report some transaction(s) that tripped the general banking rules. In the fine print that comes when you open a bank account, you get a notice that says something like “the bank is required to report various transactions to the IRS, including any deposit or withdrawal of more than $10,000 in cash in a single day.” They don’t tell you again that they’re going to file that report, and they sure as hell don’t decide to give someone a pass and not file the report at all. Banks are in enough trouble these days that they don’t need to go asking for more by ignoring very clear and direct reporting laws.

That puts in on the radar, and from there we can speculate in all kinds of ways about how the DOJ and others might have schemed to make the best political use of this gift that dropped in their lap. But if Spitzer hadn’t made repeated use of the services of the Emperor’s Club, they wouldn’t have had anything to work with.

Dems voting for retroactive immunity is like giving the Republicans gasoline to use for emolating Dems.

THIS CAME FROM FISA!

Banks do inform the IRS about transactions “over” $10,000 occur don’t they? But who was watching? And why?

well.. nothing to see here, except for just one more piece of evidence that our leaders’ ethics are as bankrupt as they’ve made our public coffers.

The NRCC was ready to roll:

below is post from TPM:
——

NRCC to Dems: Return Spitzer’s “Sleazy Money”
By Eric Kleefeld - March 10, 2008, 6:11PM
The NRCC, which is broke and in danger of sustaining more House losses, is grabbing at the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal like a lifeline, sending out e-mails about Dem incumbents with the following title:

“Will John Hall Return Spitzer’s Sleazy Money?”

So far we’ve received five e-mails over at TPM: Three messages targeting freshman incumbents Michael Arcuri, Kirsten Gillibrand and John Hall, plus two against challengers Dan Maffei and Eric Massa, all of whom the NRCC says are now “ensnared” in Spitzer’s scandal.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talk.....zers_s.php

And Spitzer should sure as heck know the banking rules. This whole thing is very sad for anyone who admired him, for his wife especially. And most of all, why the heck would he let himself get caught up in this mess? After Clinton? Really, it is just beyond absurd.

His presser makes him guilty in some way. It is just mind boggling that this would happen. These guys just are so damn stoopit when it comes to sex, or whatever they call it.

ugh. I happily await Vitter’s press conference, at which he will roundly denounce the immorality of the good governor.

Elliot spitzer - the gift that keeps on giving. Jeeze - we just got John Hall and Mike ARcuri.

ah but RevDeb -

have been thinking all afternoon the timing coincides nicely with NY AG Cuomo opening a probe, issuing subpoenas on subprime mess, possible collusion, etc.

After New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo issued subpoenas to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last month, the stock prices of both mortgage finance companies dropped, even though they were not clear targets of his probe of overvalued house appraisals.

Cuomo instead wanted the companies to employ an auditor to review loans connected to Washington Mutual, the nation’s biggest savings and loan, which Cuomo accused of pressuring appraisers to boost their judgments about house values. The bank has denied the allegations but said it would cooperate with investigators. Cuomo last summer sent a batch of subpoenas to at least half a dozen investment banks, including Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank.

Those subpoenas, reported by the Wall Street Journal, seek information on how billions of dollars in complex securities backed by mortgages were packaged and sold to yield-hungry investors all over the world, according to people familiar with the matter. These securities are at the heart of the credit crisis that has been roiling financial markets since summer. Spokesmen at the banks declined to comment or did not return calls

1. Why would the bank tell the IRS and not Spitzer himself if there was a suspicious transfer?

Why would it be the Bank telling the IRS, how about the NSA…?

…According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records. The NSA receives this so-called “transactional” data from other agencies or private companies, and its sophisticated software programs analyze the various transactions for suspicious patterns. Then they spit out leads to be explored by counterterrorism programs across the U.S. government,

Naw, the NSA couldn’t be attuned to Dem Pols particular habits would it…?

Nor, the DoJ wouldn’t be headhunting for Dems… 8-(

You don’t think Vitter and Larry Craig are going to appear at Spitzer’s side, showing bipartisan support for yet another honest politician done in by “the man”?

Oh, those guys should give back money that came from “Kristen.” From Elliot, not so much.

6. The Mann Act? Are you kidding?

Yep–his lawyers are supposedly making a deal with the Feds so he won’t be charged with this…the same at thatJim Crow tried to revive to hang Jack Johnson (played by James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope) for sleeping with–and transporting–that white woman (played by Jane Alexander)… History comes back indeed!!!

Spot on Jane, and I also believe this is what FISA has been about the whole time. It is to lock in total Repug control. Another Siegelman cheap shot politicized DOJ.

Thanks FDL for all you do.

This all somehow leads back to domestic spying and the abuse of it by political hit-job hacks.

Set-up.

The Bush Justice Department hasn’t got a lot of interest in justice, just in prosecuting Democrats. This is selective political prosecution.

I’m guessing that Spitzer wasn’t thinking about banking rules at the time.

What’s with dems accusing other dems of taking talking points from Karl Rove?

Yup. Political hit job.

I expect hypocrisy and stupidity from repigs. I want higher from dems. I know it’s naive, but I do want and expect some modicum of integrity, honesty, and legal behavior from dems. That’s all. Can’t just move on.

“Two-fisted?”

That’s a big one.

I agree the way this hit the fan smells, but I’m going to insert the comment that no one is excusing his behavior just how it came to light, right?

This is an “international” hit job.

My questions arise at the point where the bank start examining the Spitzer account. The “unusual transactions” story seems thin to me. I’ll bet someone at that bank told someone else to keep a very close eye on that particular account and to report everything. Spitzer had enemies on Wall Street and some of them work in banks.

Was this investigation run by the White House, or was it outsourced to independent contractor Karl Rove?

OT

Quite the theological discussion this morning, RevDeb. *g*

well.. leave it to the rethugs to cut to the chase… OK lawmaker says gays are worse than ‘rrerists.. We’re living in a really weird country.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/vid.....i.gay.kwtv

oy. exhausting.

It makes one think of Don Seligman and the attempt to get him. This was a way to get a Dem Gov. I believe they wiretapped him, (FISA) examined his banking transactions and in reverse, put together a case. I don’t think it was an original prostitution case by the Justice Dept. They just constructed one after they got the info on Spitzer.

Frankly if he did it, he should. I’m not a believer in double standards. That’s for the repig. party.

Absolutely. As with the Obama advisor who called HRC a “monster”, and whose resignation was promptly accepted, this is, in a way, an opportunity for the D’s.

Hey, we bounce our law-breakers. Who’s the party of moral values now? (is how I would frame it anyway)

I expect hypocrisy and stupidity from repigs. I want higher from dems. I know it’s naive, but I do want and expect some modicum of integrity, honesty, and legal behavior from dems. That’s all. Can’t just move on.

I couldn’t agree more.

Well, perhaps the upside of the story is now we find out more about the telecons, wiretaps and how they are watching EVERYTHING we do.

Yup.

Who told Spitzer about this “service”?? You don’t just end up there on a whim. Why “this” service? Who are these people that operated this service? How did they get credibility? It was a sting of some sort. JMHO. He was baited, and he bit, dumbsh*t, but he did.

Stinks.

Maybe Spitzer bites back. This could get really good.

Could happen.

That’s the ONE part of this story that makes perfect sense to me.

The banks have all kinds of rules to follow when dealing with transactions, centered on trying to make it hard for drug dealers to launder their cash, for those who make bribes or collect them to do their work in cash, etc. Anytime someone does something that trips one of the filters defined by these rules, they have to make a report to the IRS. Period. In calling them “suspicious transactions,” it really means that the bank is required to make a report to the government, so that they can see whether this is innocuous or illegal.

It’s kind of like the filters here at FDL. They catch both nasty spam and the occasional legitimate comment from a reader. That’s what filters do, so that someone else (the Mods here or the Feds in the case of the banks) can decide whether the activity it legitimate or not.

AFAIK, the banks are supposed to report transfers of money greater than $10,000. So unless he was transferring more than $10K at a shot, I don’t know how it would trigger an investigation.

The bank got suspicious because the transfers were $9,000. Yea..Right..they worked back from an illegal wiretap to make the case.

Ayup. That’s what it looks like. Sure does look, walk and quack like a Rove/Bushco DOJ/Rethug hit.

It may smell to all hell, but what the hell was the Governor of New York doing getting hotel rooms with hookers in Manhattan? Come on. Plus, he was so holier than thou when he was busting all the corruption cases. This may be a hit job, but I don’t think this is a Delorean getting framed, though it may be a Mayor Barry kind of thing. Who knows, but he wouldn’t be apologizing if he hadn’t done it.

i think the quote at point #3 is simply saying he didn’t want to use a condom…..that’s all, easy…duh.

maybe that’s why it cost five thousand freakin’ dollars!!!!!!!!!!

point #1—this may be outdated, but money transfers that are flagged don’t have the name of the account, just the account number.

the name would be added later, at a much higher level, if at all, i don’t know for sure if it is or isn’t…….i don’t know if it’s possible to ’pull’ the account report without it being filed. i think you’d be breaking a few laws doing that…….it would appear on a printout/report, and be in the computer in a file as flagged. part of records. would go to many people. as an account, not a person.

of course, at any level, one COULD see who the account belonged to, if someone was curious. but that wouldn’t be ethical, would it?

it’s not the bank’s job, nor do i think they are allowed, to ask spitzer about it. they just report it…..one way.

but like i said, my info could be outdated.

and the doj? i bet they already have a red flag list ready for the incoming data/mail from every banking institution…….just waitin’ for certain accounts to get flagged……..i’d bet on it.

If he does resign, then we need to really need to roast the rethugs for Vitter, Craig and countless others. Rethugs.. taking their hypocrisy with a chaser of impunity.

I don’t understand how he was caught in this, unless the DOJ was looking into this house of hookers for some other reason and discovered he was seeing a hooker and then went back to his bank transactions and built a case for him.

It doesn’t seem that he was the original target here, does it?

I agree that he dun it. But I also think if there is something fishy on the gummint end, Elliot will be on it. It will take longer than until November, but we are going to learn what we have suspected all along.

I’m not disputing the premise of Jane’s post. This thing has the look, feel, and smell of a hit job.

But he was in territory where he made the hit possible, now wasn’t he?

He’s gotta go.

They aren’t that competent.

They were targeting him and others….if the other “clients” turn out to be Dems…well..we shall see….Why leak his name? Who leaked his name? He was just a hooker client, with a “number”…someone knew who he was, and deliberately leaked it.

I couldn’t agree more, except, I disagree with our Puritanical roots showing it’s ugly side again… If prostitution was legal and regulated, like many countries in Europe and Asia do, we’d be a lot better off…! It’s a victimless crime and forces the oldest profession underground… Allow it, regulate it, and tax it…

QAT- Quite A Time.

Gray Davis

Don Siegelman

Eliot Spitzer

Three Democratic governors tarnished by tawdry BushCo operatives.

If Larry Craig doesn’t have to go, then Spitzer doesn’t.

The ABC report goes on to say that Spitzer will be charged with structuring, according to its source.

If I’m remembering my white collar crime law correctly, structuring is basically trying to avoid triggering the federal reporting requirement for any cash transaction that exceeds $10,000. So a series of $9,000 payments to the same person in a short period of time would raise suspicions, for example.

TPM

That’s cute..the report law triggers at $10k but if they want they can make it a crime at $9k? This is really starting to smell.

Yup.

Maybe the timing was perfect to get the congress to support immunity for the telecoms.

“We know who you screw. We know what you are thinking. We know your darkest fantasies. And if you didn’t do anything wrong we will make it up.”

Spitzer is his own worst enemy. Siegleman was innocent through and through.

You’all are too young to remember the Profumo scandal, but, back in the day, it was common practice for intelligence agencies to lure dopey politicians into the arms of beautiful dames (Jane, I apologize — I’m just trying to put a 1950’s tone to it).

Getting JFK to sleep with Sam Giancanna’s girlfriend was the mark of a professional, believe me.

These are important questions, but Spitzer must step down. Otherwise the Democratic Party looks like a bunch of hypocrites to the average guy on the street. Common folk don’t care about the ins and outs of who wiretapped who and when.

Spitzer must resign now. We can sort out these important details later.

His bank turned him in to the IRS for $9,000 transfers? Give me a break.

I bet it was politically motivated bust and Rove is just showing the rest of the Dems that they can GET THEM ALSO IF THEY DON’T PLAY ALONG WITH THE PROGRAM!!

Maybe this the ploy to keep the rethuglians in power so they continue milking the public cow.
The Dems will cave with demonstration… Its not only Gov Don E. Siegelman they have gotten they can get anyone they want!! >:(

Question 8, why now? And does his support for Hillary have any bearing?

The other thing about the complaint that seems clear is that he wasn’t a “long term” customer, being that they his “habits” were a new discussion.

Not consistent with a series of wire transfers triggering an IRS audit, and as I said above, he paid cash!!!

but shouldn’t you not put yourself in the position to even offer the repugs ammo? Siegelman is a different story, of course

What’s good for the gooser (LC)…

Seriously though, at the very least, the timing of this thing doesn’t pass the smell test.

The bank transactions would not be flagged. I think that the hooker operation was targeted for some other reason, perhaps someone else, deep pockets who they want to take down and they were bugging the whole operation and pouring through the “tapes” and looking into all the clients and lo and behold they found Eliot having some R&R.

Johns are rarely charged in the prostitution house busts. Anyone from the Mayfair Madame, the DC Madame, Heidi Fleiss? What Johns were charged?

The charge is the Mann BS because they are using this to destroy someone politically.

There are a lot of these high class hooker operations servicing the rich and famous. Who has been charged. Name one.

No, the report law is actually more complicated than just “if it’s $10K or more, you have to report it.” There are pages of what constitutes activity requiring a report, and a series of transactions just under the $10K limit in a short period of time are one of those activities.

Of course prostitution should be legal - but at the moment, it isn’t. And The Governor of The State of New York is no mean position.

Wanna win some independents and disaffected Republicans? See to it that a high-profile Democrat who broke (an unfortunate) law is forced to resign.

Maybe the timing was perfect to get the congress to support immunity for the telecoms.

“We know who you screw. We know what you are thinking. We know your darkest fantasies. And if you didn’t do anything wrong we will make it up.”

Precisely! To offset the damage Donna Edwards and Bill Foster has incurred…! ;-)

What a stupid bonehead!

Again, how does a Governor of a state…decide to act on this…thinking it is safe from disclosure? How? How did he decide, oh yeah, there’s a group that will be discrete? How? He knew “what” he was doing…why did he pick “that” group, and why did he think he wouldn’t get caught? Why and how?

Getting JFK to sleep with Sam Giancanna’s girlfriend was the mark of a professional, believe me

I am showing my age..What was her name?? Wasn’t she also the Mafia bag lady who transported money to West Virginia to help buy the primary for JFK?

Another bonehead.

What you say may be true, but it’s also comes down to…
Guys, pants, inability to keep it zipped.

I say let’s subpeona Verizon’s FISA-immunitygate wiretapping records just for the heck of it.. maybe we’ll get lucky and find out that all the suspected “rrerists being illegally wiretapped are elected Democrats :P

“Question 8, why now?”

If it was politically motivated, I wonder why the story didn’t break closer to the election…

Actually, that is similar with the mob connections…

Testosterone is powerful???

judith campbell?

Maybe Spitzer comes clean on it all, then starts his defense in the press vis a vis spying–if it happens to him, it could be happening to anyone.

For all practical purposes the telecons have immunity now. I say, no retroactive immunity. Let Elliot loose on this. They caught him, OK, but they also may wish they had not touched him before it is over.

Jane - As to the jurisdiction part of your questions, I would point out two things, not to defend the DOJ/USA necessarily, just kind of musing. Where the prostitution ring is both interstate and international, having it done by the Feds is not unheard of. But also, keep in mind that this guy is the governor of the state, so the state AG has a conflict (not to mention that Spitzer ran that office for a long time); so that pretty much means that if it is New York people, it has to be local prosecutors or the US Attorney’s Office. Even under a normal circumstance, I can see that call going to the Feds; especially with such a high profile suspect. Tack onto that the fact that the only crime that was initially in play was Federal, if we are to believe the ABC report, and I can see why this is in the Fed’s hands.

If he doesn’t resign soon, this story probably has legs…uh, so to speak.

Yes, I know, I know… Think about it. He is “client #9″…now his name is public. How did “that” happen?

Can someone explain why, when these polticians get caught in a sex scandal, the wives always appear with them at the press conference?

The crossing state lines is total BS. Just wanted to be out of town when he had his R&R so he could justify the night as part of bizness to the wifey.

A victimless crime. No offense, but anyone who hasn’t worked with kids from the streets… well, you all can finish this sentence, I’m sure. And whores of both sexes are sometimes very young. And need eating $$$.

Don’t know why the babes @ Emperors Club would take that path. Who the hell knows. Still, for all the tricked out resumes we’ve seen online for them, they’re still in the business of selling their asses.

Do you really think that this was his first time with a prostitute? He waited until he was 50 years old and Governor before he suddenly becomes a guy who has sex with prostitutes?

The timing of this doesn’t really matter except that he was tanking in the polls anyway - unfortunately because of his immigrant license idea.

It’s sex between consensual adults. LET IT GO!

This story on Spitzer stinks like fresh road kill. BushCo must feel like they have hit pay dirt being able to uncover a sex scandal to bring down a democratic governor. Thanks Jane for nailing this story down cat quick. I think they leaked this stuff on Spitzer to the press so FOX surrogates and others of the same ilk can hurt Hillary by association and help McCain. Payback for the NYT story earlier of McCain and the female lobbyist?

They are hanging on to the reality of their lives that is quickly diminishing….grief.

Idiotic of Spitzer. But…

Three for three for the Bushies: Gray Davis in California, Don Siegelman in Alabama, and now this.

Three Democratic governors. What a coincidence.

judith campbell?

Ding!! Ding!! That’s it..Judith Campbell Exner

Your prize will be mailed to you shortly *g*

The sexual Shock Doctrine.