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.

FWIW, he used the alias George Fox…LOL!

There are victims.

It’s true, prostitution should be legal. Like touching other people’s shoes in bathrooms. But it’s not.

Besides Mrs Spitzer?

Didn’t I read somewhere that ‘the’ Immigration bill is being reborn soon?

Are the hookers being busted?

Bull shit.

FWIW, he used the alias George Fox

George [Bush] Fox [News]?

i wouldn’t do it.

But lying the country into war is just fine, right?

Don’t they round them up and take them to central booking in a paddy wagon and spend the night in jail until their bail is paid?

Why were they wiretapping him in the first place?

I don’t understand why the bank transactions were reported to the IRS in the first place. From the affidavit, Spitzer seemed to be going to great lengths to pay for the agency’s services by mailing cash or by prepaying in cash. So what transactions were suspicious? Spitzer is a wealthy man — why would withdrawals of a few thousand dollars from time to time raise any eyebrows at the bank, let alone the IRS?

Being a gay man do I understand the Puritanical angle.

For now though, it’s against the law, and if he broke it, I’m for holding him accountable.

If he is guilty, and he did break the law, no one else but him is responsible for his downfall.

Testosterone is powerful???

oooh, I can answer that one…

as is having sex with a male hooker in the whitehouse and then giving him a whitehouse press pass.

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 $$$.

I agree with your premise, I would argue that making it legitimate for adult aged individuals would curb the seedier side of the under-age pimping…!

hehe. To be fair, this rather obvious setup may just as likely be about local NYS politics than it is about Rover’s antics. From what little I understand of NY, their local rethugs have no love lost for Spitzer and are at risk of losing control of the legislature to Dems in the next election.. more than enough reason to take down the governor.

I questioned that too. Apparently since he was a “repeat customer” he may have paid in different ways for different…encounters.

If I take $10K of my money out of the bank, what damn business is it of the federal government?

In a decade privacy will be a relic of the past.

i know this is reaaally tacky but i can’t help thinking of these two scenarios as fitting punishment for starters

he’s not gonna be ’getting any’ for a long, long time.

not from his wife

and no hooker will come anywhere near him.

and i bet his wife takes over the household finances. with a fine-toothed comb.

Where are the other indictments from this sting operation.

There is no reason for this to be ONLY to catch Spitzer. Something doesn’t add up.

Your right Jane! You can count on the Bushies wiretapping Eliot Spitzer and every single one of us. Even me, and I’m definitely small potatoes. ( honest Your Honor, wasn’t me that called Bush a lying murderer. )

I think that four people have been charged under the Mann Act.

Well, there is way to much stank in this ocuntry for any smell test. But this could be the why they want access to everybodys info. They saw how powerfull it made J. Edgar Hoover.

nah.. they’re just working hard to protect you from ‘rrerists is all. Only ‘rrerists get their privacy violated in America.

You know, it is not about the sexual acts…it isn’t…it is about the person that you are a partner with having another “set of behaviors” that you are not aware of. It is finding out that this person that you share your “life” with is not behaving the way you “think” they are. It is that realization that shocks you into a really insecure revelation that what you think is “real” isn’t. That is the damage…to the partner..to the kids…to the person who is living a lie. That is what is so scary and damaging, but the fact is…things change…things are impermanent…reality is an illusion as long as it lasts….but it is always changing. That is really hard for humans to come to terms with. In the end, it may be the best thing that ever happened to those experiencing it. Who is to say?

I agree it is illegal, but, I think Eliot should resign just as soon as Vitter and Craig do…!

Different strokes for different fucks folks?

Yeah, their kids.

You’ve got it backwards — Spitzer isn’t (yet) under indictment. The only ones who have been indicted are the four leaders of the prostitution ring.

You’re evil, bmaz…! 8-P

Straight guy to the rescue!

I agree it is illegal, but, I think Eliot should resign just as soon as Vitter and Craig do…!

Don’t you think it would be preferable to be ahead of the morality curve?

Client number nine, client number nine…
Maybe my comment is more Late Nite, but, still.
Oh, what tangled webs we weave….
I think it diminishes this site to turn Everything into a Witch Hunt.
Wrong is wrong.
For everyone.
Them, him, us.
I listened to his presser….

Yahoo-The Nation Spins SPitzer as bad for Clinton:

Spitzer Scandal Opens an Ouch Moment for Clinton

The Nation — New York Governor Eliot Spitzer had to be dragged onboard the Hillary Clinton for President campaign.

Now, he’s another headache for Clinton.

snip
“I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family… [and] my sense of right and wrong,” admitted Spitzer, in a brief statement delivered at his Manhattan office. “I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust to my family.”

Ouch.

Ouch for Spitzer.

Ouch for all New York Democrats, including a certain New York senator.

snip

So Spitzer is the only client about to be indicted in addition to the owners of the biz? What about the girls? Are they not being charged?

Yes, and in prostitution sting operations, the sex usually does not happen, because the bust happens when the cash changes hands, before the sex begins. So it is interesting that (like in some drug transactions) there is no cash at the transaction. But the sex still happened? I guess it is different when the Feds are running the operation.

And I agree w/you, especially about the pimping.

Probably the most shocked are the family and friends…the rest is political crappola.

Only affects them after it becomes public.

There are all kinds of things about this that just don’t pass the smell test.

adding, “like the Governor’s pants when he got back to Albany.”

It might not pass the smell test, but neither does he.

If Spitzer had been clean – wouldn’t have mattered what they tried to do to nail him. He must have known he was a target. Why give them the ammunition?

Hypocrisy, arrogance, stupidity – hard to choose which of the three is most galling. Plus it seems possible from some reports that there may be a money-laundering angle (for the Gambinos), so maybe we have to add corruption.

Mostly though, I feel bad for his wife, and especially his threee teenage daughters whose world has just been turned upside down be finding out that their crusading hero is anything but. Sad.

Spitzer didn’t transport anyone across state lines.

Sorry, I don’t work for the DOJ or the courts.

Hey! Good to see you litigatormom! Long time.

a little arcane, but follow along

Patriot Act itself had some impact on reporting regs . . .

BUT it created the atmosphere in which regulators made significant changes to the anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA),

these changes placed serious increased compliance burdens on banks

with serious penalties for non compliance including up to seizure

per the industry itself, here are some of the suggested compliance measures

Measures banks can take to alleviate the burden include: implementing risk assessment procedures and policies; establishing metrics that measure high-risk customers and transactions to determine level of risk; developing matrices to match up high-risk transactions with high-risk customers to reveal correlations; establishing procedures and coding conventions for identifying high-risk customers and transactions in databases

now firedogs, I am in waaay over my head here, and this is some really dry stuff, but it looks like in the past regulators/examiners were audit-driven and focused on testing transactions, they now scrutinize the actual policies and processes a bank has in place. banks had plenty of incentive$ to report outside of the ol $10k

and remember, he’s gonna be charged with the structuring, not the schtumping – always the cover up

Very excellent point.
Spitzer meet couch, or Dog House, If he’s lucky.
(I just have a personal take on husband’s who do this sh*t, and if you’re high-profile, I have to question your (his) personal judgment…especially with his record as Attorney General.)

Well, it has. They have to go to school tomorrow…:( You know, it happens all the time, in all kinds of families…These girls are hurting, but most of all his wife is devastated…really hurting. That is he bottomline. JMHO.

BTW, hurting much worse…are the families of the 8 troops killed today…those families just wish it was about sex…no..their loved ones are dead…:(

The banks have to report $10,000 transactions, but if they see a pattern of someone breaking up $10,000 into smaller transactions on different days, they are supposed to report that too. I don’t think it would be proper to notify the customer of such a report, especially if you had suspicions. I’m sure someone like Spitzer was aware of the reporting requirements. I wouldn’t be surprised if he structured the transactions to avoid reporting. But if he did, I’m surprised he didn’t do a better job of it.

It seems to me the international aspect is the most likely source of this QET company coming under suspicion. If they were transferring cash to tax haven countries, someone investigating this company would have been interested in the sources of the cash coming into this company’s bank account, and that would be my best guess for any nonpolitical trigger for what caught Spitzer. But given Bush’s track record, the likelihood of a political prosecution is much greater than a nonpolitical one. That’s what they do. I think they probably have so much of their resources devoted to illegitimate prosecutions that there is scarcely anyone left to do the legitimate work.

Of course if someone at the bank had it in for him (like the board of directors) they could have given him extra scrutiny, and they could have made a direct referral to the CI hotline at the IRS instead of just filing a little old cash transaction report.

As for this not being something the feds like – dream on! I know from experience the Criminal Investigation guys at the IRS know very little about tax law and they have to rely heavily (almost exclusively) on the referring agent’s knowledge of tax (all they know is how to develop fraud cases, if that much). Anyway, they are major douchebags who are much more interested in busting brothels and drug dealers than tax fraud, cuz it’s much sexier and you don’t have to think so hard. 8 or 9 years ago IRS’s Criminal Investigation wanted to spin itself off into another law enforcement outfit, and somebody at last told them we have FBI, ATF, DEA, and the rest of the alphabet soup, and they needed to get back to tax enforcement, cuz, you know, there would be no one left to do those cases.

Anyway, some of your questions are great, and I wouldn’t rule out political influence in any part of the government’s actions in this case. I’m just saying the IRS investigating prostitution and drug rings is not unusual at all.

I’m not sure how this got started, but I’m fairly sure it wasn’t from following Spitzer’s bank account. If they’d gotten a wiretap to do that, he would have been listed as the “target”. If he’s “Client #9″, that means there were probably 8 other clients, which means they were tapping the prostitutes, not Spitzer.

I completely agree with you.
And, may I add, it’s very sad, this age we live in.
Course, there’s So Much Sadness.

As far as I can tell with the little I heard, Spitzer did nothing wrong, except visit and expensive call girl. It’s not like this is something rare about pols, judges, CEOs and so forth. If you ask a dominatrix, they will tell you who their clients are.

FWIW, Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo (current NYS AG) are not what you’d call friends.

See, FISA works. Uhhh, maybe. Can I see the warrants please?

He obviously didn’t think, at the time that extra material sex with a hooker was wrong. But no politician would ever say it’s OK. It’s the kind of hypocrisy which is rather common, ain’t it.

He was an idiot for going through a third party “Agency”. That’s who law enforcement goes after. He should have gone direct to an “Independent” ; ) lol

Disclaimer: I’m not married ; )

Exactly.

He who is without sin, cast the first stone.

Apparently since he was a “repeat customer” he may have paid in different ways for different…encounters.

But if he paid in different ways, why aren’t they in the affidavit? The only transaction described was paid for in cash, and there are repeated references to how this guy doesn’t like to do wire transfers, and how he wants to build a cash credit for future “appointments” so that he doesn’t have to mail more cash “packages” to the agency. The affidavit even quotes him talking about going to the cash machine to get more cash.

When I first heard about this in the afternoon, I assumed that he’d just gotten caught up in a pre-existing investigation of the prostitution agency. But now, the report by ABC that Spitzer was always the target of an investigation that began with suspicious bank transactions makes absolutely not sense to me.

In the meantime, the photo of Mrs. Spitzer that was on the NYT homepage earlier was one of the most haunting portraits of a brokenhearted woman I’ve ever seen.

Wouldn’t KEEPING Spitzer’s money reduce the odds that he’d use it for either a) salacious purposes, or b) lawyers to fight the charges?

Why do the Pugs want Spitzer to have MORE money?

Does anyone here think that “arrogance” could be an attempt to be caught (”shame”)? I think he likes anal sex, preferably with a man; but substituting with a woman at this point. I’ve seen this many times. Where’s Pach?

Sander O:

I think the Mann Act allegation would be that he arranged with the agency to have “Kristin” travel from NY to DC at his expense. He was going to pay for her Amtrak ticket, her hotel room, her mini-bar charges, in addition to the $5000 per hour fee.

It’s like drugs. Many think it’s no biggie to take drugs. But hardly anyone in politics can say that. At best they use the medical marijuana meme.

There are some things people do, but they can’t be open about it because our society condemns it and has laws about it.

But tens of millions of people smoke pop and do coke. Risky? They know what they are doing and they don’t agree with the proscription. When they get caught they have to act contrite.

Yeah.

Today, walking around outside…I saw that Spring is in full force. What a “powerful” energy it is…everything is springing through the earth…all the plants are in “positive” mode. Now, is the time for progress. Spring is when all of the forces of life come alive and power their way out of dormancy. What a force!! Wow. We are not in control. It is so “above” us, or “outside” of us. There is a tremendous thing happening, as it does every spring. We are influenced by this force though too, on a cellular level. We have to grow too. It is inevitable.

As far as I can tell with the little I heard, Spitzer did nothing wrong, except visit and expensive call girl.

And I did nothing wrong except drink a Coca-cola that I hadn’t purchased before leaving the store. Drinking Coca-cola is legal, so why should I be talking to this judge?

Don’t be obtuse. Everybody KNOWS that prostitution ought to be legal, but it ain’t, and pretending that there’s nothing wrong with the Governor of a state doing something illegal is just stupid.

Finally, how any man in politics can open his fly after the Monica Lewinsky fiasco is beyond me. Really it’s so reckless I can’t even fathom it.

That’s who you want for Governor? A reckless man who risks his family, his party, and his state for a moment of carnal pleasure? I say nothing about the morality of it – if he and his wife want to have a hooker in for a fun threeway, then good for them – but let him do it AFTER he leaves office.

Doing this while in office is as stupid as painting oneself in gravy and jumping into a tiger’s den.

Even if true, that silly and why should that be any more unlawful than sex across a country line or across a street. That law is nonsense.

their daughters

Has anybody heard what Spitzer allegedly got that he thought was worth $4300?

Calling Scott Horton… Scott Horton, please pick up a white paging telephone.

Oh, he’s already on it. Er, or, all over it.

Well done, Jane.

What are you talking about?

I think he was a reckless about his sex life, but I don’t think that means he can’t do his job.

Lots of pols are reckless with booze.

As I recall, the push from the Bu$h DOJ was to get cases against democrats rolling before the ‘06 elections. They DO NOT want details of their wiretap program out into the public, or even known to Congressional members.

1+1+2

I figured this was going to happen, and it will LIKELY happen again, if there are other democratic office holders out there someplace who are stepping over the line. The cases are likely already made, and waiting for the right timing to come out. This seems obvious to me. NOTHING stops these guys (the whole Cheney/Bu$h Crime Family). I have honestly been half way waiting for something like this, and WHAT a perfect day to bump the news cycle.

I want better for my party.

I would prefer that Vitter and Craig stay on, it damages their brand as the family values party. If he broke a law that he prosecuted other people for when he was attorney general, I don’t care to defend that.

ding ding ding…

warrant less wiretaps anyone?

Imagine what they have been listening to.

The Mann Act was specifically targeted at Jack Johnson because he went out with white women.

No, it hurts when you find out about it period, whether it is made public or not.

Actually, that’s in the story. They got warrants for all this, which ought to demonstrate that the FBI is capable of doing its job within the oversight structures of the judicial system.

Not at this site.

A Glenzilla commenter also asks an interesting question:

In Comments, DCLaw1 asks a question to which I would love to hear an answer:

I have always found it very curious that one of the following, but not the other, is illegal:

(a) Two people have sex, one of them gets paid for it;

(b) Two (or more) people have sex, all of them get paid for it, and it is videotaped and sold to third parties as a commodity.

I have yet to hear a convincing argument why this difference makes any actual sense.

SanderO @ 179:

I totally agree that the Mann Act is nonsense. I was just explaining how the Feds would say that Spitzer’s actions violated the Mann Act element of “transporting across state lines.”

Dan Abrams on MSNC is reporting that Spitzer is doing polling to see whether he can survive the scandal politically. But a lot of Spitzer’s “survivability” depends on whether he is indicted. I still don’t see why Spitzer would be charged with structuring. The only claim I can see would be based on the prostitution, not the bank transactions.

The reporting law triggers at $10K, but it is perfectly legal to transfer amounts of $10K or more. Structuring to avoid the reporting threshold is a “badge of fraud”. It shows that you knew that the use the money was being put to was illegal and then you went about circumventing the reporting requirements. So there is nothing “illegal” about the transfers, per se. Just that the structuring is evidence of intent, and if the structuring is illegal per se (I don’t know if it is or isn’t) then it is probably considered as some sort of fraud. You need to prove intent with fraud, otherwise the perp will claim it was all a mistake and a misunderstanding.

“Has anybody heard what Spitzer allegedly got that he thought was worth $4300?”

He got screwed, literally.

The best in Dallas gets $250 for an hour “appointment”

Rookie! ; ) lol

Why did they then include this line from that conversation in the complaint?

“LEWIS continued that from what she had been told “he” (believed to be a reference to Client-9) “would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe — you know — I mean that…very basic things….”Kristen” responded: “I have a way of dealing with that…I’d be like listen dude, you really want the sex?…You know what I mean.”

It’s really odd that they would include such bizarre tangential information that has nothing to do at all with the charges on ANYONE.

First off, the “procurer” states that her information was second-hand…essentially hearsay. Second, while the comment evinces all sorts of salacious and lurid thoughts…it could relate simply to the clients desire to use her apartment, rather than a hotel (where HE might be recognized). For prostitutes using ones own home is considered “unsafe”. It could entail any number of other acts that might reflect similar issues of safety from prosecution or potential harassment. It may have nothing to do with a request for an unsafe sexual act.

Of course it could, but it may be something as simple as a desire to perform oral sex or not use a condom or oral block.

It might not at all involve some unusual or extreme sex act.

Second, there is no evidence that any such “acts” were actually done, in fact, the statements suggest that they WERE NOT DONE…and that both the “madame” and the call-girl were clear about following the safety procedures.

Given that none of this has anything to do with any illegal act it’s actually filler…and actually BAD filler, since it tends to prejudice a jury. In fact it might prejudice the jury in the wrong direction in the case of those actually BEING indicted. It diminishes the “danger” and “risk” to the public that might be involved if these were drug-addicted street prostitutes.

But it does appear to suggest to the public mind that Spitzer is some weird perverted fetishist or something.

“But it does appear to suggest to the public mind that Spitzer is some weird perverted fetishist or something.”

It sounds like he wanted bareback intercourse. No “Provider” in their right mind would do that

I would like to see what the charges are. I think they would be very minor misdemeanor charges.

How about if he fights to decriminalize prostitution!

The vice squad killed Sean Bell on one of their “operations”. Lovely.

Two former officials familiar with the data-sifting efforts said they work by starting with some sort of lead, like a phone number or Internet address. In partnership with the FBI, the systems then can track all domestic and foreign transactions of people associated with that item — and then the people who associated with them, and so on, casting a gradually wider net. An intelligence official described more of a rapid-response effect: If a person suspected of terrorist connections is believed to be in a U.S. city — for instance, Detroit, a community with a high concentration of Muslim Americans — the government’s spy systems may be directed to collect and analyze all electronic communications into and out of the city.

The haul can include records of phone calls, email headers and destinations, data on financial transactions and records of Internet browsing. The system also would collect information about other people, including those in the U.S., who communicated with people in Detroit.

Basically every city with Moslems is having all the electronic communications of EVERYONE monitored.

This story first started last week, and all along and even this morning it “Federal Officials” were saying they’ve been working on busting this ring for a couple of years now.

The operation started to unravel after one of the hookers agreed to become a confidential source for the FBI in late 2006.

…after one of the prostitutes turned on her pimp, authorities said yesterday.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03…..100827.htm

Now late today they come out saying they were tipped by Spitzer’s bank activity?!?! Isn’t this a huge shift in the story?

Makes one awfully suspicious of our politicized DOJ at the moment…

Basically every city with Moslems is having all the electronic communications of EVERYONE monitored.

So that not only the Muslims but everybody else is treated as guilty until proven innocent. Lovely.

Hi, Demi. No harm. Just my experience with working with and knowing so well the challenges in being gay in our society, even today. My brother and many of my oldest and newest best friends and clients are gay. I respect the paths they have taken to overcome the prejudice in their respective societies. It’s just not fair.

Jane, Happy National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. That’s what today is. Spitzer is at the center of a storm over his proposal to make abortion a basic right for women in New York even if Roe Wade is overturned. There are people who can not allow that and will do anything to stop it. His address to an abortion rights advocacy group scheduled for today was canceled. What a coincidence that he was wiretapped and that the anonymous leak happened today, huh? The anti-abortion rights people are gleefully celebrating tonight. There are also government officials who are excited about the concept of using wiretaps to bring down Democrats and stain the party at this time. They’re friendly with the anti-abortion folks and don’t think they need warrants. They would also not be at all averse to using sex to set up a Democrat for a take-down either. Yours, Karl Rove

NY has been set up for quite a while to keep abortion legal whether Roe falls or not. There are probably lots of reasons the repigs wanted to pounce on Spitzer but the horse is long since out of the barn on this one.

The Mann Act (”United States White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910″) has been used as a weapon against ideological opponents ever since its creation.

The very first person prosecuted under it was the very first Black heavyweight boxing champion in America, Jack Johnson. Johnson had an affair with a prostitute named Lucille Cameron, whom he married so that she couldn’t testify against him. Belle Schreiber, another prostitute that had traveled with him across state lines, also testified against Johnson. He was eventually sentenced to the maximum penalty of one year and one day in prison.

In Hoke v. United States (227 U.S. 308, 322) (1913) the Supreme Court held that Congress could not regulate prostitution per se, as that was strictly the province of the states. Congress could, however, regulate interstate travel for purposes of prostitution or “immoral purposes.” Later, in Athanasaw v. United States (227 U.S. 326, 328)(1913)the Court decided that the law was not limited strictly to prostitution, but to “debauchery” as well.

University of Chicago sociologist William I. Thomas’s academic career was irreversibly damaged after he was arrested under the Act. Although later acquitted in court, Thomas was caught in the company of one Mrs Granger, the wife of an army officer serving with the American forces in France.
Caminetti v. United States (242 U.S. 470, 484-85) (1917). The Court decided that the Mann Act applied not strictly to purposes of prostitution, but to other noncommercial consensual sexual liaisons. Thus consensual extramarital sex falls within the genre of “immoral sex.”

Charlie Chaplin was prosecuted by the FBI under the Mann Act in 1944 related to his affair with actress Joan Barry. Chaplin was ultimately acquitted of the charges, but the scandal damaged so his public image in the US, that it led to his departure for Switzerland in the early 1950s. Other famous individuals prosecuted under the Mann Act are Chuck Berry,Rex Ingram, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and Charles Manson.

Canadian author Elizabeth Smart was arrested under the Mann Act in 1940 when crossing a state border with her lover, the British poet George Barker. It’s interesting that, although the Act was supposedly to protect the moral turpitude of women, and presented them as victims, in reality they were also arrested and threatened with prosecution if they would not give evidence. Smart’s book “By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept” documents the brutal police interrogation aimed at arresting her. This still occurred despite Gebardi v. United States (287 U.S. 112) (1932) in which the Court held that the statutory intent was not to punish a woman’s acquiescence; therefore, consent by the woman does not expose her to liability.

In Cleveland v. United States (329 U.S. 14, 16-17) (1946) the Court decided that a person can be prosecuted under the Mann Act even when married to the woman if the marriage is polygamous. Thus polygamous marriage was determined to be an “immoral purpose.”

(1955). The Supreme Court in Bell v. United States (349 U.S. 81, 83) ruled that simultaneous transportation of two women across state borders was only one, not two, violations of the Mann Act.

Exactly my hope Sander O. I would love to see someone with enough guts to take on that task.

On Thursday, March 6th, TheSmokingGun.com presented six pages titled “Online Hooker Ring Busted.” The first two pages contain screencaps of the business’ web pages. The next four pages display material from the FBI affadavit, the first three essentially offering background about recruitment and availability of prostitutes. The last page, though, deals exclusively with “Client 9,” now known to be Spitzer. No other clients were mentioned, and no other pages from the FBI affadavit were included.

I find it remarkably curious that The Smoking Gun just happened to release the page about Spitzer four days before his involvement became public.

I think you have it. The telcos and the banks are busy funnelling data on thousands of people to the federal government on various accounts. Then either someone in a bank or in the federal government, or by mutual consent, just adds a few dozen more names and phone numbers and account numbers to the watch list and sooner or later you catch a big fish.

Maybe Spitzer is sacrificing himself to get Bloomberg to run for Governor of NY instead of President.

(No, I don’t really think that.)

I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMEN…POINTING FINGER

The ABC story still doesn’t smell right

Spitzer, …, is likely to be prosecuted under a relatively obscure statute called “structuring,” according to a Justice Department official.

Structuring involves creating a series of financial movements designed to obscure the true purpose of the payments.

Most people are assuming that structuring means using multiple under $10K payments to avoid a triggering transaction. Did Spitzer really pay more than $10K for a hooker?

One way to read the ABC quote, is that at one time he wired say $4K from his bank to a series of dummy accounts and finally to QET. Being that in the past he prosecuted money launderers he thought this was sufficient to hide where the money to QET came from. He was secretive – he registered at the DC hotel under a false name.

So, lets say he used a bunch of cutouts. Unknown to him the new incarnation of TIA (”Total Information Awareness”) is being tested on live data and up pops Spitzer using cutouts.

Later Spitzer gets paranoid about the technology and switches to a cash only basis.

But the earlier record remains and some bank is persuaded to raise a flag.

I would really like some more details of what sort of “structuring” he is being accused of.

Thanks I hadn’t seen that post yet, I check his place often! He writing are great at keeping abreast of things.

RevDeb,
My info on the abortion aspect is from a Democracy Now broadcast this morning (just before the prostitution thing was leaked):

Pro-choice activists are gathering around the country today to mark the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. In Albany, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is addressing the Family Planning Advocates of New York State. Shortly after taking office last year, Spitzer introduced a bill that would declare abortion a fundamental right for women. The bill would also ensure abortion remains legal in New York should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. [includes rush transcript]

AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting from the capital of New York State, Albany. Pro-choice activists have designated today the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers. Here in Albany, New York’s Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer is planning to address a thousand people today at the annual meeting of Family Planning Advocates of New York State.

Spitzer is at the center of a heated debate over abortion here in New York. Shortly after taking office last year, he introduced a bill that would declare abortion a fundamental right for women. The bill, known as the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, would also ensure abortion remains legal in New York should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. Governor Spitzer has made passage of the law a top legislative priority for 2008.

But the law has come under fierce criticism from the Catholic Church. Next month, the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Edward Egan, plans to personally meet with Spitzer to urge him to drop the legislation. The issue might also be raised when Pope Benedict XVI travels to New York. He is scheduled to speak at the United Nations and then at Yankee Stadium on April 20th.

To talk more about the legislation, I’m joined here in New York by JoAnn Smith. She’s the president and CEO of Family Planning Advocates of New York that’s having this thousand-person gathering today.

http://www.democracynow.org/20…..e_abortion
The legislation is a major reform in other ways too and an attempt to update the law, detailed in the interview. This is a very big deal, enough to lead to extreme action against Spitzer, and very convenient for Repubs and their exciting total information project toy. I can’t believe it’s a coincidence. Of course he is a threat to others too, but few people are as fanatical as extremist anti-abortion people.

Actually, no. I think it’s high time people minded their own business. If he use state funds for such activities, or state employees to cover them up, yeah, go after him.

If it’s between consenting adults, and no one is killed or maimed, I believe anything goes.

The EMOTIONAL fallout is a private.

Morality curve, my ass. Tell the fundies to shove it up their asses.

Well, I thought Spitzer handled himself remarkably well, given the speed and intensity that this story broke. (Funny how the NYT was vilified by the Right about ‘rummors’ with McCain trading sex for legislation, but they love the New York Slimes for nailing Spitzer on trading money for sex).

Anyways, the damage is done. First he needs to make right with his family. Then he needs to know what the people of New York want him to do. Is he doing the job for them? Is he a good governor looking out for the people’s business? We know he’s not going to be running for Pope now, but if I were counseling Eliot, I’d come completely clean. Tell his side of the story and not let the Republican corporate media define it for him. I think he now understands what this is really about. I can think of no one better to lead this meta-fight for our constitutional rights. They are counting on him to resign in shame and defeat – but he can apply some political ju-jitsu on the organized crime party and fight it out on a much higher, principled grounds, if he so chooses and we support him on this.

And, if I were the Democratic Party leadership, I’d be thinking…it could be any one of us in this situation. We have an Executive Branch using extra-constitutional powers to invade our privacy and a DOJ tasked with creating a One Party State. If anything good comes from this, it ought to be a major push back on telecom immunity. I don’t really give a rat’s ass what a politicians personal weaknesses are….I do care how they serve me in their public life. We ought to have learned that lesson over the past decade.

I am calling bullshit because he didn’t run on a family values ticket. He was supposed to be mr. law and order, mr. clean. And he was up to no good doing dirty deeds with the state troopers from day one. Forgetting that old govie likes his salad tossed by attractive brunettes who don’t mind ‘unsafe’ sex acts, what about the one thing Spitzer said he would never do? Appoint campaign donors recklessly. And this tidbit that came out just Friday, March 8 is going to the back page if you people who want the truth to come out dont fight for it to come out.
http://newyorkhope.net/blog/20…..g-changes/

Read it and pass it around to your friends.
Spitzer isn’t just a guy being caught being a guy.
He’s as corrupt as everyone he ever prosecuted.

The jokes on us. Those of us who voted for him and believed in him!

None of any questions matter, as posted above.

He’s apparently guilty. He abused the public trust.

Whitewash this under the umbrella of bad pub’s in the DOJ singling out Dem’s?

Ya GOTTA be kiddin me.

He’s phreakin guilty. ~~~ModNote: Edited to remove reference to violence against a public figure.~~~
and he’s gotta resign ASAP.

Only the THIRD black man to ever hold a state governor position, is waiting in line.

What’s the fuss, Jane? He’s GUILTY!!!! GUILTY!!!! GUILTY!!!! GUILTY!!!!

And what he did is MUCH worse than a White House Blow Job.

CLEAN HOUSE! And move on.

Is FDL backing up a Governor who had relations with a major prostitution ring, across state lines issues, and all that? How far ye have fallen, o progressive one’s.

As someone who used to do anti-money laundering work, I can answer No. 1.

First, when the government refers to suspicious activity reports, also known as SARs, it is referring to reports that are required to be filed by banks with a small Treasury agency, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (”FinCEN”), whenever a bank see what seems to be suspicious activity occurring within an account, usually been done by the account holder. Federal law (31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)) prohibits the notification of any person that is involved in the activity being reported on a SAR that the activity has been reported. This prohibition effectively precludes the disclosure of a SAR or the fact that a SAR has been filed. So the bank could not have notified Spitzer that it had filed a SAR (but it could raise the issues of Spitzer’s activity with him without telling him about the SAR).

As for spotting Spitzer’s SAR among all of the others, New York U.S. Attorneys’ Offices have a history of using SARs as part of their efforts to combat financial crimes, which pre-dates the current Administration. In many USAOs, there is a SAR review team. SAR review teams are intra-agency law enforcement teams, usually coordinated by an Assistant United States Attorney, that sit down and review every SAR that was filed in a judicial district to see if any investigating agency is interested in looking into it further. Whether an investigative agency is interested in pursuing a SAR is going to depend on how suspicious the activity appears to be, the magnitude of the activity, and the jurisdiction and resources of the various agencies. IRS would take a SAR that reported suspicious activity that looked like tax fraud. Customs would take one that looked like smuggling. The FBI would take one that looked like terrorism.

So it’s not hard to see how a SAR filed on Elliot Spitzer might have gotten some attention or at least a curious agent or AUSA interested in looking into it further in New York.

It’s also not hard for me to see how he might have engaged in suspicious activity if he was using cash. While it’s true $5,000 isn’t a lot of money to Spitzer and other millionaires, it is a lot of cash since most folks pay for larger purchases these days with credit cards or other forms. Very few people, even millionaires, walk around with thousands of dollars in their pockets.

I should add that as someone who has done a lot of counter-money laundering work, SARs are extremely helpful not only in helping target criminal activity but also in protecting financial institutions. SARs came about because of concerns that large financial institutions were taking criminals’ money (primarily drug and organized crime proceeds) with a blind eye, which not only facilitated the criminal activity, but had a corrupting effect on the financial institutions themselves as they became more and more dependent on the criminal proceeds. In addition, it seemed more reasonable to target accounts that had suspicious transactions than it did to put in additional sweeping rules similar to the Currency Transaction Reports that required forms to be filed for anyone who deposited more than $10,000 – a big net that swept up a lot of people. The idea behind SARs is that it would narrow the number of people being looked at by having the folks who knew them as customers identify activities that were suspicious for that type of customer, as opposed to simply looking at everyone.

Of course, as with every government reporting or surveillance program, it has grown over the years and is subject to abuse. And my work in the anti-money laundering area pre-dates the current Administration, so I’m unsure what may have changed since 9/11 changed everything.

For more information on SARs and the required reporting under the Bank Secrecy Act, see FinCEN’s website at http://www.fincen.gov.

Should be inter-agency teams and not intra-agency since SAR review teams are made up of folks from different federal agencies,

is FDL backing up a Governor who had relations with a major prostitution ring, across state lines issues, and all that? How far ye have fallen, o progressive one’s.

The Progressive movement had its genesis in do-gooder bored housewives and their literary magazines where they railed against slavery in the 1800s. In the early 1900s they were invaded by Nativits that screamed that dark skinned foreigners were kidnapping white women and pimping and trading them. All of this was complete nonsense but enough women were so concerned that the “White Slave” acts were passed.

One More Thing -

Of course, just because it wouldn’t be abnormal for SARs to be filed or reviewed, that doesn’t mean this prosecution isn’t a political witch hunt or a misuse of DOJ resources. While a SAR Review team might’ve uncovered the Spitzer SAR, it also might not have. In addition, the decision to follow up on the SAR – and the amount of resources used to do so – might’ve been made at a high level for political means. I only meant to explain what a SAR is and what it’s designed to do. Whether the process was abused in any particular case, I don’t know.

I suspect that one of the primary uses of Bush’s illegal wiretapping is blackmail, one of the oldest games in politics. Obviously Spitzer was not playing, or it was a clear message that anybody can go down. This is also why we have a complacent and timid democratic congress.

Yer killin me.

Where’s this leave the Russians of ‘17, White and Black, and their influence on the house of Bush? Leo Strauss? Neocons?

Yer killin me.

But if you can tie up YOUR post, to my post, I’ll listen.

So called, Progressives? Is that where yer gone to?

Or the one’s we know in our more modern times?

I gotta admit, you confuse me.

Enlighten! *G*

Thank you – this is a question – that Spitzer paid for prostitution is troubling to be sure – but likely not the first time it was done (read David Vitter, Dick Celeste…).

Was Spitzer caught by electronic driftnet and now they want to “Siegelman” him?

Is it illegal or just unusual to have multiple passports from the SAME country? Can someone explain how this works?

” Authorities raided Brener’s home early yesterday and found $600,000 in cash and 19,000 in Euros in various safes, prosecutors said.

Brener, they said, had two Israeli passports in addition to his US passport.”

Curious.

Spitzer, the King of stupid, is on a self destruct. Get out of his way please.

Besides him being a whore-mongering fool, what bothers you about Spitzer?

Good questions. But I guess, in this day and age, they don’t matter. The damage is done. And, as a feminist, womens’ libber, whatever — I don’t give a rat’s ass what you call it — I am one, why in the name of god are we still wasting all this time on victimless crimes?

In CA, there aren’t enough prisons for all the lock-ups they claim to need. The military doesn’t have Kevlar vests for all the soldiers. The list goes on and on. Yet, we are still wasting time and resources on victimless crimes.

And you wonder why the rest of the world laughs at us?

Why would the bank tell the IRS and not Spitzer himself if there was a suspicious transfer?
Good questions. Thanks Jane. Were they monitoring Spitzer in a Dept of heimat security kind of way? Some jerk stole my credit card and charged online escort/porn on it, and obviously I hyperventilated to the company. They just kinda shrugged their shoulders so to speak, removed the charges at a pretty sluggish rate, and even seemed to think it was kind of funny. I imagine banks treat customers the same sometimes, unless of course the person is Eliot Spitzer (not that the charges to his account were probably false, but who knows).
What is the USA doing prosecuting a prostitution case? Now I heard something of statelines, but this stuff seems a little too er. . . vice squad or something. And so on . . .
I guess we have a corrupt US attorney system as well.

I hope this primary doesn’t make this sleep, while Naomi Wolffe’s nightmares come true. This Spitzer case is too awful. I can imagine the GOP backslapping and cigars.

There’s lots more here that doesn’t add up.

First, large wire transfers are reported to FINCEN, not the IRS. For wire xfers, I believe that value is now as low as $1000 (not $10,000). So, you can imagine that they get tons of these. So why would these xfers stand out? If they were looking for bribes, they would be looking for money coming into accounts, not out of accounts.

While I don’t condone Spitzer’s actions (stupid, stupid, stupid), I think they were trolling for something, anything, that they could nail him with. They just didn’t realize it would be this, but knew it’s still enough to bring him down, even if the actual “crimes” committed are a bit of a stretch.

This was purely political, anyway you look at it. Which to a certain degree makes Spitzer’s transgressions even more stupid – he had to know that they were out to get him, and he still did this reckless escapade.

These are all great questions. Initially, I thought that he was caught during an investigation of this prostitution ring (or swept up in a larger net). But this whole business in which the bank informs the IRS because several thousand dollars are transferred . . . that’s shocking to me. Why would a bank do that? Several thousand dollars is probably not a huge amount of money to Spitzer.

I agree this whole thing doesn’t pass the smell test. My first thought when this story broke was that they picked up on this because of the warrantless spying the Bush adminstration has been doing. We all know that Spitzer has made some powerful enemies and it isn’t much of a stretch to doubt the “official story” about how this investigation started. The question is will our corporate media bother to find out if there is more to the story than just the salacious content?

My thoughts exactly.

The “sexual shock doctrine” apparently only works with democrats. Look at the the NYT story suggesting an affair between McCain and female lobbyist. Does anybody remember it?

I haven’t gotten through all of the comments yet but did anyone mention Scott Horton’s blog “No Comment” today? More discussion on targeting of Spitzer.

You know it’s a setup, but you can’t complain too loudly because he was breaking a law. In this case, a law that is based on religion, a bonus for the rightwing blowtards.

Obvious result of the same wiretapping that Elliot probably used against others! Now it’s so out of control it’s bitten him in the ass! Soon it will bite us all.

Enjoy.

For the record, those of you who think you’re so holy that you can’t be bitten……

LOL.

Enjoy.