- Title: USA: New Yorkers "shocked" by governor Spitzer prostitute scandal
- Date: 11th March 2008
- Summary: NEWSPAPERS VARIOUS OF HEADLINES REACTING TO NEW YORK GOVERNOR ELIOT SPITZER SCANDAL (3 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 26th March 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA2K1KZ1O5PIX7DT14JUHZRA4FY
- Story Text: All the front pages of New York's newspapers on Tuesday (March 11) were devoted to the sex scandal that has rocked the state and the country - news that Governor Eliot Spitzer was involved in a prostitution ring.
Spitzer is now facing pressure to resign and there will be questions as to whether he will be prosecuted for any crime after a report linked him to a high-class prostitution ring.
A New York Times report said the man who made his name fighting corruption hired a $1,000-an-hour prostitute and was caught on a federal wiretap at least six times in February arranging to meet with her at a Washington hotel.
Spitzer, a married 48-year-old Democrat who investigated prostitution as New York's attorney general, apologized for what he described as a "private matter" but said nothing about resigning. He neither confirmed nor denied the report.
New York City's tabloids seized on the opportunity to skewer the governor. The Daily News headline called Spitzer the "Pay for Luv Gov" and the New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp , led with "HO NO!"
The Times said in an editorial Spitzer's insistence it was a "private matter" displayed arrogance.
Commuters going to work in New York's Times Square were generally surprised by Monday's news that the former prosecutor could be involved in such a scandal.
Many thought he should resign, with one woman saying you couldn't trust any politician these days.
But one man at least seemed to enjoy seeing Spitzer caught up in a scandal and reckoned he should stay put and face a grilling from the public for the next two years.
Spitzer was elected governor with nearly 70 percent of the vote in late 2006 following a stint as state attorney general noted for high-profile investigations into Wall Street.
At the heart of the scandal is a criminal complaint unveiled last week charging four people with running a multi-million-dollar prostitution ring dubbed The Emperors Club.
The New York Times said Spitzer was an individual identified as Client 9 in the court papers filed last week. Client 9 arranged to meet with "Kristen," a prostitute who charged $1,000 an hour, on February 13 in a Washington hotel and paid $4,300 for services rendered and as a down payment for future engagements, according to the court documents. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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