USA - PROSTITUTION

New York Gov. Spitzer resigns

Thursday 13 March 2008

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned on Wednesday amid a prostitution scandal. The identity of the woman in question has catapulted across the media. (Report: B.Coll)

A sex scandal that erupted over New York governor Eliot Spitzer's involvement with high-priced prostitutes sizzled Wednesday with his resignation and the release of the hooker's identity.
   
The petite brunette identified in federal court papers as "Kristen," a call girl for the big-bucks Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring, was revealed to be 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre from New Jersey, the New York Times reported.
   
Earlier in the day Spitzer, 48, marked a stunning fall from grace by announcing he would resign effective March 17 due to the revelations that he had arranged to meet the woman for sex on February 13 at a Washington hotel.
   
The outgoing governor, a Hillary Clinton ally once considered presidential material and known as "Mr. Clean" for taking down organized crime and tackling Wall Street corruption, said he had failed to live up to the standards expected of public officials.
   
"Over the course of my public life I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct," Spitzer told reporters, flanked by his wife.
   
"I can and will ask no less of myself. For his reason I am resigning from the office of governor," the governor said.
   
"I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work.... The remorse I feel will always be with me," he added.
   
Spitzer had faced a mounting threat of impeachment from Republicans in the state assembly, while New York newspapers had also called for him to stand down.
   
Spitzer could still face federal criminal charges and New York prosecutors pointedly denied they had made a deal with the former top public prosecutor, amid earlier reports he had agreed to quit in return for avoiding charges such as money laundering.
   
His resignation came as further details emerged of his use of prostitutes, with the New York Post saying he had spent up to 80,000 dollars on call girls going back 10 years to his time as New York state attorney general.
   
The New York Times reported that the woman in the center of the scandal was as aspiring singer who described herself as coming from a "broken home," having used drugs, been abused, and been "broke and homeless," according to a self-penned biography on her MySpace.com page.
   
"I just don't want to be thought of as a monster," Dupre, who was born Ashley Youmans, was quoted as telling the paper. "This has been a very difficult time. It is complicated."
   
Dupre, who has not been charged, declined to comment on her relationship with Spitzer, a father of three teenage daughters.
   
But the Times said she could be a witness in the case against the Emperors Club VIP, the prostitution racket at the center of the scandal.
   
According to reports, Spitzer was the "Client 9" named in a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors last week.
   
The complaint suggested Client 9 had used Emperors Club VIP's services before and detailed how he arranged to have "Kristen" brought from New York to Washington.
   
According to the complaint, the client paid her 4,300 dollars and left after around two hours.
   
Spitzer was allegedly caught on a federal wiretap last month arranging to meet the prostitute in Washington, where he was due to address the US Congress the following day.
   
But investigators reportedly first started probing Spitzer's affairs when his bank reported him to tax authorities over suspicious transfers from which he had asked the bank to remove his name.
   
Dupre's mother, Carolyn Capalbo, 46, told the Times she was "shell-shocked" to learn that her daughter was a sex escort who booked at about 1,000 dollars an hour.
   
"She is a very bright girl who can handle someone like the governor,"  Capalbo was quoted as telling the paper, nevertheless adding that Dupre may not have realized that her client was New York's top politician.
   
"But she also is a 22-year-old, not a 32-year-old or a 42-year-old, and she obviously got involved in something much larger than her."
   
Spitzer is to formally hand over on Monday to Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, who would become the state's first black governor and the first blind governor in US history.
   
Paterson, 53, considered more liberal and accommodating than his pugnacious former boss, immediately sought to draw a line under Spitzer's term, which has been marked by deadlock since he took over last year.
   
"It is now time for (state capital) Albany to get back to work as the people of this state expect from us," the governor-in-waiting said.

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  ANALYSIS

  FRANCE 24 International Affairs Editor Armen Giorgian

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