Did FBI or other feds deliberately want Spitzer out?

Yes, yes, the former NY Gov should have kept his pants on, but, near the end of this fascinating story, in which Eliot Spitzer describes how effed-up the Federal Reserve has been since Paul Volcker was replaced by Alan Greenspan, then Ben Bernanke after him, we get some speculation on that. (Of course, Greg Palast can put on the tin-foil hat with ease ... )

Some summary thoughts on the Spitzer situation

I don’t have a URL, because if you don’t understand “Spitzer situation,” you haven’t been intaking much news in the last day or two.

First, no, I don’t think prostitution should be criminalized. But, if legalized, it needs to be regulated, as in Nevada, for the protection of all parties involved.

Second, re Spitzer, it’s the cover-up, in this case, the shuffling of large dollar amounts, etc., that always gets you.

Third, as stated before, psychological repression is a good way to get tripped up, whether you’re a politician or not.

Fourth, DON’T use the name of an actual friend, political acquaintance or business acquaintance to cover your tracks in a situation like this. I imagine the real George Fox is mad as hell at Spitzer about now, and rightfully so. That said, an act of such unthinking, and desperation, probably goes directly to Point No. 3 above.

Fifth, if you are going to pay for high-priced call girls, especially if you’ve made your reputation prosecuting financial corruption, can you not be smart enough to recognize what money shuffling will trigger your bank to contact the IRS? Know that your bank will contact the IRS if it appears you are trying to break your money transfers down into smaller amounts just to avoid the $10,000 reporting trigger.

Sixth, given the multiplication of the sexuality-related 12-step groups, why doesn’t Spitzer tearfully announce he has an addiction and is taking a leave of absence for counseling and rehab? GOPers in the New York state legislature would look incredibly mean-spirited if they tried to impeach him while he was in a rehab.

Seventh, do not ask your bank to remove your name off wire transfers of serious amounts of money after first requesting them. You just raised the suspicion red flag and started waving it furiously in your own face.

Hamsher on Spitzer – some good comments, one ‘huh’ one

Jane Hamsher at Firedog Lake has some interesting questions about the apparent politicization of the case.

Besides the Mukasey/DOJ involvement, I too want to know how involved New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg might be, and working with New York state Sen. Joseph Bruno on all this, given Bruno’s history with Spitzer.

That said, I don’t know why she’s asking why the bank didn’t notify Spitzer, not the IRS, of suspicious money transfers. I’m assuming the transfers were over the $10,000 mark and therefore, the bank had to notify the IRS.

As far as not notifying Spitzer, we don’t know whether they did or didn’t. I mean, is he going to tell the world now, if he were notified? And, what was he going to say to the bank?

“Thanks, but that was actually me spending massive money on high-priced call girls?”

Update: Turns out I was right on Spitzer’s bank transfers. In fact, he broke his money movements down below the $10,000 threshold, but the total amount involved, with estimates running from $40,000-$80,000, was enough to trigger suspicion. Spitzer certainly didn’t help himself by then trying to get the bank, as yet unnamed, to take his name off the wire transfers.

Bank officials declined, however, saying that it was improper to do so and in any event, it was too late to do so, because the money already had been sent, the sources said.

The bank, as is required by law, filed an SAR, or Suspicious Activity Report, with the Internal Revenue Service, reporting the transfer of the money that exceeded $10,000, but had been broken down into smaller amounts, the sources said.

Unbelievable.

Was Spitzer set up?

Per an earlier blog post I had about quick-draw Mukasey, prominent New York City attorney Horton wonders if the whole thing wasn’t a set-up.

Horton notes that the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice has shown huge political bias in the Bush Administration, as well as the fact that the Mann Act is a bogus legal relic.

It is an eyebrow-raiser, at the least, given that Attorney General Mike Mukasey has shown himself to be little more than suaver, more subtle Alberto Gonzales.

Quick-draw Mukasey

So, the Eliot Spitzer investigation needed a personal okey-dokey from Attorney General Mike Mukasey?

Because the focus was a high-ranking government official, prosecutors were required to seek the approval of the United States attorney general to proceed. Once they secured that permission, the investigation moved forward.

But, Big Mike doesn’t have the time, or energy, or moral certititude, to investigate waterboarding? Or actually enforce a contempt of Congress citation?

Too bad George Tenet or Peter Goss didn’t hire call girls. Or Harriett Miers hire a gigolo, although the mere image of that might want to make me throw up in my mouth.
Qu

Spitzer just prostituted his political future

The New York governor, Eliot Spitzer, admits he was involved in a prostitution ring. Per the New York Times:

Just last week, federal prosecutors arrested four people in connection with an expensive prostitution operation. Administration officials would not say that this was the ring with which the governor had become involved.

Wow. Spitzer is married with three children. Press conference started at 2:15 Eastern.

Per Huffington Post, the prostitution ring is called the Emperor's Club.

Huff Post references The Smoking Gun posting papers about this, an international prostitution ring, being busted. Reportedly, it had 50 prostitutes available for appointments in New York, Washington, Miami, London and Paris, according to a complaint unsealed on Thursday in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The appointments, made by telephone or through an online booking service, cost $1,000 to $5,500 an hour. The ladies went for as much as $31,000 per day for a “seven diamond” rated girl.

Given Spitzer’s visibility, and his own aggressiveness on prostitution rings, I don’t see how he can escape total political cratering from this. I had in the past touted him as a potential future Democratic presidential candidate, or should Obama or Clinton win, our new attorney general.

Well, not anymore.

Updated: Spitzer’s presser statement here.

Now, as to the issue itself? I pretty much agree with Kevin Drum. Make it legal, like in Nevada or Amsterdam (along with pot, in Amsterdam, for that matter).

That said, though, the law is the law; and, as state AG before becoming gov, Spitzer’s sworn duty was legal investigation and prosecution. Also, without going Freudian, it’s arguable that Spitzer’s aggressiveness in previous pursuit of prostitution cases is some sort of psychological repression.

Finally: A major politician who understands conservation

Including its economic and employment benefits

“Take THAT, Dick Cheney,” could have been the mantra of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's recent speech on Peak Oil and energy conservation. (Complete speech, in PDF format, here. Highlights follow.

First, he describes exactly HOW Cheney is wrong on conservation:

I will admit that the Vice President's skepticism about the benefits of efficiency may have made sense in 1970, when most people believed energy efficiency meant nothing more than wearing more sweaters in the winter.

But technology has marched on and, in the intervening years, the marginal cost of energy efficiency has plummeted while the marginal cost of energy generation has shot up.

In terms of dollars and cents, it now costs one-third as much to save a given amount of energy through efficiency programs as it does to produce the same amount of energy by building a new power plant. The fact is that energy efficiency now makes economic sense.

This is the logic that the Vice President misses - the simple idea that the cheapest and cleanest power plant in the world is the one you never have to build.

In addition to conservation being “cheaper” than it ever was, you just can't argue against the simplicity of that last paragraph.

But, how do you make conservation work for an electric utility's bottom line? Well, Spitzer has ideas on that:

First, we must eliminate a perverse incentive in the marketplace that discourages utilities from conserving energy. The problem is that we want utilities to encourage their customers to conserve - but right now, when their customers conserve energy, the utility loses money. Obviously, this incentive structure is upside down if our goal is to increase energy efficiency.

Other states have done this. It works. Now, let's implement it.

Take that, too, Mr. VP.

And, Spitzer understands, unlike the doomsaying Darth Vader, that this will HELP not hurt the economy.

Think of all the high-paying jobs that will be needed to retrofit power plants, homes and office buildings so they can be more efficient; the jobs that will be needed to develop innovative efficiency and clean energy technologies; or the jobs that will be needed to manufacture the products at the scale that will be necessary to reach our goals.

So, why can't we get him to run for President? Seriously, I'd be likely to vote for Spitzer over any currently announced Democrat.