Top Lawmaker to Spitzer: Resign or We'll Impeach You
Updated: As the day progressed, it appeared that embattled New York Governor Eliot Spitzer might not resign from office as quickly as some have predicted, despite allegations that he may have paid as much as $80,000 for the services of high-class prostitution service.
But if he doesn’t resign soon, at least one lawmaker says, the state legislature could make the decision for him. “Assemblyman James Tedisco, a Republican and the Assembly minority leader, said he would begin moving to have Mr. Spitzer impeached if the governor did not step down within 48 hours,” reports the New York Times.
Reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.): “Tedisco said Mr. Spitzer has ‘breached his contract with the people of New York State, not only ethically but legally,’ and ‘has lost all the support’ from the public and the leaders in Albany.”
The Times says the state is “in limbo” due to the governor’s uncertain status. Although the Associated Press says that Spitzer lacks support due to being regarded by many as a “sanctimonious bully,” the news agency also reports that he hopes to hang onto his office, if the scandal dies down sufficiently to allow him to do so. Investigators say he was a repeat customer who may have spent as much as $80,000 on prostitution services, according to AP.
Meanwhile, Spitzer, 48, has not been charged with any crime. However, an unnamed law enforcement official tells the newspaper that the governor’s attorneys are expected to meet with federal prosecutors to discuss the situation. That discussion reportedly is likely to focus not on the sexual conduct concerned but the manner in which the governor paid for it.
Criminal charges against Spitzer, though, do not seem all that likely, according to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. (It quotes New York University School of Law professor Stephen Gillers as saying that a charge against Spitzer for facilitating money-laundering by others is conceivable.) And, unless he is both charged and convicted of a felony, he is unlikely to lose his law license, according to an earlier Wall Street Journal Law Blog post.
As detailed in a previous ABAJournal.com post, both the Times and the Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that Spitzer is on the verge of giving up his office.
Updated at 5:25 p.m., central time, to add more recent Associated Press coverage.
