NEW YORK (AP/WCBS 880) -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized to his family and the public on Monday, but did not elaborate on a bombshell report that he has been involved in a prostitution ring.
UPDATE (5:52p) Reliable sources told CBS 2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer that Lt. Gov. David Paterson could be sworn in as governor as early as 7 p.m. Monday.
READ: Official Criminal Complaint Involving Spitzer 
``I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family ... my sense of right and wrong,'' he said at a news conference at his Manhattan office. ``I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, who I promised better.''
``I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself,'' he added. ``I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.''
VIDEO: Spitzer's Statement 
SPITZER'S STATEMENT:
Today, I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the public, to whom I promised better. I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals; it is about ideas, the public good and doing what is best for the State of New York. I am disappointed. I failed to live up to the standard I expect of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family. I will not be taking questions. Thank you very much. I will report back to you in short order.
LISTEN: Spitzer's Statement
Spitzer's wife stood at his side, her hands behind her back and her eyes cast downward, as he made the statement. Spitzer, 48, and his wife, Silda, have three daughters.
The alleged prostitution connection, first reported by The New York Times, marked a stunning turn of events for a politician who built his legacy on rooting out corruption.
From CBSNews.com, The New York Democrat, identified in legal papers as "Client 9," met last month with at least one woman in a Washington hotel, the law enforcement official said.
Law enforcement officials who have been briefed on the case tell CBS News the Washington rendezvous captured by a federal wiretap happened in Room 871 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
Last week, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed conspiracy charges against four people, accusing them of running a prostitution ring that charged wealthy clients in Europe and the U.S. thousands of dollars for prostitutes.
The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of the prostitutes' bodies, with their faces hidden, along with hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with various numbers of diamonds, with seven diamonds being the highest. The highest-ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.
The case is being handled by prosecutors in the Public Corruption unit of U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia's office. Garcia spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said the office had no comment.
Spitzer has built his political legacy on stamping out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor's office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation's worst governments.
Time magazine had named him ``Crusader of the Year'' when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him ``Eliot Ness.''
But his stint as governor has been marred by several problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer's main Republican nemesis.
Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state Public Integrity Commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides are accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.
Spitzer had served two terms as attorney general where he pursued criminal and civil cases and cracked down on misconduct and conflicts of interests on Wall Street and in corporate America. He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, handling organized crime and white-collar crime cases.
His cases as state attorney general included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes.
In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.
If Governor Spitzer resigns, Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson will be the next in line. Here's a brief bio of him:
David A. Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and the current Lieutenant Governor of New York. He is the first African American to hold this position. He was selected as running mate by New York Attorney General and Democratic Party nominee Eliot Spitzer in the 2006 New York gubernatorial election, and would become governor should Spitzer resign.
Paterson was born legally blind in Brooklyn in 1954. He received a BA from Columbia University in 1977 and later his law degree from Hofstra Law School. After law school, he went to work for the Queens District Attorney's Office. In 1985 he joined the campaign staff of David Dinkins for Manhattan Borough President. In October of that year, longtime state Senator Leon Bogues, representing a district covering Manhattan neighborhoods Harlem, Manhattan Valley and the Upper West Side, died and Paterson won a highly competitive Democratic party New York (Manhattan) County Committee selection process and was elected to serve the rest of Bogues' term.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images |
