WCBS TV (New York) reports that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has lawyered up. He's retained the New York law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison. It also reports Spitzer is expected to resign Tuesday.

Question: Can we expect an appearance by Libby Lawyer Ted Wells, partner at Paul Weiss?

The New York Times in an editorial for tomorrow, explains why it's different for Spitzer than for others:

Mr. Spitzer’s own record of prosecuting such cases gives him scant breathing room. As state attorney general, he prosecuted prostitution rings with enthusiasm — pointing out that they are often involved in human trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering. In 2004, on Staten Island, Mr. Spitzer was vehement in his outrage over 16 people arrested in a high-end prostitution ring.

If Spitzer resigns, New York's Lt. Governor David Patterson will take his place.

As for possible criminal charges, my latest post on the ABC report that he is being investigated for structuring financial transactions is here.

Update: Here's the press release (pdf) the U.S. Attorney's office sent out when filing the case against the Emporer's Club defendants.

Update: According to the New York Times, the Attorney General did authorize investigation of Spitzer:

The inquiry, like many such investigations, was a delicate one. 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.

*****

ABC News reports New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was the initial subject of the Justice Department investigation and it was his suspicious money transfers that led to their discovery of the prostitution ring. ABC says the feds are likely to charge him with the crime of structuring financial transactions:

The federal investigation of a New York prostitution ring was triggered by Gov. Eliot Spitzer's suspicious money transfers, initially leading agents to believe Spitzer was hiding bribes, according to federal officials.

It was only months later that the IRS and the FBI determined that Spitzer wasn't hiding bribes but payments to a company called QAT, what prosecutors say is a prostitution operation operating under the name of the Emperors Club.

And this:

The suspicious financial activity was initially reported by a bank to the IRS which, under direction from the Justice Department, brought kin the FBI's Public Corruption Squad.

"We had no interest at all in the prostitution ring until the thing with Spitzer led us to learn about it," said one Justice Department official.

More...

Will Eliot Spitzer resign? I think he will tomorrow.

Should he?

Survey USA just did a poll and finds 58% of New Yorkers say yes.

Here's a thread to discuss the political aspects of today's Spitzer revelations.

And, will he keep his superdelegate status at the Democratic convention?

Earlier threads are here and here.

First Spitzer thread here.

CNN just reported Gov. Eliot Spitzer is under federal criminal investigation and that he is, indeed, customer "9" in the 55 page affidavit in support of search and arrest warrants in the case of U.S. v. Mark Brener, et. al.

Spitzer was at a hotel in Washington, D.C. and allegedly asked Tameka "Rachelle" Lewis to send someone from NY to D.C. to his room at the Mayflower.

Go to page 34. There's a lot of detail. Paragraph 85 may be key.

It's clear from the document that Customer #9 was a repeat customer and that he intended to use them again in the future. Read pages 34 to 39. They discuss his having a credit balance and whether he can leave more than he owes for future visits.

Also, when Tameka, aka Rochelle, told #9 it would be "Kristen", # 9 was very pleased. ("Great, ok, wonderful" he said." Par. 80.)

Update: I sincerely doubt Spitzer will be charged with a crime. He probably will have to cooperate with the feds in the prosecution of the members of the prostitution ring. Did Spitzer commit a violation of the Mann Act, 18 USC 2422?

Whoever knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any individual to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, to engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

Spitzer's statement today is here.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is about to hold a press conference. He advised his aides earlier he's been linked to a prostitution ring.

Update: Jeffrey Toobin went to law school with Spitzer and is telling CNN now on the phone he was always such a straight arrow. As Attorney General, he was always a "moralist." I have to agree. I used to debate Spitzer on tv before he was Attorney General and met him several times. He's the least likely person I can imagine being involved in this. I never liked his position on crime, but I liked him and am sorry to see this.

We're all waiting for the press conference. It's still not happening. CNN says he was a customer of the ring. This was an IRS investigation, would he really have used a credit card and left a paper trail? Or did his name just show up in records? Stay tuned, I'll try to live-blog the press conference if it happens.

Update: Press Conference: His wife is by his side. He didn't resign, he apologized to his family and the public and said he would be taking some time to regain the trust of his family. Very short, no details. He said politics is not about individuals, it's about ideas. He said he'll be reporting back. He said he acted in a way that violates the obligation to his family and his sense of right and wrong. No questions.

More on the prostitution ring below:

By Big Tent Democrat

I am a little offended that Ed Kilgore decided to not include me in his roundtable discussion at Democratic Strategist on appealing to swing voters vs. base voters. After all, Ed and I have debated these issues for years now.

While I lick the wounds to my ego, I still find the urge to comment. The first two pieces come from Al From, the DLC President, and from Joan McCarter, the Contributing Editor mcjoan at daily kos. My reaction to this discussion on the flip:

By Big Tent Democrat

60 Minutes is about to run its segment on Karl Rove and his alleged actions against Democratic Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Worth a watch

Also, this is an Open Thread as I look for TChris' piece on the Siegelman-Rove story. Here is TChris' piece on the Rove-Siegelman story.

By a vote of 223 to 32, the House of Representatives today voted to hold former Bush White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Bush's Chief of Staff Josh Bolton in contempt for refusing to respond to a subpoena issued in the U.S. Attorney firing probe. Republicans boycotted the vote and walked out in protest.

It's been 25 years since a full Congress last voted on a contempt charge. In 1983,

The House voted 413-0 to cite former Environmental Protection Agency official Rita Lavelle for contempt of Congress for refusing to appear before a House committee. Lavelle was later acquitted in court of the contempt charge, but she was convicted of perjury in a separate trial.

It's the lie that gets them every time. Far better to take the 5th or face a contempt charge. This will take years to resolve in the courts, by which time everyone will have forgotten about why it was so important.

The Senate Ethics Committee today issued a public letter of reprimand to Idaho Sen. Larry Craig.

In a letter signed by all six members of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, the members affirmed the initial guilty plea that Craig signed after an undercover officer in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport arrested him in a men's room sting.

....In addition, members admonished Craig for trying to use the influence of his office to avoid arrest and failing to notify the committee that he had used his campaign funds to pay his legal fees, a violation of Senate rules.

The full letter is here (pdf.)[More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

I always envisioned the progressive blogs and the progressive base as the Left flank of the Democratic Party, holding both our pols AND the Media accountable. The blogs have certainly held Hillary Clinton's feet to the fire on issues, and I applaud them for that. But the blogs generally have not held Barack Obama's feet to the fire. Worse than that, they have not only NOT held the Media to account, too often they have echoed what Paul Krugman labels the Clinton Rules:

What’s particularly saddening is the way many Obama supporters seem happy with the application of “Clinton rules” — the term a number of observers use for the way pundits and some news organizations treat any action or statement by the Clintons, no matter how innocuous, as proof of evil intent.

If folks wonder why I rail about the Media and the progressive blogs on this, I think Krugman offers an explanation:

The day has finally come for our Imperial President, George W. Bush, to deliver his final State of the Union Address. He's almost gone.

What were the worst moments of his speech? How glad are you he's on his way out?

Let's tally the most egregious policies of his Administration, ones that should forever tarnish his legacy. My list starts with the War in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, his extremist judges and warrantless NSA electronic eavesdropping.

Attempts and failures count here too, like privatization of social security.

Neither Big Tent Democrat nor I will be live-blogging the speech, but we'll both check in later to read your comments.

Speaking for me only

eriposte takes Markos Moulitsas' unsound post at daily kos on the Party of Ideas and debunks it (see also Crashing The Gates co-author Jerome Armstrong gently disagree with Markos.), using Markos' own words. It uses some definitive statements from "Crashing the Gate," Markos and Jerome Armstrong's book on Democratic politics:[More...]