Redstate

Posted at 1:20am on Mar. 13, 2008 Spitzenfreude

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Yes, I stole the title from somewhere else on the Web, but it seems to work for our purposes. In any event, it is finally over. And while I have a lot of sympathy for Eliot Spitzer's family, I don't have all that much for him. In fact, I daresay that this is karma at work.

Mind you, I am not a prude--though breaking the law is breaking the law. But what is especially noteworthy about all of this is the fact that Eliot Spitzer is being raked over the coals in much the same manner that he raked others over the coals when he was Attorney General for the State of New York. Only, the U.S. Attorney dealing with this case is actually being far nicer to Spitzer than Spitzer was to many of the people he persecuted.

Yes, that's right. I wrote "persecuted." Not "prosecuted." "Persecuted." There is a reason for this.

Read on . . .

Posted in Karma Is A [EXPLETIVE DELETED] | Kneel Before Zod | Law | Rooting For Injuries | Spitzmas — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:01pm on Mar. 12, 2008 Kryptonite Fells Clinton Superdelegate

The Taped Crusader Loses His Franchise

By Dan McLaughlin

NY Governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation costs Hillary a superdelegate, and he won't be replaced, according to this morning's Wall Street Journal:

The scandal-tainted governor and his lieutenant governor, David Paterson, who is a Democratic National Committee member, are among the roughly 800 superdelegates who will also cast ballots at the August nominating convention. Both support Sen. Clinton. The DNC confirmed yesterday that New York would lose Mr. Spitzer's superdelegate slot if he resigns.

New York succession laws would provide for Mr. Paterson to assume the role of governor until the term expires in 2010. Here's the rub: Succession law also provides for the president of the state Senate to become lieutenant governor. That man is Joseph Bruno, a Republican and a political enemy of Mr. Spitzer. It is safe to say that Mr. Bruno won't be casting a ballot at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Wonderful way to pick a nominee, isn't it?

Posted in 2008 | Eliot Spitzer | Hillary Clinton | Spitzmas | superdelegates — Comments (16)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:37am on Mar. 12, 2008 And So It Begins

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The spin efforts to make the Spitzer scandal nothing more than a Bush Justice Department sting operation against a political opponent has commenced. In the event that people are actually interested in how the investigation began--not that Scott Horton really is interested, mind you; he just wants to throw out as much doubt as humanly possible to save a political figure he considers sympathetic--they can read this to get a comprehensive understanding of how the investigation was launched. And amazingly enough, Horton actually links to this story, which tells you why the Feds were tipped off to the possibility that something may be wrong:

The suspicious financial activity was initially reported by a bank to the IRS which, under direction from the Justice Department, brought in 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.

Horton excerpts this, and then has the temerity to state that "The Justice Department has yet to give a full account of why they were looking into Spitzer's payments." Um . . . the account is found in Horton's own post. If that's not clear enough for him, I don't know what will be.

Horton also goes on to argue that Mann Act violations should not be brought because in the past, they were brought against people who perhaps should not have been prosecuted. The Mann Act isn't invoked that often but neither that, nor the argument that it might have been abused in the past is an excuse for not bringing it now. And again, structuring violations should be taken very seriously. But it appears that Horton won't take them seriously because Eliot Spitzer is not a Republican.

Spitzer did this to himself. No one else is responsible. People like Scott Horton can invoke the dread name of Karl Rove et. al. until the cows come home. It will avail them nothing.

Posted in Kneel Before Zod | Law | Rooting For Injuries | Spitzmas — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:16am on Mar. 11, 2008 Sputtering And Spitzering

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Like anyone else, I was completely shocked by this. I suppose that one can point out that prostitution is a vice and take the Stuttaford position that what goes on between two consenting adults should solely be the business of the consenting adults. I have a fair amount of sympathy for that argument, but the law is the law and what's more: Spitzer made a name for himself in part by busting prostitution circles when he was attorney general. He can't quite claim that this isn't a big deal; it sure seemed like it was a big deal when busting prostitution circles allowed Eliot Spitzer to present the Mr. Clean image that helped him become Governor in the first place.

Mann Act violations have been noted by a whole host of people but what could be just as serious--if not more serious--are concerns that Spitzer engaged in "structuring." If true, this could be devastating. More on the facts underlying the potential structuring allegation here.

Economics aside, no one is going to take seriously a Governor who paid over four grand for a good time. Do you know who this guy is yet? If not, you probably will soon.

Posted in Kneel Before Zod | Law | Rooting For Injuries | Spitzmas — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:42am on Mar. 11, 2008 Dana Milbank on Spitzmas at the Mayflower

By Ben Domenech

This is just sad. But who doesn't like schadenfreude and popcorn!

You're not kidding, Governor. Client 9 didn't even splurge on the Acela for the prostitute. The filing indicates she took the 5:39 p.m. regional Amtrak down from Penn Station on Feb. 13 for her rendezvous with Spitzer in Washington. But Kristen -- described in the court papers as a "very pretty brunette, 5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds" -- forgave the governor for this slight. Calling in to her, uh, dispatcher just after midnight on Valentine's Day, she reported that Client 9 had given her $4,300 for the session and down payment toward the next. Spitzer had used just two of his four allotted hours; he had to testify the next morning before a House Financial Services subcommittee on the "State of the Bond Insurance Industry."

Spitzer evidently had a reputation with the service for being "difficult" -- a sentiment shared by many Wall Street executives he prosecuted -- but Kristen was philosophical. "I'm here for a purpose. I know what my purpose is," she said in a phone call recorded by the feds. "I am not a . . . moron, you know what I mean. So maybe that's why girls maybe think they're difficult."