On Monday, when the scandal broke, prosecutors said in court papers that Spitzer had been caught on a wiretap spending $4,300 with the Emperors Club VIP call-girl service, with some of the money going toward a night with a prostitute named Kristen, and the rest to be used as credit toward future trysts. The papers also suggested that Spitzer had done it before.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a law enforcement official said yesterday that Spitzer, in fact, had spent tens of thousands of dollars with the Emperors Club. Another official said the amount could be as high as $80,000. But it was not clear over what period of time that was allegedly spent.
Spitzer's vast personal wealth would have made it easy for him to spend thousands of dollars on prostitutes. The scion of a wealthy Manhattan real estate developer, Spitzer reported $1.9 million in income to the IRS in 2006.
Meanwhile, Albany insiders said yesterday that the governor was still trying to decide how to proceed. Options included quitting immediately or waiting to use resignation as a bargaining chip with federal prosecutors to avoid indictment.
Democrats privately floated another option, saying that Spitzer was considering what was almost unthinkable immediately after Monday's bombshell apology: hanging on.
"If the public is fine, he'll stay," said a Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Still, Spitzer's many enemies from Albany and Wall Street were emboldened, and some of his friends went from shock to outrage.
"Particularly because of the reform platform on which he was elected governor, his ability to govern the state of New York and execute his duties as governor have been irreparably damaged," said Citizens Union, a good-government group that supported the crusading attorney general for governor in 2006 and provided critical support in his effort to reform Albany. "It is our strong belief that it is now impossible for him to fulfill his responsibilities as governor. Accordingly, Citizens Union urges him to resign as governor."
