US:NEW YORK governor Eliot Spitzer has admitted to violating "any sense of right or wrong" after he was linked yesterday to an expensive prostitution ring under investigation by the FBI. The New York Times reported on its website yesterday that the governor was caught last month on a federal wiretap arranging for a prostitute to travel from New York to meet him at a Washington hotel.
Mr Spitzer, who came to office promising ethics reform, appeared before reporters briefly yesterday but declined to take questions.
"I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family and that violates my - or any - sense of right and wrong. I apologise first, and most importantly, to my family. I apologise to the public, whom I promised better," he said.
Mr Spitzer, who was accompanied by his wife of more than 20 years, with whom he has three children, did not immediately suggest that he will be resigning.
"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. But I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard that I expect of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family," he said.
Last week, federal prosecutors filed conspiracy charges against four people for allegedly running a prostitution ring that charged wealthy clients in Europe and the US thousands of dollars for prostitutes.
The Emperors Club VIP advertised hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.
According to a sworn affidavit from an FBI agent, a man identified as Client 9 arranged for a prostitute to travel to Washington on February 13th and to meet him at his hotel room. Mr Spitzer was in Washington that evening and appeared on television from there the following morning.
A former attorney general who made his name by taking on corporate corruption in New York, Mr Spitzer has had a difficult first year as governor and was forced recently to withdraw a plan to issue driving licences to illegal immigrants.
If Mr Spitzer resigns, he will be succeeded by his lieutenant-governor David Paterson, who would be the first African-American governor of New York.
