Results tagged “eliotspitzer”

Yesterday, former governor Eliot Spitzer spoke at Harvard University's ethics center to discuss big business and government, much to the dismay of one of the madams he used for his dalliances with escorts. He mostly discussed the economic crisis, but he did answer a question about the prostitution scandal that brought down his poltiical career. According to the NY Times, a man "with a long gray ponytail sticking out of his baseball hat," began, "I may sound like a conspiracy theorist," and then asked if there were "'ulterior motives' behind the timing of the disclosure of the prostitution ring that he said was leaked to the news media."

Today, former governor Eliot Spitzer will be at Harvard, speaking at the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, discussing, "What Should Be the Rationale for Government Participation in the Market?" But given Spitzer's past, from Troopergate to Hookergate, one person is very upset—a madam who had Spitzer as a client. In a letter to Professor Lawrence Lessig, Kristin Davis wrote, "For nearly 5 years, I supplied Mr. Spitzer with high priced escorts while he was both Attorney General and Governor. For this crime, I served four months on Rikers Island, had all of my assets confiscated and am now considered a sex offender on 5 years probation. Mr. Spitzer broke both state and federal laws and walked away free."

Former governor Eliot Spitzer is really working on the next chapter of his life. When not pundit-ing on talk shows, being discussed as a 2010 candidate, or teaching at City College, he's working at the family biz, his dad's multi-million dollar real estate empire. Now it's been confirmed that Steamroller himself oversaw a pricey Manhattan real estate transaction.

Ashley Dupre, who recently called (some? most?) New York City women hypocrites for looking down on her prostituting past, has now been in the NY Post two days in a row. Yesterday, the Post looked at her road to realization—with a sexy fashion shoot, of course (photo slideshow below, which is set to her second single!)—with the former high-class escort offering this pitch line, "Everyone likes an underdog story, and everyone likes a comeback. I'm the poster child for redemption."

Ashley Dupre, aka Kristen the pricey escort that former Govenor Spitzer enjoyed, has a blog post on Global Grind about the neverending Hookergate controversy, which flared up this week with the Post's speculation that Spitzer would run for office again. Which prompts the aspiring singer to write, "I read the front page of the NY Post this week and was happy to see that Mr. Spitzer is moving on with his life and considering getting back into politics. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance. Me too, right? Well, apparently not. Why? Because many people are liars and hypocrites. Let me give you just a few examples of what I keep encountering, despite my best efforts to move on."

Former governor Eliot Spitzer, who denies that he's running for office next year (not matter what the Post says or hopes), is starting a new career: As an educator. According to Politics on the Hudson, he's teaching "a three-hour law and public policy class once a week in the political-science department for the fall semester" at City College of New York. CCNY spokesman Ellis Simon said, "We’re delighted that Eliot Spitzer has become an adjunct member of our facility. His experience as attorney general and as governor of the state of New York gives him a unique and powerful perspective that can only benefit our students."

Even though it's officially September, it's still sort of like a slow summer news week—which is perhaps why the NY Post is suggesting on its front page that former governor Eliot Spitzer is considering a new statewide run! The headline is tabloid gold, of course. But is there any truth to the story?

     

Last night the Yankees kept their winning ways going up in The Bronx behind a couple of Bombers who are practically old timers at this point—Andy Pettite and Jorge Posada. The 37-year-old pitcher climbed to third on the team's all-time wins list with 189 (tied with Lefty Gomez) and his 38-year-old battery mate blasted a three-run homer in the first to provide Pettite with all the help he'd need to get the victory.

New York magazine's cover story this week is titled "Is Goldman Sachs Evil? Or Just Too Good?", giving the once-over to the investment bank that just reported $3.44 billion in second quarter profits less than half a year after receiving $10 billion in TARP money from the government. The feature by Joe Hagan examines the bailout, the culture, and the firm's relationship with D.C. Then there are quotes like this one from former "Sheriff of Wall Street" and Love Gov Eliot Spitzer—"If all we are getting are newly empowered and capital-rich hedge funds that benefit from market volatility, then we are not only rebuilding the same edifice, but we’re contributing to the underlying rot in our economy"—as well as one from GS's communications director, "The cult of the individual, which I think has been a disadvantage to so many of the firm’s competitors, really doesn’t exist here. The more you have acceptance, the easier it is to be effective." And another Wall Street veteran puts it this way: "The god is Goldman. You subjugate yourself to that god, and in return we will make you a gazillionaire."

In what is truly a case of politics making for strange bedfellows, it's reported that Governor Paterson's right-hand man, Charles O'Byrne (pictured), recently had a meeting with GOP operative Roger Stone. Stone of course is the man best known for helping bring down former Governor Eliot Spitzer, outing his penchant for socks-on time and chewing out Spitzer's elderly father along the way. Stone has publicly stated that he would like to see Paterson, and not Andrew Cuomo, get the Democratic nomination next year because he knows the governor appears more vulnerable to a GOP opponent. Could O'Byrne have been looking for assistance from a man eager to aid the governor's ultimate defeat?

Former governor Eliot Spitzer has spoken up about the Republicans-plus-two Democrats' coup of the State Senate. And he says it's actually a good thing in his Slate column, pointing out, "The governor, speaker of the Assembly, and Senate majority leader had almost unilateral power to act and bind their branches" and could make deals in secret. Whereas amid the mess, the Republican Senators did pass some reform measures. Spitzer ends with, "We should not forget that democracy is often an ugly process. The sterile decision-making that was criticized when it was behind closed doors has been replaced for the moment by the crass and ugly sausage-making that is legislative process. Out of this mess may come a legislative branch where legislators actually begin to voice differing views, argue on substantive matters, and finally bring into the open the discussion of issues that should be occurring in public." Is the mention of democracy being ugly a reference to his Troopergate involvement?

To everyone's prurient delight, a lawyer for the woman who booked clients' "appointments" with ladies from the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring says that former governor Eliot Spitzer was a regular customer. Marc Agniflio, who represents Temeka Lewis, told reporters that Spitzer's habit "was more than sporadic. It wasn't always more than once a month, but it was sometimes more than once a month."

New Yorkers may miss former governor Eliot Spitzer enough to prefer having him as governor over Governor David Paterson, but, as the transcripts from State Inspector General Joseph Fisch reveal, Spitzer is still basically a huge asshole. As part of the investigation into the Troopergate mess—where Spitzer and his aides developed a campaign to smear (then) Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno—, Fisch needed to interview Spitzer. The NY Times reports that Fisch "found him hostile, frustrated over his experience in Albany and with his legendary temper in full bloom."

If you hear that the "Luv Gov" is chasing after Black-eyed Susans this weekend, it's probably not what you think. One of the thirteen horses entered into the Preakness Stakes this weekend in Baltimore, Luv Gov (pictured) has been given the same nickname slapped on former Governor Eliot Spitzer. The thoroughbred's owner is Marylou Whitney, an upstate Republican with another horse named "Ninth Client."

After a showstopping debut that broke Amy Poehler during a sentimental farewell and pissed a lot of people off by using the governor's blindness a punchline, Armisen's send-up might have finally begun running out of steam. Last night's appearance saw him as one half of a comedy duo, alongside his predecessor Eliot Spitzer (played extra creepily by Bill Hader). The New Jersey punchlines were back in full effect, along with the idea that Governor Paterson's best chance at getting reelected is that New York voters will enter the booth next November with a "Sanjaya mentality."

The last time former governor Eliot and Silda Spitzer voluntarily submitted to photographers' gazes was when Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation. More than a year later, the Daily News spotted them at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel: "The smiling couple joined hundreds of Education Through Music friends and supporters at the eighth annual Children's Benefit Gala honoring Grammy-winning violinist Joshua Bell... They sipped cocktails and occasionally cast lovey-dovey looks at each other while shooting the breeze with folks." The couple, spoofed on SNL after Eliot's downfall, celebrated their 21st anniversary last October. The former governor is working for his father's real estate company and it was reported last year that Silda Spitzer was working for a hedge fund.

The Post offers some perspective, by way of the Siena College poll released yesterday, about how voters feel about Governor David Paterson: "New Yorkers would rather have disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer as the state's chief executive than Gov. Paterson. The Siena College survey, released yesterday, also showed that more New Yorkers would prefer former Govs. Mario Cuomo or George Pataki than either Spitzer or Paterson." When asked to pick their choice from recent governors, 39% opted for Cuomo, followed by Pataki, Spitzer and then Paterson. Well, we suppose absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or that Spitzer should be wary about his comeback. That same survey found Paterson has a dismal 18% approval rating.

Eliot Spitzer may not be calling his recent forays back into the public sphere part of his comeback campaign, but now he's on the cover of Newsweek (cover headline: "How Could I?"), so it's official: The Steamroller is back.

Politico tackles former governor Eliot Spitzer's recent forays back in the public and declares, "If there’s a textbook for scandal-scarred politicians on the art of the recovery, Spitzer has surely read it; if there isn’t, he might consider penning one." A Democratic consultant, Celinda Lake, explains, "The American public really believes in second chances [as long as you] don’t argue with them about the fact that you are guilty — and you pay a price," while Republican strategist Mark McKinnon says, "The truth is, voters are actually pretty forgiving. As long as you fall on your sword, crawl over broken glass and wear black for a year." Eh, maybe, but Hookergate aside, there was still Troopergate.

What's a rumor in Page Six without a Daily News source disputing it? Yesterday, the NY Post's gossip column suggested that disgraced former governor Eliot Spitzer was considering running for Attorney General (again) in 2010 since his AG reign was all about going after Wall Street fat cats and wasn't marred by a prostitution scandal. Now the Daily News reports that Spitzer's "comeback will not include a run for office in 2010, according to a source familiar with Spitzer's thinking. The source shot down a published report yesterday that Spitzer is planning to run for attorney general next year, saying there's no chance he'll seek that seat or any other next year." Stay tuned for the next volley from the Page Six!

Penis puns work overtime in the Post's leading Page Six item: "Behind Eliot Spitzer's flaccid attempt at re-erecting his public persona is a plan to run for state attorney general in 2010." Apparently the former governor, who writes for Slate and has been appearing on TV lately (even being lampooned for his comeback on SNL), think Andrew Cuomo will probably run for governor in 2010, prompting the supposed socks-on john to allegedly tell people, "My record as governor was disappointing, but the voters will remember my excellent two terms as attorney general," when he crusaded against Wall Street. But an observer points out the obvious to Page Six, "The whole idea of returning to Albany is preposterous. You can't go home again. He's a pariah. It wasn't just the prostitutes -- there was also Troopergate." In other Hookergate news, Emperors Club VIP manager Cecil Suwal is trying to interest publishers in a book where she'll reveal "the frequency with which [Spitzer] used the agency, the amounts of money he spent, and some of the details of the various encounters he had with the girls."

The rollout of Eliot Spitzer 2.0 continued with an appearance on last night's Saturday Night Live. All right, so it may not have been the actual "Love Gov," who has been popping up recently on various talk shows. But even just having Bill Hader as Spitzer show up in a signature left field ending in this underage bar sketch last night felt like further confirmation that the former governor has returned to the conversation.

On yesterday's post about the New York Post's "coverage" of Eliot Spitzer's questionable use of the "gremlins" that led him to solicit prostitutes, a commenter asked that the newspaper "get out of Spitzer's pants." Instead, today the Post's controversial cartoonist Sean Delonas has done just the opposite, and given us a bird's eye view the pants of "The Steamroller." Poor Gizmo: first modeled into the Furby, now drawn into the territory of street walkers. The Post also uses Spitzer's return to the spotlight and attempt at contrition as an opportunity to wring his neck over the current state of the state. The paper says that instead of apologizing solely for his prostitution scandal, he should pay some lip service to the fact that "his fundamental failure was in putting Paterson on the ballot." They call out his transgression of "making a play for black votes by placing Paterson just one hooker hook-up from the Executive Mansion. It was an act of political cynicism with ramifications that are only now becoming clear."

Lately, former governor Eliot Spitzer has been edging back into the public eye, perhaps beckoned by the siren song of public unhappiness with financial firms. He was, after all, the "Sheriff of Wall Street" during his Attorney General days, so he's parlayed that into a column for Slate, a Washington Post editorial, an appearance on Fareed Zakaria's CNN show and now a one-on-one with Matt Lauer on the Today Show.

Eliot Spitzer continued its comeback tour with an appearance on Fareed Zakaria's CNN show yesterday. While most of the talk about about the economy and Spitzer's former target (back from his Attorney General days) AIG, Zakaria got to brass tacks:

ZAKARIA: You know that a number of people watching you are going to say, "Eliot Spitzer doesn't have credibility to talk about these issues" because of what happened over the last year with your own behavior. What would you say to them?

Continue reading "Return of The Steamroller: Spitzer Appears On CNN"

With various officials being blamed for the economy, bailouts, and bonuses, one politician who has come out of the scrum looking stronger is New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. He has drawn praise from GOP members on the Senate floor and led one local DNC committee member to say, "This is a is a bipartisan disgrace and Andrew Cuomo has risen above the partisan game of who’s at fault by showing real leadership and taking real action."

Ashley Dupre offered up her "year after the Spitzer scandal" thoughts in a blog post for Global Grind, Russell Simmons' hip-hop news site. Dupre writes about moving on, "I am now 23 years old and I’ve made more mistakes than most people make in a lifetime. But to look back and see all that I have overcome, and to stand here, and actually still be here at all, that is a huge achievement. I am proud of myself for surviving," and how she's working on her spiritual side, "The more I know my true self, the more I come to have faith that my presence on earth means more or at least has different meaning than the media or disbelievers have tried to frame it to be." She and Simmons met at yoga class, and naturally, Simmons blogged about it, "While bent over in uttanasana, I noticed a cute, little, short girl whose hands were not placed properly," and when she introduced herself later, he thought, "Oh my god, this 5 foot, 1 inch god-seeker was the $4000 'escort' of Governor Elliot Spitzer."

       

A year ago today, the NY Times published a story on its website saying that Governor Eliot Spitzer, the crusading former NY State Attorney General who was elected with 69% of the vote in 2006, was "caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a law enforcement official and a person briefed on the investigation." And that sent off a chain of events amongst a motley group of famous (in political circles) and suddenly infamous characters. Click through for trip down Memory Lane.

Martha (Sunny) von Bulow died today in a Manhattan nursing home at age 76, just under 28 years after she slipped into a coma that would lead to a dramatic series of events. A multimillionaire born into parents who had a shoe fortune and ran an electric company respectively, the events leading up to her coma triggered charges against her second husband for attempted murder and would create the setting for trials that were media spectacles in the '80s when Claus von Bulow was convicted and but later acquitted in a retrial for poisoning his wife. Those trials along with the battle among her stepchildren over Mrs. von Bulow's riches would inspire the movie Reversal of Fortune (where defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz's protege Eliot Spitzer is portrayed by Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman!) Mrs. von Bulow attended the Chapin School in Manhattan many years ago and is survived by three daughters, a son and five grandchildren.

: The Observer reports that Eliot Spitzer will start writing a column for Slate.com. Called, "The Best Policy," Slate editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg said, "He's going to be doing a regular thing. It'll be heavily about the financial crisis and fixing financial markets and the economy generally" (topics he covered in his Washington Post editorial last month). Weisberg added, "He was very receptive to the idea. I don't portray this as something we had to coax him into. He's got a lot to say and he was very receptive to writing on the subject." Yes, Spitzer does have a lot to say: You can read his first column about why the U.S. should "stop using bailouts to rebuild gigantic financial institutions."