The baffling refusal of Eliot Spitzer to resign after his dealings with a high-priced prostitution ring were exposed by the New York Times has some experts worried that Spitzer might be destroying documents or other evidence of wrong-doing. On Wall Street, where Spitzer once posed as town Sheriff, fired employees or those under investigation by authorities are often escorted immediately from the office. One reason for this is to prevent them from destroying emails or other electronic paper trails.
"I'm deeply troubled. They should have the FBI there right now to prevent Spitzer from deleting his hard-drives," one private security expert told DealBreaker. (Perhaps in a display of the still-lingering fears of Spitzer's famous vengefulness, no one would speak on the record for this item.)
Another security expert employed by a major Wall Street firm said the situation reminded him of Watergate, when Nixon administration officials considered destroying tapes that Congress had sought.
"These guys are desperate and have nothing to lose. It's clear he needs to go and the only reason I can think of for delaying is to cover something up," he said.
Of course, we have no idea if these fears are well-founded. Since yesterday's announcement, Spitzer seems to have gone into hiding.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 12:14PM
Carney, you def took liberties with that quote. Who says "i'm deeply troubled" ?
Posted by Anal_yst , Mar 11, 2008 12:21PM
Or, he's working on some sort of negotiating position to salvage his ass. I mean he does have a (infinitely small) bargaining position in that if he gets kicked out of office, the new governor is blind and not as experienced, etc, etc...i'm just saying
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 12:30PM
Since it's not been said yet I'm going to go with "hypocritical scum". I doubt there's anything on his hard drive more embarrassing than what we've already heard (that he pays good money to drive the STD Express straight down Colon Central).
Posted by Investorcluzo , Mar 11, 2008 12:31PM
@anal_yst: I agree, as they said on cnbc this am, he's a megalomaniac (for the uninitiated it means he has: a delusional mental disorder that is marked by feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur). the result is that he believes he has chips for bargaining. however, those chips are now starting to look like sub-prime mortgage paper - the government (feds/IRS) should have no bid. I'm holding out for a perp walk...my $0.02.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 12:32PM
Don't you just want to punch his grinning face when you see the press conf clips all the news channels keep running?
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 12:33PM
He's speaking with Bill Clinton about legal tactics
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 12:38PM
Seriously? This is not well-founded speculation - this obviously comes from a Spitzer enemy. I don't love the man, but this is nutso speculation. What evidence could he possibly destroy? They've got him on wiretaps, they've got witnesses, they have phone records - what does he have that they need to prosecute him or anyone else?
Posted by Cov Lite , Mar 11, 2008 12:38PM
CNN just announced he's holding "transition meetings" whatever the fuck that means to this guy.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 12:45PM
I am enjoying this golden shower all over Spitzer, but anyone have any idea what is going on over at Bear Stearns? I remember last summer when the talking heads said that is Bear fell below $120 that they would be in play. Well they were at $56 earlier. Which begs just one question, what the fuck is going on?
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 12:52PM
You are discussing the soon to be US Ambassador to France in 2009.
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 1:19PM
He should fit in nicely there... ;-)
Posted by guest , Mar 11, 2008 2:05PM
I bet the state agencies and Governor's office have people posted to stop any destruction of data. Why would anyone in state employ want to risk prosecution to remain loyal to Spitzer at this point? I think the delay in resignation is due to Spitzer's own mental health; he is in denial about wrecking his own political career, and the best he can do is bargain to keep his career alive.
It's a very weird story. Yes, his movements of cash triggered bank suspicions, but when it became apparent Spitzer wasn't engaged in money-laundering, why did the investigation morph into a disproportionately large federal inquiry about the serious federal offense of hiring a prostitute?
As far as I can tell, the feds developed their evidence deliberately and thoroughly, waiting for Spitzer and the prostitute to cross state lines so they could dress the matter up as a violation of the federal Mann Act. Did the feds think Spitzer was unbalanced and the public needed to be protected? Or was there a darker, more political motive to his prosecution?
I have to shake my head at the years of unprovoked viciousness Spitzer exhibited ... what was going on with this guy, really?