Even if the Feds think they have a rock-solid case against Eliot Spitzer, it seems the disgraced former governor doesn’t think he’s going to spend time in the big house. Today we learn from the New York Sun’s Jacob Gershman that Spitzer is looking to launch a fund that would buy up distressed real estate assets.
Save for a few years as a lawyer in private practice, Spitzer has spent most of his adult life as a public servant. His main connection to real estate is his bloodline. His father emigrated from Austria and a became areal estate magnate. So does Spitzer think is going to invest in his real estate vulture fund?
Union dominated pension funds, of course. Spitzer is well connected to several labor unions, and so it was to union officials he turned for financial backing.
The New York Post’s Page Six reports the Feds are close to indicting disgraced governor Eliot Spitzer.
The federal case against him is so strong that prosecutors had no interest in striking cooperation agreements with the ringleader of Spitzer’s hooker-supplier, Emperors Club VIP, and his second in command, sources told The Post’s Murray Weiss.
Prosecutors have records of Spitzer’s transactions, phone records and taped conversations with Emperors Club, and are confident they need little more to nail him on charges that could include violating prostitution laws and money laundering, sources said. Probers are also said to be looking into whether he used campaign funds to pay for his pleasures.
It’s too early in the morning for us to feign outrage or disgust at the revelation that a wealthy and powerful man favored the company of a young, beautiful woman to that of his wife, and was willing to pay for it. But we remember writing something about how the episode demonstrated a dark crack in the character of the man we had elected governor. Oh, right, here it is. Go there is you want to be outraged all over again.
Twenty-three year old Cecil “Katie” Suwal agreed yesterday to cop a plea about her role in the prostitution ring patronized by former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. The New York Post is reporting that Suwal is expected to plead guilty as soon as this week and dish dirt in the federal probe focused on Spitzer.
The madam handled arrangements for Spitzer’s Feb. 13 rendezvous with hooker Ashley Alexandra Dupre, a k a “Kristen,” at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. Suwal set the price, calculated credit from previous “dates,” and took Spitzer’s deposit, according to court papers.
Did we ever find out what it was that disgraced former New York governor Eliot Spitzer wanted from his hookers that made the folks running the prostitution ring warn girls about his “dangerous” desires? We can’t remember. But Emily Gould spent 36 hours watching Sex and the City, and now she might have an idea.
Well, it didn’t take long for the video of Eliot Spitzer’s call girl to turn up on the internet. Turn down the volume to avoid the annoying Associate Press voice-over.
You can watch a much larger, full screen version of the video at, where else, the New York Post. Just tilt your screen away from any management types.
Bank of America’s chief executive Ken Lewis received $4.25 million in cash and $4.25 million in restricted stock for his 2007 bonus, less than half of his $18.5 million target. Know who else got screwed? Eliot Spitzer’s hooker, Kristen/Ashley. The intrepid entrepreneur was supposed to receive one million dollars to appear in a “non-nude” magazine spread and a “nude-nude” video clip for Girls Gone Wild, plus the possibility of joining the GGW tour bus. Founder Joe Francis took the money off the table when staffers informed him that after watching a few of their favorite DVDs over and over and over again, it’d come to their attention that they already had K/A’s ass on tape, so there was no need to cough up the cash (“It’ll save me a million bucks,” Francis told The AP. “It’s kind of like finding a winning lottery ticket in the cushions of your couch”). Luckily, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt’s offer of a mill. to get naked still stands, and Lewis is reportedly in talks with Honcho to make up his gipped scratch.
Thanks to everyone who joined us last night for our beery wake for Governor Eliot Spitzer’s political career. Several well-known commenters, including “girl” and “one-two,” made appearances. A reporter from WNYC radio showed up and recorded interviews with some of those attending. (Note: he’s still looking for recently laid off Wall Streeters. Drop us an email if you’d be willing to let him interview you.)
We’ll be sure to have another drink-up again, just as soon as the occasion calls for it. Now we’re going to find another cup of coffee to chase away this still lingering hangover.
Lloyd Craig Blankfein, people! Is the whole world going to shit? The following is absolutely outrageous. And I think we all know who’s to blame. (Starts with an ‘E,’ ends with a ‘liot Spitzer fucked a hooker and this is the fallout.’)
To: All London GS
Subject: Policy Changes - Evening Meals and Taxis
Following a firmwide review of our policy on evening meals and taxis,we have decided to implement the following changes, which will become effective today.
Evening Meals
From today, the Petershill cafeteria will open in the evening from 7 pm to 9 pm (6.30 pm to 8 pm on Fridays) in line with the current opening hours at River Court. On completion of the current refurbishment work in early April, the Christchurch Court cafeteria will also open at these times.
Given these extended hours of cafeteria operation and the significant incremental cost of dining@mydesk, the dining@mydesk service will only be available after 10 pm (9 pm on Friday). Staff in Christchurch Court can continue to use dining@mydesk between 7.30 pm and 9 pm until the Christchurch Court cafeteria has reopened. Cafeteria meals will be reimbursable (via T&E) from 7.30 pm onwards. The maximum reimbursable amount for cafeteria meals has been adjusted to £10, to reflect the cost of a full meal within the firm’s cafeterias. Cafeteria receipts will need to be retained in order to submit a T&E for reimbursement.
Evening Taxis
The evening rolling taxi rank will continue to be available on weekdays from 6 pm to midnight, but evening taxis home will now be paid for by the firm from 10 pm (rather than 9 pm at present).
Former hedge fund manager Tim Sykes to have had a conversation (Facebook wall back and forth) with Kristen/Ashley last night. Who knows if it’s legit. We like to think it is, if only for the fact that she tells him she’d rather read thestreet.com than his site. Burn, indeed.
Like we said yesterday, the most depressing thing about the revelation that Steamroller Spitzer spent 800 million dollars on whores over the last number of years is what’s it’s done to Jim Cramer. Appearing on the Today Show yesterday, guy was on the verge of tears the whole time and genuinely sounded like his heart had been smashed to into 4,300 tiny little pieces. Whole thing was very difficult to watch—we actually felt his pain. And, damn you Eliot Spitzer, when you start humanizing Jim Cramer, you have ruined standards for all of us. There is nowhere left to go. We didn’t think it could get any worse. We were wrong. Check out this picture, posted by a Gawker commenter. It’s Cramer and it’s Spitzer and it’s some guy nobody’s heard of (Client 8?), probably when they first met at Harvard Law. Set aside for a moment the question of why three guys are in a Cambridge, MA photo booth together and just look at how happy they are! Cramer still has hair, Spitzer hasn’t yet discovered hookers, well, not expensive ones anyhow, and guy nobody’s heard of has funky glasses, and is still anonymous enough not to be associated with either of them. I bet, even as I type these very words, funky glasses is tossing those funky glasses in a dumpster in the alley behind his house, and donning a fake moustache. And shouting, “You go to hell, Eliot Spitzer. You go to hell and die!”
From political scandal to marketing ploy in four hours flat.
“To promote its dedication to a more personalized approach to customer care, Virgin will run a full-page ad this week in Metro and 24 commuter dailies in Toronto featuring the now-former Governor Spitzer with a thought bubble above his head that reads: ‘I’m tired of being treated like a number,’” Marketing Daily reports.
Can’t get enough of the Eliot Spitzer saga? Tonight at 8 PM (and rebroadcast at 11 PM ET) CNBC is presenting a special titled “The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer: A CNBC Special,” anchored by Dylan Ratigan.
The one-hour special examines, among other topics, the effect Spitzer had on Wall Street. It will feature a huge gang from CNBC, including anchors and reporters Charlie Gasparino (Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Scott Cohn, Melissa Lee, Hampton Pearson, among others.
Dylan Ratigan will anchor live from Wall Street. We told CNBC they weren’t allowed to have Melissa Francis, Erin Burnett, Becky Quick, Trish Regan or Maggie Brennan for the special. We’re planning on getting them drunk at our happy hour.*
*No CNBC women were harmed, or even spoken to, in the creation of this post.
Is this the woman who brought down the governor by, possibly, going down on him? (Click image for full profile, which is blurred and so may or may not be safe for work.) PageSix.com has uncovered an online portfolio description from the Emperors Club web site which either may or may not depict the expensive and mysterious “Kristen.”
Transcripts filed as part of the criminal complaint in the case describe Kristen as a 5-foot-5-inch, 105 pound brunette, which is exactly what this profile lists.
Update: Bess has her doubts that this is the Kristen.
Yes, the revelation that Eliot Spitzer spent 800 million dollars on whores over the past six years seems to imply that he was a bad governor and a worse husband. But up until now, we hadn’t actually felt the pain his actions inflicted, so to say we were personally upset with him or really cared whether or not he was forced to resign/got sent to jail/had divorced papers served to his sorry, cheating ass would’ve been completely disingenuous. Up until now. Appearing on the Today Show this morning was a visibly saddened, on the verge of tears Jim Cramer. He comes off as honestly distraught, and in desperate need of a hug. It’s almost too painful to watch, because that’s not the Jim Cramer want to see—we want our Jim Cramer sweating and screaming and diving off a chair into a pile of money on the floor of the MM set. Who knows if we’ll ever get that Jim Cramer back. And for that we say, you go to hell Eliot Spitzer. You go to hell and die!
Not sure what took him so long but Geoffrey Raymond, the greatest artist of our time, has finally finished his latest masterpiece, “Annotated Spitzer.” He’ll be displaying it in front the stock exchange for the next week, before going on a tour that’ll retrace Kirsten’s steps from New York to DC, (hopefully) culminating in an exhibition in Mayflower room 871, which, interestingly enough, has yet to be cleaned. Per usual, Raymond invites passers-by to mark their favorite spot with a cathartic shot of DNA. It’s also up for grabs on eBay through next Wednesday at ten am. Starting bid is $3,999—all proceeds go to a sex addict rehabilitation program that someone claims he doesn’t need to go to.
In honor of our fallen governor, DealBreaker will be hosting an impromptu happy hour at Spitzer’s Corner on Manhattan’s Lower East Side starting around 5:30 this afternoon. If you get there early enough, we’ll probably spring for a round or two. We hope you’ll join us as we raise a glass to the end of the dirty, rotten legacy of Loathesome Eliot.
“Pimps and Hos” dress code optional.
Spitzer’s Corner is located at 101 Rivington St between Essex Street & Ludlow Street.
Update: Street Carnage (definitely not safe for work and almost not safe for anywhere) says that Spitzer’s $4,300 hooker spending spree isn’t really that pricey. It’s market rate for a couple of hours with a high end call-girl.
It’s about his remorse. He’s “begun to atone.” Bess loves that. It’s a pop culture reference and a Jewish thing! This guy might have a future as a blogger. Or as Maureen Dowd.
My God this man is full of himself.
He apologizes for letting down those who believed in “what he tried to stand for.”
He’s bragging about his accomplishments.
And it’s done. He has tendered his resignation.
It’s effective next week! Ten days after the news broke! Someone put a net over the Hudson to stop Spitzer from ditching his computer into the river!
Downside for citizens of New York: Another week of government paralysis. Chaos. Possible dark deeds.
Upside for DealBreaker: We get another week of Spitzer coverage!
Query: Is that Eliot’s best impression of contrition?
Well the soon to be former Governor Eliot Spitzer’s limousine brigade is stuck in traffic (and the networks are giving him the OJ Simpson treatment, with helicopters flying overhead showing his slow-motion progress through Manhattan traffic), so let’s take a few moments to reflect on the shabby legacy of the financial press when it comes to Spitzer.
This morning Kimberly Strassel points out on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal that Spitzer played the press like a Stradivarius. (Bess Levin would surely have come up with a much more apt and colorful description.) Many reporters built careers on the prosecutor’s leaks intended to bully innocent people, Strassel explained.
Yet from the start, the press corps acted as an adjunct of Spitzer power, rather than a skeptic of it. Many journalists get into this business because they want to see wrongs righted. Mr. Spitzer portrayed himself as the moral avenger. He was the slayer of the big guy, the fat cat, the Wall Street titan — all allegedly on behalf of the little guy. The press ate it up, and came back for more.
She details the instances of his bully-boy tactics, smearing opponents from behind the scenes with the financial press all to eager to repeat his attacks. The worst seems to be his attack on John Whitehead, a respected Wall Street figure who has never been publicly accused of wrong doing but who had the temerity to defend Spitzer target Ace Greenberg. Spitzer called him on the phone to threaten him, and when Whitehead publicized Spitzer’s threats, the press suddenly got calls hinting at corrupt connections between Whitehead and Greenberg.
Is this the woman who brought down the governor by, possibly, going down on him? (Click image for full profile, which is blurred and so may or may not be safe for work.) PageSix.com has uncovered an online portfolio description from the Emperors Club web site which either may or may not depict the expensive and mysterious “Kristen.” 
