Eliot Spitzer to Resign at 11:30 Today

UPDATE: Here's a video of Spitzer's resignation announcement



The Washington Post is reporting that, according to unnamed sources, Eliot Spitzer will resign at 11:30 today. According to the Post,

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer has decided to resign, completing a stunning fall from power after he was nationally disgraced by links to a high-priced prostitution ring, a top state official said Wednesday.

Spitzer was scheduled to announce his resignation at 11:30 a.m., according to a second top Spitzer staffer. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made.

Spitzer would be replaced by Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who will become New York's first black governor.

Calls for his resignation came quickly on the heels of the revelation that Spitzer, who launched his career as a top corruption fighting New York prosecutor, had spent thousands of dollars on a call girl.

According the Washington Post, Spitzer had been weighing his options and hoping to use the resignation as a bargaining chip to avoid federal prosecution for transporting a prostitute across state lines, a violation of the Mann Act. Calls for his impeachment came from Republican lawmakers in Albany as well.

Regardless of the reasons for his doing it, Spitzer is doing the right thing in stepping down. His behavior goes beyond a private transgression. Besides the fact that he is a public figure, he broke several laws, including a federal one. In addition, he made his career fighting just this type of corruption, which is what made it lethally hard for him to overcome the scandal.

Meanwhile, of course, we are all still waiting with bated breath for David Vitter and Larry Craig to do the right thing, as they too broke the law.

Eliot Spitzer Will Step Down Before David Vitter or Larry Craig

Brian Kirwin, over at Bearing Drift, asked earlier today, "what does it take for a Democrat to resign?"

He is, of course, referring to Eliot Spitzer. Everybody knows by now that "Eliot Ness" was Client 9 in an indictment and that he had a tryst with a high priced call girl in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.

I happen to agree with Brian that Spitzer should step down. This is not a private sin. Spitzer was a prosecutor whose whole career rested on having fought corruption. He prosecuted places like the Emperors Club and put their owners in jail.

Well, as it turns out, we know what it takes for a Democrat to resign. Getting caught, meeting with supporters and legal advisers, the threat of impeachment from state Republicans, and getting a transition team in place before announcing so that New York state isn't thrown into total chaos.

Eliot Spitzer is expected to step down according to FOX News.

The next question, though, is what does it take to get Republicans to resign? I believe we are still waiting for those wild and crazy family values guys, David Vitter and Larry Craig. Last time I checked, prostitution was as illegal in New Orleans as it is in New York. And surely soliciting a man in a public restroom in the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport constitutes lewd and indecent behavior, a misdeamor at least.

Personally, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for them to also do the right thing. I don't want to die of asphyxiation