NEW YORK — Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who built a national reputation as an aggressive, uncompromising prosecutor, apologized to the public Monday after a federal wiretap caught him allegedly arranging to meet a high-priced prostitute in a Washington hotel.
The recording captured a man identified as "Client 9" -- a regular customer of an elite international call-girl ring -- setting up a date with a petite brunet who used the name "Kristen." A source familiar with the case identified the Democratic governor as Client 9.
As the public -- and his fellow politicians -- reacted with shock and outrage, Spitzer strode to a lectern in Manhattan, his arm around his wife, Silda. Both looked deeply shaken, but Spitzer delivered his brief remarks in a crisp, steady tone as Silda stood, stone-faced, at his side.
"I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family, that violates my, or any, sense of right and wrong," he said.
Spitzer, who has three teenage daughters, has not been charged. He spoke for one minute and did not elaborate on his actions.
But plenty of salacious details emerged in court documents filed last week when federal prosecutors indicted four people they accused of being ringleaders in the Emperors Club VIP, which advertised companions with "beauty, elegance, erudition, and educational standing."
An FBI affidavit describes a wiretapped conversation in which Client 9 told a call-ring booking agent that he had sent a deposit for the tryst by mail, with no return address, "same as in the past, no question about it." A delivery delay almost derailed his Feb. 13 date with Kristen. The money finally arrived, however, and the transaction continued.
One of the club's booking agents told Kristen that she had heard that the client "would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe," according to the affidavit.
Kristen replied: "I have a way of dealing with that. . . . I'd be like, 'Listen, dude, you really want the sex?' "
The client allegedly paid for Kristen to take a train from New York to Washington, where he was staying that evening. Transporting prostitutes across state lines is a felony under the 1910 federal Mann Act.
The FBI intercepted calls and text messages in which Client 9 promised to leave his hotel door open so Kristen could enter without having to ask the front desk for a key. He assured the booking agent that he would pay her cab fare and hotel minibar charges and asked for a reminder about Kristen's looks. The agent told him she was American and "very pretty," at 5 feet, 5 inches and 105 pounds.
