The New York Times is reporting this morning that New York Governor Elliot Spitzer is discussing resignation with his advisers:
ALBANY — Gov. Eliot Spitzer continued to weigh whether to resign early Tuesday, a day after law enforcement officials said he was a client of a high-end prostitution ring broken up last week by federal authorities.
Mr. Spitzer received counsel from his advisers late Monday at his Fifth Avenue apartment, and had not emerged as of early Tuesday morning. A top administration official said Tuesday morning that no announcement had been scheduled.
The disclosure of Mr. Spitzer’s involvement with the prostitution operation threatened to end his career and turned the state’s political world upside down.
And his political future may depend on his legal future:
Mr. Spitzer has not been charged with a crime. But one law enforcement official who has been briefed on the case said that Mr. Spitzer’s lawyers would probably meet soon with federal prosecutors to discuss any possible legal exposure. The official said the discussions were likely to focus not on prostitution, but on how it was paid for: Whether the payments from Mr. Spitzer to the service were made in a way to conceal their purpose and source. That could amount to a crime called structuring, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, declined to comment.
Is Spitzer hoping to work out a plea bargain deal that keeps him out of prison in exchange for resigning ? It would seem like a smart move on his part, but he doesn’t have much time to act before reality start to hit home in Albany:
NEW YORK (CBS) ― If Gov. Eliot Spitzer opts to roll the dice and not resign, state Republican leadership may force him to go all-in and call for his impeachment from office, according to a state Assemblyman.
Sources told CBS 2 HD shortly after it was reported that the governor was linked to a prostitution ring that he would hand in his resignation, which could happen within the next 36 hours.
State Assemblyman James Tedisco (R-Schenectady) told CBS 2 HD that he spoke with Lt. Governor Paterson Monday evening and that the two discussed Paterson taking on a new role of leadership, leading Tedisco to believe that action was “forthcoming.”
Tedisco said if Spitzer does not resign according to a deadline that’s been imposed, state Republican leadership will call for impeachment proceedings to begin.
One would guess that many Democrats in New York would be willing to go along.
