By NY AP
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-684627.mp3
Albany, NY – New York (AP) _ Governor Eliot Spitzer apologized to his family and the public today, but did not elaborate on a bombshell report that he has been involved in a prostitution ring.
The Governor, in a brief news conference at his Manhattan office, said, ``I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family ... my sense of right and wrong. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust to my family.'' Spitzer's wife stood at his side, her hands behind her back and her eyes cast downward, as he made the statement.
Previously reported:
New York (ap) _ The New York Times is reporting that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring.
The 48-year-old Spitzer is married and has three daughters.
Details about the prostitution connection were not immediately clear. But last week, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed conspiracy charges against four people accusing them of running a prostitution ring that charged wealthy clients in Europe and the U.S. thousands of dollars for prostitutes. The website of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of the prostitutes' bodies, with their faces hidden, along with hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. Prosecutors say the most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour.
The case is being handled by prosecutors in the public corruption unit of U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia's office, which had no comment.
Spitzer has built his political legacy on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with wall street while serving as Attorney General. He stormed into the governor's office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation's worst governments.
During his two terms as Attorney General, his cases included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes. In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.
His stint as governor has been marred by several problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer's main republican nemesis, Senate Republican Leader Joseph Bruno.
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Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state public integrity commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides are accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Bruno.