House of Cards: Spitzer's Demise Documented

The NY Times goes into detail over how news broke on disgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (D). They relate the curious details from the proceedings of a prostitution ring bust that involved prosecutors from the corruption unit and an F.B.I. agent from one of the bureau’s public corruption squads.

They were tipped off initially by a standard press release from the US Attorney in Manhattan:

The press release was e-mailed to reporters on Thursday morning, shortly after 11 o’clock: “Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Organizers and Managers of International Prostitution Ring.”

That got the ball rolling for the Times, and while the New York Sun initially led the way in reporting the prostitution ring bust, they didn't break the news on Spitzer's involvement; the Times got their first.

And since then, the Times has been breaking many of the pieces of the story, including the infamous Kristen, who turns out to be Alexandra Dupre.

Other interesting tidbits from this report:

Midday Sunday, The Times sent an e-mail message to the governor’s communication’s director, Christine Anderson, requesting the governor’s travel records for the week of Feb. 11, 2008, specifically Feb. 11 through Feb. 15. The message also requested the names of all the hotels he stayed at, where he traveled, flight records and any available records of receipts billed to the state.

Ms. Anderson peppered The Times with questions and alerted the governor’s staff that a story was apparently breaking. Ms. Anderson assumed that an article was being prepared related to a continuing investigation into efforts by Mr. Spitzer’s aides to discredit Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader.

That night, around dinnertime, Richard Baum, Mr. Spitzer’s top aide, received a phone call at his home in upstate New York. The governor asked him to drive to Manhattan immediately.

Late that night, the governor told his wife, Mr. Baum and his friend, Lloyd Constantine, an almost incomprehensible tale: He was a client of a high-priced prostitution ring; he had been caught on a federal wiretap; The Times had requested records for the date of an alleged tryst with a prostitute in Washington.

The atmosphere was alternately charged and funereal. Mrs. Spitzer and Mr. Constantine, the governor’s senior adviser, counseled hanging tough. The governor, though, seemed convinced that he was finished.

Spitzer, of course, was right. He was finished. But his legal woes are far from over as the federal prosecutors still have to decide what to do with him.