So, if Elliot Spitzer had just answered an ad in the back of Washington City Paper, instead of arranging for an escort to travel from NYC to DC, he wouldn’t be in trouble right now.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation.
The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.
…
Federal prosecutors rarely charge clients in prostitution cases, which are generally seen as state crimes. But the Mann Act, passed by Congress in 1910 to address prostitution, human trafficking and what was viewed at the time as immorality in general, makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution.
Who knew that the Mann Act was still in force? I didn’t, but then again I am neither a former NY State Attorney general/prostitution-ring prosecutor nor a john. Electricians know better than to stick a fork in a toaster.
Update: Slate.com has more than you want or need to know about this affair. Except for this:
Kristen told Rachelle that she collected $4,300 from Client-9 and said, “I don’t think he’s difficult. I mean it’s just kind of like … whatever.” Rachelle answered that she’d heard otherwise. Client-9, she’d been told, “would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe—you know—I mean that … very basic things.”
“Basic things?” On second thought, I don’t need to know.
But $1750/hr? Spitzer can hire the most expensive lawyer in America for less than that.