NY Governor Spitzer Linked to Prostitution Ring

[Searcher08]

I am really curious about this - Spitzer is an arch-Zionist insider, instrumental in Silverstein's insurance court case, blocker of everything 9-11 investigation related, deeply connected with the whole nexus described in WKJO, cover-up artist for Catholic church associated pedo networks....

this guy KNEW how things worked, he KNEW what things would get him screwed-over - so why the whole hooker thing?

There is something VERY whiffy around this

[slow_dazzle]

As usual, Palast is taking every opportunity to lay into Bush & Co whenever he sees injustice against one of his favourite constituencies, the black and hispanic communities. More power to him for doing it.

The more that comes out about this case the clearer it becomes that Spitzer was outed once he started to threaten the financial big boys. I'm not condoning what he did, but, as Palast points out, at least he was paying with his own money. Besides which, how many of us on this forum are so flawless we could justifiably feel outraged. I know I couldn't and it has nothing to do with me having done what Spitzer did; I've never been there.

link

[barracuda]

...this guy KNEW how things worked, he KNEW what things would get him screwed-over - so why the whole hooker thing?

Right, Spitzer knew banking law inside out, must have been well aquainted with SAR's protocals and national security procedures related to the financial monitoring of political figures mandated by law in the post-911 world through Patriot Act legislations.

Via the New York Times:

Experts who advise banks and individuals on anti-money laundering regulations, said that the two banks were just following the law when they reported the suspicious financial transactions to federal authorities.

These officials said that banks are likely to more closely monitor the transactions of politicians like Mr. Spitzer than those of average customers. In part, that is because of legislation passed after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

As part of the “know your customer” requirements, banks must assess their clients’ financial patterns and set guidelines to ensure that an alarm is sounded if there are unusual transactions, said Bob Serino, a former deputy chief counsel at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency who now advises banks and individuals on anti-money laundering regulations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/nyregion/13legal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

O.K., “know your customer”, right. In other words "keep tabs on your politicians via wiretaps and secret audits." But the Governor and Attorney General of the most terror-concious place on earth must have known intimately (sorry) that asking for his name to be removed from a structured wire would set off alarms and summon a SAR. He doesn't seem to have been trying very hard to protect himself - quite the opposite. I keep reading rumors that this scandal is just beginning, like the intimations of Roger Stone among others. There is a viewpoint that sees Spitzer's actions as pro-active on his part - getting outed intentionally while the getting is good. Seeing as how the consensus reading of this affair is that Spitzer was simply in full, mindless male rut, and unable to successfully launder a ten-thousand dollar payment without getting busted because he was thinking with his dick alone, it would seem the alternative merits some consideration. We do still have seven more clients to be revealed, don't we? At least?

[AlicetheKurious]

I can't help but feel sorry for the girl. (She's the same age as my daughter) She's being raked over the coals by the late night comics and everyone else. I keep hearing her quote over and over in my head: "I just don't want to be thought of as a monster".

What was the point of outing this poor girl?

I wondered the same thing. It's sick and predatory and irresponsible, and serves no legitimate purpose at all.

[Luposapien]

It's sick and predatory and irresponsible, and serves no legitimate purpose at all.

And, thus, inevitable.

[barracuda]

Downloads of her single, "What We Want” have hit one million at 98 cents apiece on iTunes as of yesterday.

http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=40109&cat=14

[bubblefunk]

I was just about to report that as well!

This, after all this dies down, may well be a boon for her - from what her "friends" were saying on TV yesterday, fame is what she wanted all along.

[JackRiddler]

"Kristen" aka Ashley is doing just fine, people.

She is maximizing her returns from the affair as a rational Homo Economicus, upholding the values espoused 24/7 by all institutions and media of the commercial society that brought her up.

I would do the same in her situation.

In fact, I bet SPITZER would do the same in her situation.

Soon as I fucked the governor, I'd be looking for how to exploit it without getting killed. It's a presumption that politicians and other servants of the super-rich are supposed to be the only whores who are considered respectable, whereas folk lower on the totem poll, especially female servants to male sexual power, are to be flayed if they go for the buck.

It comes at a price, of course - the media who have made an instant mini-Britney Nicole Smith out of her now want to cover her every move into the nearest grave, preferably by overdose on camera.

But if she keeps her wits about her, she'll be fine.

[JackRiddler]

Supposedly Spitzer started the probe himself...
So the way the full story is resolving in the papers at the end of the week is as follows:

When Spitzer asked Bank #1, North Fork/Capital One, to remove his name from payments to QAT, the front for Emperors Club, the bank responded that this was impossible and filed a SARS on him, which got the ball rolling.

And this brings us back to the question I keep asking:

WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

He's the former AG and Sherriff of Wall Street, and now the Governor. He knows what he's doing is likely to trigger investigation by the sheer fact of him doing it.

This brings us back to two possibilities:

1) Incredible hubris, arrogance and feeling of invulnerability, masking something he knows will trigger his own self-destruction. This kind of behavior has precedents in the annals of politics.

2) He trusts someone at the bank to cover for him, for some reason. If so: Why? An arrangement with buddies at the bank would also have precedent in the annals of politics.

Unless, of course,

3) The present story is a front; the Bush DOJ was watching Spitzer anyway, and they got the bank to file a SAR, and the bank is now claiming it did it at its own discretion.

[sunny]

3) The present story is a front; the Bush DOJ was watching Spitzer anyway, and they got the bank to file a SAR, and the bank is now claiming it did it at its own discretion.

Yes, looks to me like the investigation was reverse engineered to cover for a fishing expedition.

[barracuda]

WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

1) Incredible hubris, arrogance and feeling of invulnerability, masking something he knows will trigger his own self-destruction. This kind of behavior has precedents in the annals of politics.

2) He trusts someone at the bank to cover for him, for some reason. If so: Why? An arrangement with buddies at the bank would also have precedent in the annals of politics.

Unless, of course,

3) The present story is a front; the Bush DOJ was watching Spitzer anyway, and they got the bank to file a SAR, and the bank is now claiming it did it at its own discretion.

4) He wanted/was forced to step down, and by getting out this way, pre-emtively takes the heat off of him. This possibility includes "an offer he couldn't refuse", and seeing worse things coming down the pike/stepping out of the way of a freight train.

5) Operating blindly with his pee pee. This conventional option neatly covers the "what was he thinking" aspect, as well as the "hoist, meet petard" relationship. This kind of behavior has precedents in the anals of politics.

[JackRiddler]

Barracuda:

Hey, your number 5 is my number 1 in different words, you.

As for your number 4... how the bleep should I know? What do you figure is the freight train? A bigger scandal? Did Wall Street put out a hit on him? Are Peak Oil and the Asteroid of 2008 due to strike at the Ides of March?

[AlicetheKurious]

I don't mean to distract from the fascinating discussion, but just had to make a little comment off-topic:

Jack Riddler said:

But if she keeps her wits about her, she'll be fine.

Re: her wits, we're talking about a 22-year old girl who ran away from home when she was 17, and became a prostitute. I'm guessing she has issues.

No doubt an agent will be replacing her pimp, now that she's achieved celebrity status, the 21st century model of the American Dream. There's no time to waste, though: like Lewinsky sold handbags, "Kirsten" is selling songs, fast, while this news story is still hot.

Girls like her are the raw material tinseltown needs to manufacture a sufficiently distracting reality for us designated consumers of the mass-produced version. She certainly has the necessary qualifications. So, in the sense that there's a market for what she's selling, yes, she'll be making money for a while. As long as the rest of us keep watching the latest birdie, and until the next one is mounted and then displayed for our viewing pleasure. (No pun intended). (ok, ok, it was).

[MacCruiskeen]

Why didn't he pay cash?

[barracuda]

Barracuda:

Hey, your number 5 is my number 1 in different words, you.

Well, hubris, arrogance and feelings of invulnerability are not quite the same as needing to get laid so badly that you do stupid shit.

As for your number 4... how the bleep should I know? What do you figure is the freight train? A bigger scandal? Did Wall Street put out a hit on him? Are Peak Oil and the Asteroid of 2008 due to strike at the Ides of March?

Of course we won't know. But it' 's not beyond the pale to say the Gambinos, or their Wall Street equivalent, told him what was good for him and his noyce family. There has been, in his dealings with congress and the street, a rather large sum of money at stake, right? His chasing after the monolines alone puts roughly a trillion dollars at risk of default if these insurers lose their ability to "guarantee" bond issues, etc. Further developments may prove his involvement to be the tip of the iceberg, i.e., freight train.

Why didn't he pay cash?

Why not use a credit card? Did he want to get busted?