by Laura Conaway

description
Mario Tama/Getty Images

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer speaks to the media with his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, while delivering an apology following reported links to a prostitution ring

This feature requires version 9 or higher of the Adobe Flash Player.Get the latest Flash Player.

Spitzer speaks, reporters ask, "Are you going to resign?":

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been linked by a federal wiretap to a prostitution ring, reports the New York Times:

An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said that a wiretap recording 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 hotel room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

Promising to report back shortly, Spitzer made a public statement today. "I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong," he said.

What I can't shake is the sickening sense that here, again, is a leader in trouble of his own making. It gets to be predictable after a while, and that's no fun for anybody. As Twitter person Sam Felder put it, "Eliot Spitzer, you idiot, why throw it all away like this."