NY Governor Eliott Spitzer was caught up in a federal investigation of a prostitution ring, and made a statement to the media today acknowledging his involvement without getting into specifics. The NY Times broke the explosive story this morning that a wiretap from a federal investigation revealed that the Governor had arranged for a high-paid prostitute to travel from NY to Washington to meet him at a hotel.

Spitzer owned up to his actions in a public statement, his wife standing by his side. His eyes were welling up but he did not cry. He refused to answer any questions, including whether he would resign his post:

Mr. Spitzer today made a brief public appearance during which he apologized for his behavior, and described it as a “private matter.”

“I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong,” said Mr. Spitzer, who appeared with his wife Silda at his Manhattan office. “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better.”

“I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.”

Before speaking, Mr. Spitzer stood with his arm around his wife; the two nodded and then strode forward together to face more than 100 reporters. Both had glassy, tear-filled eyes, but they did not cry.

The governor spoke for perhaps a minute and did not address his political future.

He declined to take questions and promised to report back soon. As he went to leave, three reporters screamed out, “Are you resigning? Are you resigning?”, and Mr. Spitzer charged out of the room, slamming the door.

[From the NY Times]

According to the NY Times, Spitzer can be charged with a crime under the Mann Act, which is meant to deter human trafficking and “makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution.”

Ironically, Spitzer has gone after prostitution rings in his role as Attorney General of NY from 1998-2006. As Attorney General he was known for his high profile lawsuits against major corporations and was widely lauded as a man who could change fraudulent corporate practices. He sued the NY Stock Exchange for paying its director $187 million. He sued GlaxoSmithKlein for withholding damaging information about Paxil. He sued the top investment banks and was instrumental in exposing fraud on Wall Street. He collected multi-million dollar settlements from ten of the top investment banks including Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and UBS Warburg. Spitzer even sued a major spam network along with Microsoft and collected a $7 million settlement.

Spitzer has been Governor of NY since January 1, 2007 and has not yet addressed whether he will resign his post.

Huffington Post has screengrabs from the website of the prostitution ring that Spitzer may have used. Their rates start at $1,000 an hour and go up from there, depending on their “diamond” level.

Spitzer has been married for 20 years and has three teenage daughters. His wife is also a graduate of Harvard Law School and runs the nonprofit agency Children for Children.

Header image from the NY Times.