Was the Spitzer scandal "reverse engineered" from a wiretap?

[johnfunk]

... perhaps an illegal wiretap? APJ links to a few questions from Jane Hamsher

1. Why would the bank tell the IRS and not Spitzer himself if there was a suspicious transfer?
2. What is a USA doing prosecuting a prostitution case? This isn't normally what the feds spend their time with.
3. Why did they then include this line [he" (believed to be a reference to Client-9) "would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe... ] from that conversation in the complaint?
4. How did Spitzer's name get leaked to the media, and who did it?

... and the questions don't stop there...

[angstlessk]

1. That was my first thought...'NSA illegal wiretap' reveals info

they use that info to get the goods then use the goods to get a warrant...

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. ...

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E4DA163BF937A25757C0A9629C8B63

snip-

State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer criticized the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, saying it has failed to close a loophole that allows criminals to evade surveillance by using new wireless and Internet technologies not covered by a decade-old federal wiretapping law.

Mr. Spitzer wants the commission to compel communications companies to build surveillance capabilities into cellphones that use new technology, and into the new Internet-based telephone services. That puts Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat who is said to be considering a run for governor, in step with the Bush administration's Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, which have similarly asked the commission for the change.


snip-

Mr. Spitzer recently joined with Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, in proposing new legislation that would expand the state's wiretapping powers. The proposal is opposed by some Democrats in the Assembly.

-snip

He deserves what he gets. What an idiot.

[KingOfLostSouls]

3. same here

miers and bolton getting served to testify before congress and held in contempt and suddenly, low and behold, the governor of new york, a potential future presidential candidate, gets exposed as banging prostitutes.


the more you read into it and kinda see the half smiles and winks and nods from the talking heads, its reeking to high hell.

[grasswire]

4. pass this to Hamsher

Mrs. Greenspan made a very interesting remark today. She noted, with grim visage, that this is an inopportune time to lose the NY governor because of the trouble between the bond market, the stock market, the sub-prime, etc. -- the governor had been the point man for negotiations.

Get the transcript and parse it. Very, very interesting coming from Mrs. Greenspan.

[thecrow]

5. Yes, maybe....

Spitzer was caught on a *federal wiretap* arranging to meet in a Washington hotel room the night before Valentine's Day with a prostitute from a call-girl business known as the Emperors Club VIP, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

MORE: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080311/D8VAVKR01.html

[aquart]

7. Which is a distortion because HE was the focus, not the Emperors Club.

They are trying to make it seem that he was accidentally picked up in the investigation. He was the target from the getgo. But millions will remain with that first, false impression.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

10. He was the target. Feds got a warrant to secure bank records via Emperors Club escort.

There is something fishy going on.

[aquart]

6. Finally, we get past the schadenfreude and THINK.

The project to disgrace and depose democratically-elected Democratic officeholders continues unabated.

Bill Clinton was perhaps their first project. But not their last. So much easier to depose leaders without a messy impeachment.

[The Stranger]

13. You make an excellent point.

[johnfunk]

8. MORE! Digby adds a question...

... and a telling one, at that!

I'm just wondering when exactly last year that permission was sought. Rove and Gonzales both resigned in August of 07 under a cloud for a plot to fire US Attorneys who refused to trump up charges of "voter fraud" and pursue cases against Democratic politicians. Mukasey was sworn in in November. Peter D. Keisler was acting attorney general during the interim. Which one ordered the investigation?

Read the full blog entry here.

[johnfunk]

9. MORE! Attorney Scott Horton has a LOT of questions...

Where's the press on this stuff?

[T]here is a second tier of questions that needs to be examined with respect to the Spitzer case. They go to prosecutorial motivation and direction. Note that this prosecution was managed with staffers from the Public Integrity Section at the Department of Justice. This section is now at the center of a major scandal concerning politically directed prosecutions. During the Bush Administration, his Justice Department has opened 5.6 cases against Democrats for every one involving a Republican. Beyond this, a number of the cases seem to have been tied closely to election cycles. Indeed, a study of the cases out of Alabama shows clearly that even cases opened against Republicans are in fact only part of a broader pattern of going after Democrats. So here are the rather amazing facts that surface in the Spitzer case:

1. The prosecutors handling the case came from the Public Integrity Section.
2. The prosecution is opened under the White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910. You read that correctly. The statute itself is highly disreputable, and most of the high-profile cases brought under it were politically motivated and grossly abusive. ...

More! Go read it all.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

11. I'm thinking, they couldn't prosecute because of the handling. SO, they tie in the prostitution,...

,...thing.

That is what I am thinking.

Thanks for the site. Good reading! :hi:

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

12. Recommended. Highly recommended! nt

[theboss]

14. These are stupid questions

1. That's the point of the law. You don't tell the person, "Hey! Just in case you are doing something illegal, we are going to report you."

2. The case went across state lines.

3. Prosecutors live to take little shots at defendants in complaints.

4. I don't even understand this question.