Feds choose not to charge Spitzer ’81

“We have determined that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against Mr. Spitzer for any offense relating to the withdrawal of funds for, and his payments to, the Emperors Club VIP,” Garcia said, referring to the international prostitution ring in which Spitzer was implicated.

“In light of the policy of the Department of Justice with respect to prostitution offenses and the longstanding practice of this Office, as well as Mr. Spitzer’s acceptance of responsibility for his conduct, we have concluded that the public interest would not be further advanced by filing criminal charges in this matter,” he added.

Garcia’s office declined to comment further on the matter when contacted by The Daily Princetonian.

Spitzer, a Wilson School concentrator, stepped down from the governorship of New York last March after media outlets reported that he had spent thousands of dollars on prostitutes.

“I appreciate the impartiality and thoroughness of the investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office, and I acknowledge and accept responsibility for the conduct it disclosed,” Spitzer said in a statement.

Garcia noted in his statement that Spitzer “has acknowledged to this Office that he was a client of, and made payments to, the Emperor’s Club VIP.”

“I resigned my position as governor because I recognized that conduct was unworthy of an elected official,” Spitzer said in the statement.

“I once again apologize for my actions, and for the pain and disappointment those actions caused my family and the many people who supported me during my career in public life,” he added.

The prosecutor’s decision not to bring charges may raise questions about the impartiality of the system, politics professor Robert George said, “especially when you are talking about a high-profile, influential person benefiting from it.”

“Is this person being treated more easily because he has connections and powerful friends? It’s a serious concern, but under the doctrine [of prosecutorial discretion], there’s very little that can be done, outside of attempts by the media to investigate,” George explained.

George noted, however, that the decision not to prosecute might have to do with valuable evidence that Spitzer may have offered to the prosecutor.

“What if there is a ring of people, what if there’s a major prostitution ring that involves the mafia, big money, organized criminals who go beyond prostitution,” George explained, adding that Spitzer could be “ useful because he got information from the hookers.”

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As of Thursday afternoon, Spitzer was not at his Manhattan apartment and could not be reached for further comment.

Four other individuals were linked to the same prostitution ring as Spitzer and arrested for violating the Mann Act, a 1910 law making it illegal to transport women across state lines for prostitution. In August, Tanya Hollander, who worked as a part-time hooker for the Emperor’s Club, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge.

Virginia Romano ’94, an Assistant U.S. Attorney working under Garcia, said that she was “not at liberty to talk” about the decision beyond the statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Since leaving office, Spitzer has taken a position with his father’s real estate firm.

“I think he made the right choice [to resign the governorship], but it is a tragic choice for someone with as much talent and brain power as Eliot Spitzer,” Eric Yollick ’83, who served in the USG with Spitzer as a freshman, said in an interview last spring.

“He has made a real mistake here, but, as he said, he is only human,” he noted.

But, Yollick added, “I have no doubt that he’s going to get back on his feet and do some very, very good things.”

— Staff writer Paige Kestenman contributed reporting.