'Private Failings'

'Private Failings': The Rise, and Sudden Fall, of Eliot Spitzer
New York's governor built his political life on fighting corruption. He resigns after being identified as a client of a prostitution business. Transcript of radio broadcast:
14 March 2008

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, America’s attention was directed away from a tight presidential race and troubled economy. The nation watched the fall from power of a politician widely considered a hero.

The news of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s use of prostitutes shocked many because of his image as an aggressive crime fighter. He resigned Wednesday, two days after reports linked him to a high-priced sex service.

Last week, the government charged four people with operating Emperors Club V.I.P. Court papers say it operated in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington, as well as London and Paris.

Federal law enforcement officials say the governor was known as "Client Nine" and was recorded on telephone wiretaps. They say he paid to have a twenty-two-year-old woman travel from New York to meet him at a Washington hotel last month.

A century-old law, the Mann Act, makes it a federal crime to bring people across state lines for immoral purposes. But if Eliot Spitzer faces any charges, legal experts say they would more likely involve how the services were paid for, not the services themselves.

Federal officials say they began investigating him after two banks last year reported suspicious activity in the way he was moving large amounts of money around. That investigation, they say, led them to the Emperors Club, where reports say he may have spent tens of thousands of dollars.

Federal prosecutors are said to be investigating whether he used campaign money in connection with his meetings. The New York Times says he has told aides in recent days that he used prostitutes only in the last eight months, and never spent campaign or public money.

The forty-eight-year-old governor made two brief statements to the press, with his wife at his side. The father of three teenage daughters did not discuss what he called his "private failings." But he apologized and announced the end of his political life.

For eight years Eliot Spitzer was New York attorney general, the state's top law enforcement official. He was known nationally as "the Sheriff of Wall Street." He fought corruption in the financial industry. He also brought two major cases against prostitution operators.

The Democrat became governor in January of last year, elected with sixty-nine percent of the vote. Early in his term, he signed a law that increased the punishment for paying for sex. It rose from a possible three months in jail to up to a year.


This Monday, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will be sworn-in to replace Eliot Spitzer. Mister Paterson will become the state’s first black governor. He is also legally blind. The only other blind governor known in American history, Bob Riley, served for eleven days in Arkansas in nineteen seventy-five. The state of New York faces a deficit, and a new budget must be completed by the end of the month.
And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

----------------------------Google Translate

'私人通病' ：有上升的趋势，以及突然下降，埃利奥特
新的纽约总督建造了他的政治生命对反腐败的信心。他辞职后，被认定为一个客户一个卖淫生意。全文电台广播：
2008年3月14日

这是在新闻报道中，在美国之音特别英语。

这个星期，美国的关注是针对远离紧张的总统选举和困扰经济。全国观看了秋天，从权力的政客，被广泛认为是一个英雄。

消息传来，纽约总督埃利奥特的使用妓女震惊，许多是因为他的形象，作为一个侵略罪行战斗机。他辞去了周三，两天后，报告他联系到一个高价位的色情服务。

上周，政府落案起诉四名人士，经营帝王会员俱乐部贵宾卡法庭文件说，它是在洛杉矶，迈阿密，纽约和华盛顿以及伦敦和巴黎。

联邦执法官员说，总督，被称为"客户端九年的" ，是记录，电话监听。他们说，他十分有一个22岁老妪旅费由New York ，以满足他在华盛顿饭店上个月。

一个世纪之久的法律，曼恩法，使它成为联邦犯罪，使全国人民，国家线为不道德目的。但是，如果斯皮策面临任何费用，法律专家说，他们将更有可能牵涉到如何服务结果支付，而不是服务本身。

联邦官员说，他们就开始对他进行调查后，这两家银行去年举报可疑活动的方式，他提出了大量的金钱左右。该项调查，他们说，带他们到皇帝俱乐部，那里有报道说他可能已经花了数万美元。

联邦检察官正表示，将调查他是否用金钱运动，在与他会晤。新的纽约时报说，他已告诉幕僚，在最近几天，他用妓女只在过去八个月中，也从来不会用运动或公帑。

这个48岁的老人总督制定了两条简短向新闻界发表的声明，他的妻子站在他的身旁。三个孩子的父亲十几岁的女儿，没有讨论他所谓他的"私人通病" 。但他表示道歉，并宣布结束他的政治生命。

为八年斯皮策是纽约州总检察长，国家的最高执法官员。他是全国著名的"大饭店，以及华尔街" 。他打了腐败在金融业。他还带来了两个重大案件，打击卖淫活动的经营者。

民主党出任总督，在去年1月，当选69 ％的选票。早在他的任期内，他签署了一项法律，增加了行政处罚，付出性关系。它上升到一个可能3个月，在监狱中，以长达一年。


这周一，副总督朱百德将宣誓就职，以接替埃利奥特。先生百德新，将成为国家的第一位黑人总督。他亦是在法律上双目失明。唯一的其他盲总督众所周知，在美国历史上，鲍勃莱利，送达11天在阿肯色州在1975年。纽约州面临赤字，以及新的财政预算案必须在年底前完成了一个月。
这是在新闻报道中，在美国之音特别英语，写brianna布雷克。我史蒂夫Ember公司。