THE prostitute at the centre of the sex scandal that forced the resignation of Eliot Spitzer as Governor of New York is a 22-year-old aspiring blues singer who comes from a broken home, has abused drugs and is now worried about how she'll pay the rent on her apartmentAshley Alexandra Dupre, known to Mr Spitzer as the $US1000-an-hour hooker "Kristen", is also the prosecution's key witness in the case against four people accused of operating the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring.
Her real identity emerged after Mr Spitzer yesterday resigned the governorship he won in a landslide 18 months ago, a victory many believed had set up the former Wall Street crime buster for a tilt at the White House in the years ahead.
Now Mr Spitzer's political career is over and the ambitions of the man once dubbed "Mr Clean" and the "Eliot Ness of the 21st century" are limited to avoiding a string of possible felony prosecutions that could put him behind bars and cost him his certificate to practise law.
Prima facie, Mr Spitzer is in breach of the Mann Act, which makes transportation of someone across a US state line for the purposes of prostitution a federal crime.
The law is rarely used to prosecute the clients of prostitutes, known in US slang as "johns", but the notable exceptions include silent-film era actor-comedian Charlie Chaplin, mass murderer Charles Manson and rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry.
Mr Spitzer, who has reportedly spent $US80,000 ($85,000) on Emperors Club prostitutes over the past eight months, was caught on a federal phone tap arranging a meeting with Ms Dupre at a luxury Washington DC hotel on the evening of February 13.
He is identified as "Client 9" in a federal affidavit outlining the case against the four Emperors Club principals.
Mr Spitzer paid Ms Dupre a total of $US4300 on February 13. Some of the money was for services rendered that night; the rest was a down payment on future trysts.
With his tragically forlorn wife, Silda, at his side sharing the public humiliation, Mr Spitzer resigned as governor before a packed press conference in New York late on Wednesday, 48 hours after news of his links with prostitutes first broke on The New York Times website. Yesterday the Times had another scoop when it identified Ms Dupre and managed to interview her.
"I just don't want to be thought of as a monster," she said. "This has been a very difficult time. It's complicated."
Ms Dupre said she had slept little since the scandal erupted and was worried about paying the rent on her ninth-floor Manhattan apartment after her boyfriend recently left her.
She declined to say when she first met Mr Spitzer and how many times they had been together.
In resigning, Mr Spitzer said he had failed to meet the standards expected by his family and the community. "I have been given much: the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state," he said.
"I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. I sincerely apologise.
"I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work. Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct.
"I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor."
The resignation is effective from Monday when Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will be sworn in.
Mr Paterson will be the first blind man to lead a US state, and New York's first African-American governor.
Speculation that Mr Spitzer's resignation was part of a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors was dismissed when the US Attorney's Office issued a statement saying no deal had been discussed.
"There is no agreement between this office and Governor Eliot Spitzer, relating to his resignation or any other matter," US Attorney Michael Garcia said.
Mr Spitzer's resignation followed two days of angry calls for him to step aside and threats by Republican leaders of impeachment proceedings if he didn't.
Ironically, Mr Spitzer seems to have been caught out by changes to banking regulations he helped implement that were aimed at increasing surveillance of suspicious money transfers in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Mr Spitzer came under notice when the North Fork Bank noticed frequent cash transfers from several accounts into a shelf company linked to the prostitution ring.
A suspicious-activity report was filed with the Internal Revenue Service and wiretaps begun.
Her real identity emerged after Mr Spitzer yesterday resigned the governorship he won in a landslide 18 months ago, a victory many believed had set up the former Wall Street crime buster for a tilt at the White House in the years ahead.
Now Mr Spitzer's political career is over and the ambitions of the man once dubbed "Mr Clean" and the "Eliot Ness of the 21st century" are limited to avoiding a string of possible felony prosecutions that could put him behind bars and cost him his certificate to practise law.
Prima facie, Mr Spitzer is in breach of the Mann Act, which makes transportation of someone across a US state line for the purposes of prostitution a federal crime.
The law is rarely used to prosecute the clients of prostitutes, known in US slang as "johns", but the notable exceptions include silent-film era actor-comedian Charlie Chaplin, mass murderer Charles Manson and rock 'n' roll legend Chuck Berry.
Mr Spitzer, who has reportedly spent $US80,000 ($85,000) on Emperors Club prostitutes over the past eight months, was caught on a federal phone tap arranging a meeting with Ms Dupre at a luxury Washington DC hotel on the evening of February 13.
He is identified as "Client 9" in a federal affidavit outlining the case against the four Emperors Club principals.
Mr Spitzer paid Ms Dupre a total of $US4300 on February 13. Some of the money was for services rendered that night; the rest was a down payment on future trysts.
With his tragically forlorn wife, Silda, at his side sharing the public humiliation, Mr Spitzer resigned as governor before a packed press conference in New York late on Wednesday, 48 hours after news of his links with prostitutes first broke on The New York Times website. Yesterday the Times had another scoop when it identified Ms Dupre and managed to interview her.
"I just don't want to be thought of as a monster," she said. "This has been a very difficult time. It's complicated."
Ms Dupre said she had slept little since the scandal erupted and was worried about paying the rent on her ninth-floor Manhattan apartment after her boyfriend recently left her.
She declined to say when she first met Mr Spitzer and how many times they had been together.
In resigning, Mr Spitzer said he had failed to meet the standards expected by his family and the community. "I have been given much: the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state," he said.
"I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. I sincerely apologise.
"I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work. Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct.
"I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor."
The resignation is effective from Monday when Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will be sworn in.
Mr Paterson will be the first blind man to lead a US state, and New York's first African-American governor.
Speculation that Mr Spitzer's resignation was part of a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors was dismissed when the US Attorney's Office issued a statement saying no deal had been discussed.
"There is no agreement between this office and Governor Eliot Spitzer, relating to his resignation or any other matter," US Attorney Michael Garcia said.
Mr Spitzer's resignation followed two days of angry calls for him to step aside and threats by Republican leaders of impeachment proceedings if he didn't.
Ironically, Mr Spitzer seems to have been caught out by changes to banking regulations he helped implement that were aimed at increasing surveillance of suspicious money transfers in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Mr Spitzer came under notice when the North Fork Bank noticed frequent cash transfers from several accounts into a shelf company linked to the prostitution ring.
A suspicious-activity report was filed with the Internal Revenue Service and wiretaps begun.
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