Memo to Spitzer: Put a sock in it
Examiner Editorial
October 26, 2009
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| How is it possible that the disgraced former governor can speak credibly about ethics when he himself flagrantly violated the public's trust? |
Disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer thinks people who own shares in mutual and pension funds should pressure the directors and executives of America's great corporations to silence the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Spitzer, aka the "Client Number Nine" who famously kept his socks on while dallying with Emperor Club VIP hookers, now accuses the chamber of misrepresenting its members. How? By lobbying against "the reform of markets, health care, energy policy and politics that we have all been calling for."
Spitzer's solution is for mutual and pension fund owners to demand that the corporations cancel their chamber memberships, thus denying the nation's most influential business voice of the lifeblood of every trade association -- dues revenue. It comes as no surprise to hear such demands from Spitzer, who as New York attorney general posed as an ethical champion while using the mere threat of state-sponsored litigation to force corporate boards and executives to take actions that clearly weren't in the best interests of their stockholders.
Lest anybody gets the idea that Spitzer can be considered a credible source on issues of corporate ethics, let's review a few facts about his own misuse and abuse of the public trust. During his successful 2006 campaign for governor, Spitzer loudly announced his return of more than $124,000 in campaign contributions he had received since 2003 from lawyers with the Milberg Weiss law firm in New York. The firm and four of its senior partners had been indicted on 20 counts as a criminal enterprise by the Justice Department for paying an estimated $11.7 million in bribes to plaintiffs in at least 150 cases going back to 1981. The firm received $250 million or more in tainted legal fees from the cases.
What Spitzer didn't say was that he kept an additional $42,555 in such contributions. Among the unreturned checks were $10,000 from senior partner Melvyn Weiss and $10,000 from senior partner David Bershad. Weiss was convicted and sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and $10 million in fines, while Bershad cut a deal with the government, got a six-month prison sentence, paid a $250,000 fine and forfeited $7.75 million. Spitzer also kept checks totaling $8,000 from Weiss senior partner Steven Schulman, who was convicted and served a six-month federal prison term.
These facts perhaps shed light on why Spitzer sat on his hands in 2004 when the Washington Legal Foundation filed an official complaint with him concerning Milberg Weiss. So anytime Spitzer gets the urge to lecture the U.S. Chamber or anybody else on ethics, he would be well-advised to put a sock in it.
