There is no doubt that Eliot Spitzer — New York’s incoming governor and outgoing attorney general — glories in being dubbed “The Sheriff of Wall Street” for taking on the nation’s biggest corporations on behalf of “the little guy.” His November victory is merely the latest example of how he has used his white knight personae to advance his political career.
Spitzer was elected governor by a bigger margin than Sen. Hillary Clinton received in winning another term in the U.S. Senate. Spitzer’s admirers are now touting him as a running mate for Clinton’s possible rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who is himself pondering a possible run for the White House.
Clinton and Obama should both be wary because Spitzer’s White Knight crusader personae is more than a little suspect. After grabbing headlines with thunderous accusations of corporate wrong-doing, followed by equally well-publicized investigations, most of his high-profile corporate corruption cases ended in out-of-court settlements. Corporate titans basically forked over billions of dollars to get New York’s legal pit bull off their legs. But if they really did defraud millions of small investors, Spitzer’s settlement offers for pennies on the dollar were cop-outs.
If, however, Spitzer was merely targeting well-known deep pockets on Wall Street as a means of ginning up his political machine — as his many detractors maintain was usually the case — he deserves a far less flattering description for extracting some $13 billion from corporations and wealthy individuals who were never convicted of breaking any law. Very little of that $13 billion ever got back to the small investors Spitzer supposedly champions.
Unfortunately, ambitious prosecutors may now view Spitzer as the poster boy for leap-frogging over potential political rivals by using media leaks to threaten and intimidate people — with or without indictable evidence. But who will call the bluff of Spitzer and his imitators? Cowed businessmen who take a settlement offer to save money, even though doing so merely invites more of the same? Former Bank of America broker Theodore Sihpol was one of the few to refuse a Spitzer plea bargain for allegedlyengaging in illegal late trading. A jury found him not guilty on 29 counts, but vindication still cost Sihpol his job, as well as an outrageous bill for attorney fees.
Spitzer’s halo has been further tarnished by his choice of a former aide to outgoing Republican Gov. George Pataki who was publicly rebuked by the state Ethics Commission for illegally accepting Yankees tickets, Brooks Brothers suits, a Mont Blanc pen and other goodies from two rabbis seeking special access. This is precisely the sort of unethical behavior Spitzer has publicly crusaded against in the private sector, but apparently tolerates from his fellow public officials.
The Examiner will be closely watching Spitzer. Will the “Sheriffs of Albany” represent the New York media?
