Video: 'Gov. Eliot Spitzer Resigns'

(Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 11:43 a.m. EDT) — New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who rose to political power with aggressive prosecution of financial crimes that earned him the nickname the “Sheriff of Wall Street,” resigned today, two days after reports had surfaced that he was a client of a prostitution ring.

With his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, at his side, Spitzer announced he was stepping down at his Midtown Manhattan office, less than 48 hours after The New York Times reported that he had been intercepted on a federal wiretap confirming plans to meet a call girl from a high-priced prostitution service in Washington.

Spitzer, a Democrat, would be succeeded as governor by Lt. Governor David A. Paterson on Mar. 17, 2008, making him the state’s first black chief executive.