Eliot Spitzer will not be at the state Capitol today when he turns over the reins to David Paterson – but the former governor whom Spitzer gratuitously insulted during his inaugural speech last year will be.
George Pataki – who is still recovering from surgery to repair a blocked intestine – plans to attend Paterson’s swearing-in against doctors’ advice.
It may be just the medicine for Pataki, who Spitzer mocked during his Jan. 1, 2007, inauguration while standing just feet away from the Republican, who was leaving after 12 years in office.
“Like Rip Van Winkle, the legendary character created by New York author Washington Irving, New York has slept through much of the past decade while the rest of the world has passed us by,” Spitzer said that day.
“Spitzer is moving out of the Governor’s Office a week after he was revealed to be Client 9 – the man identified in a federal criminal complaint as having a prostitute sent from New York to his Washington hotel room on Feb. 13.
Spitzer announced his resignation last Wednesday after it became clear he could not survive the scandal politically, which exposed his lust for young hookers.
Pataki told The Post last week that Paterson – a Democrat like Spitzer – is “a good man and a person of integrity and intelligence.”
Meanwhile, yesterday, Spitzer’s spokeswoman said “he has not” requested that State Police continue to provide him security after he leaves office today.
Also, federal authorities are probing thousands of dollars in expense reimbursements paid to Spitzer fund-raising consultant Kristian Stiles, according to a New York Times story. The story quoted a source saying authorities are particularly interested in hotels Spitzer stayed in during trips to Florida, Texas and Washington, DC, where he possibly arranged meetings with prostitutes.
Stiles “frequently made Mr. Spitzer’s travel arrangements and paid with her own credit card,” the Times reported.
Her lawyer, Charles Clayman, told The Post yesterday that “I have no reason” to believe she is a target of the criminal investigation, which has focused on Spitzer. He said she is cooperating with authorities as a witness.
Clayman denied that Stiles accompanied Spitzer on last month’s trip to Washington, where Ashley Alexandra Dupre later visited his room.