Several outlets, including the New York Times, ABC News and the New York Post, are reporting variations on a story that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is resigning Wednesday morning.
Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who is next in line for the governor's chair, has told state officials that Spitzer will be stepping down, ABC reports. The Post reports that Spitzer was to begin informing government staffers of his decision at 9 a.m. EDT. The decision "came after what one source called 'an agonizing night,' as the governor's wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, and the governor's lawyers went over a possible plea deal offered by federal prosecutors," the Post says.
Meanwhile, the Times says that Spitzer aides expect the resignation to happen "during the early part of the morning," but the paper is hedging its bets -- not surprising considering several false alarms that have been sounded this week about an impending Spitzer resignation. "Because even his most senior aides have been so surprised by revelations of their boss's behavior, they said that nothing could be certain until Mr. Spitzer actually steps forward and makes the announcement himself," the Times says.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that the FBI had a surveillance team on Spitzer when he traveled to Washington, D.C., in late January. "The January stakeout at the Mayflower came roughly two weeks after a federal judge authorized investigators to intercept the escort service's telephone calls and text messages," the Post says. "A team of agents from New York and Washington was hurriedly dispatched to the hotel after an escort service employee was heard on a wiretap calling the front desk to say that flowers were being sent to Spitzer and wanting to confirm that he would be there, said a source knowledgeable about the investigation who requested anonymity in order to speak freely.
"Spitzer spent part of the day and evening at the hotel, but if he had a date from the escort service, the agents did not see her or she did not show up."
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