THE FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER

• First, how did the government discover Spitzer’s involvement with high class, expensive prostitutes?  In early fall, a report filed by the HSBC bank about suspicious transactions connected to two shell companies, drew the attention of investigators.  The investigation showed that he had made several wire transfers to those companies.  Following the bank’s alert, the IRS began examining the shell companies, which are allegedly connected to a Web-based prostitution service named Emperor’s Club VIP.  The investigation picked up at least three wire transfers of $5,000 each to one of these shell companies, QAT International.  These specific kinds of monitoring are products of the Patriot Act, which was passed after 9/11 and which requires that banks exercise an extra level of due diligence for a “politically exposed person.”  Hence the scrutiny that eventually led to Spitzer’s downfall.

• Second, a word about Spitzer’s wife and family.  There is no such thing as a private sin!  Such an egregious violation of the marriage covenant has disastrous consequences on people you love.  One has to wonder, “How could he have done this?”  What we do know is that Eliot Spitzer is arrogant, audacious and often reckless.  That is a recipe for disaster.  I remember when I was growing up that my mother used to say, “Son, be sure your sins will find you out.”  How true.  Perhaps at the heart of egregious sin is the [wrong] conviction that “I alone am the exception.”  Eliot Spitzer has now been reminded of this lie and deception.  You cannot violate God’s moral/ethical law with impunity.  There is a moral/ethical dimension to this universe and there are consequences for violating that dimension.  The Bible clearly teaches that truth!  But what is even more tragic than the self-destructive behavior of Spitzer is the effect of this on his wife.  At both his initial public response and then in the public announcement of his resignation, his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, stood by his side.  The agony of his betrayal was evident on her face during the first appearance and the bags under her eyes and the strained expression were evident in the second.  One has to ask the question, “Why did she do this?”  Was she coerced to appear with her husband?  That seems unlikely.  Eliot Spitzer brought himself down.  The natural inclination is to conclude that no one deserves the kind of public humiliation that Mrs. Spitzer had to endure.  Her children and the humiliation and embarrassment they will bear are almost unimaginable.  They will be marked by their father’s indiscretion for many years.

• Third, let me make three closing comments:
  1. I believe that the Bible teaches that leaders are always called to a higher standard.  That is God’s standard and we see it with Moses in Numbers 20, with David in his sin with Bathsheba and in Abraham with Hagar.  When a leader violates an ethical standard of God, the consequences are profound.
  2. Yet, as with our God, we must also exhibit and extend grace.  Eliot Spitzer is not beyond redemption or forgiveness.  This monstrous personal tragedy can become the springboard for a whole new life, one centered on Jesus.  To that end we should be praying.  For Moses, for David and for Abraham, their sin brought significant growth and maturity.  Eliot Spitzer could find God’s abundant grace available to him, if he so chooses.
  3. The Spitzer tragedy proves once again that the greatest crisis of leadership is a crisis of character.  Flawed character destroys the leader and usually brings him or her down.  As we choose leaders at any level in our sphere of influence, character must be the number one requirement.

See news reports in the New York Times by Don Van Natta, Jr. and Jo Becker and by David Kocieniewski and Danny Hakim (13 March 2008) and Eugene Robinson, Washington Post (14 March 2008

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