Embroiled in allegations he was a client of an international prostitution ring, New York state Gov. Eliot Spitzer could face impeachment if he does not resign within the next 48 hours, a leading state assemblyman said.

New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer is joined by his wife, Silda, as he makes a statement during a news conference Monday in New York.
(Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

Jim Tedisco, the state assembly's Republican minority leader, told reporters Tuesday that he is ready to introduce articles of impeachment if Spitzer does not step down.

"Tedisco had said that in order for state government to get back to the business at hand, the governor should either resign from office within 48 hours or they will call for his impeachment," Tedisco's communications director, Joshua Fitzpatrick, told CBCNews.ca.

Spitzer, who has not been charged with any crimes, has faced immediate calls to step down by Republican legislators, including the Republican Governors Association, according to CNN.

There is growing speculation that Spitzer — a Democrat who is alleged to have been caught on tape making arrangements to meet with and pay for a high-priced prostitute in February — is preparing to resign.

An unnamed source cited by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday said Spitzer could step aside sometimes soon, while an aide to the governor told the New York Times that the Democratic governor was weighing a possible resignation.

The Times reported that Spitzer's family and his top assistants debated Monday whether he should step down. While his wife and a senior adviser said he shouldn't resign in haste, most saw no other solution.

However, some Democrats have privately told the Associated Press that Spitzer may shock everyone and stay on as governor for as long as he can.

A spokesman said Spitzer has retained the Manhattan law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, one of the biggest in the United States. Prosecutors still have not spoken publicly about the case.

With his wife standing beside him, Spitzer held a brief news conference Monday where he apologized to his family and the people of New York, without specifying what he was apologizing for.

Investigators said Tuesday that Spitzer appeared to have paid for repeated visits from prostitutes over an extended period of time. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one law enforcement official said the governor may have paid up to $80,000 US for their services.

Spitzer's vast personal wealth would have made it easy for him to spend tens of thousands of dollars. The heir of a wealthy Manhattan real estate developer, Spitzer reported $1.9 million in income to federal tax agents in 2006.

Spitzer known as sheriff, crusader

The allegations have dealt a severe blow to Spitzer, who had carved out a reputation as a corruption-fighting politician once known as "Mr. Clean."

During his term as attorney general, Spitzer earned the nickname the Sheriff of Wall Street for going after powerful business executives. Time magazine named him Crusader of the Year for his involvement in landmark cases seeking to protect investors and consumers.

But if the allegations prove to be true, that could be overshadowed by a new moniker — "Client 9."

Spitzer's name emerged after four people were arrested and charged with running a prostitution ring, which federal prosecutors said billed each client up to $5,500 an hour.

The ring arranged sex between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris, prosecutors said.

According to a 47-page affidavit based on a wiretap and filed by an FBI agent in a New York City federal court, a man — referred to only as "Client 9" — paid $4,300 in cash to have sex with a prostitute named Kristen. Her boss described her in a phone call as a "petite, pretty brunette, 5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds."

"Yup, same as in the past. No question about it," Client 9 told Kristen's boss when asked if he would make his payment to the same business as usual, a federal affidavit said.  

The New York Times and Associated Press say sources have confirmed to them that Client 9 is Spitzer.

Call girl crossed state lines

The encounter in question is alleged to have taken place Feb. 13 in the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. A law enforcement official alleged to the Associated Press that Spitzer had to sneak past his state police detail to get to her room.

According to the court papers, an agent with the prostitution service, Emperors Club VIP, was told by the prostitute that her evening with Client 9 went well. The agent said Kristen had been told that the client "would ask you to do things that … you might not think were safe … very basic things," according to the papers.

Kristen responded by saying: "I have a way of dealing with that … I'd be, like, listen dude, you really want the sex?"

A law enforcement official said Tuesday the discussion had to do with Spitzer's preference not to wear a condom and the call-girl's insistence that he use one.

Because Spitzer is alleged to have paid for the call girl to take a train from New York to Washington, it opens the transaction up to federal prosecution because she crossed state lines.

The case started when banks noticed frequent money transfers from several accounts and filed suspicious-activity reports with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press.

The accounts were allegedly traced to Spitzer, prompting public corruption investigators to open an inquiry.

With files from the Associated Press