There are the legal issues of:

1. The Mann act. Taking someone across, or causing someone to cross, state lines for the purpose of prostitution.

2. Whether any public funds, property, or employees were used during any encounter between Mr. Spitzer and a prostitute.

3. ABC News has reported that the Justice Department is considering charging Mr. Spitzer with "structuring," an obscure financial crime that involves moving money to obscure the nature of payments. The investigation into the prostitution business, known as Emperors Club VIP, grew out of the IRS's scrutiny of Mr. Spitzer's finances, which involved payments to a front company for the prostitution service.

Keep in mind that if he were still a prosecutor, he'd be duty bound to take this case to court.

The mann act is rarely enforced, except for human trafficking cases. The Supreme Court has ruled that prostitutes crossing state lines are exempt from the act.

I'm starting to see a pattern of messages in the last couple years. The Nifong case with the Duke lacrosse team; the governors of CT, NJ, and now NY resigned amid scandal.

The message is "No matter how big and powerful you are, no matter that you hold the reins of power, you are bound by the same body of law that governs the rest of us."

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