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Friday, March 14, 2008
Meet the woman who brought down Spitzer
Ashley Alexandra Dupre claims to be “Kristen,” the woman at the centre of the prostitution scandal that forced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to resign last week.
At a glace, Ashley seems infinitely more likeable than Spitzer – and things look good for her. The aspiring singer is expected to sell her story for millions. I’ll bet we’ll even hear a #1 music single from her soon.
But for poetic justice, I won’t be happy until I see a reformed Ashley Dupre in a Martha Stewart Living commercial promoting Stewart's new line of wedding dresses.
Martha Stewart, the 65-year-old business magnate, was, of course, one of the many victims of Spitzer’s overzealous prosecution of alleged securities violations.
Here’s a great description of Spitzer’s campaign against Stewart that led to her imprisonment:
“It was quite clear that the then Attorney General of NY State [Eliot Spitzer] knew she [Stewart] didn’t do anything other than what her broker told her to do. [Stewart sold shares of ImClone.] She wouldn’t take a deal to put him in jail so they retaliated. Just the thing one needs for one’s resume when planning a run at the big house in Albany. He even trumped-up the charges further by adding Fraud because she took the step, under the law, to declare her innocence. For declaring her innocence, he charged her with Fraud. Legal scholars around the country were shaking their heads at this and the fact that Spitzer was using White Papers about the economic impact of Mutual Funds as the connection that would make Martha Stewart an insider … which she wasn’t.”
The Globe and Mail reported in January 2007 that “Spitzer invoked seldom-used state laws to attack abuses in industries whose primary regulators had seen no offences or overlooked them.”
Let’s hope these seldom-used corporate governance laws are used even less often in the absence of the so-called "Sherriff of Wall Street" – and that the minor offences to the labyrinth of business-stifling regulations are once again overlooked.
And let's hope Ashley finds a nice fella and settles down.
Posted by Matthew Johnston on March 14, 2008 | Permalink
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Comments
Interesting, insofar as she seems to fit, right to a T, the profile I described of the women I went to school at various levels with who ended up becoming Working Girls.
It fits with my theory about the transformation (reformation?) of our society. Which is well enough, after all - drugs, booze, prostiution, etc. were all perfectly legal throughout the West and the world until the progressives and social reformers got their way.
And, you're quite right. At another place some people were talking about how the girl had, "ruined her life." To which I responded with a snort - the girl's about to get rich.
Posted by: Adam Yoshida | 2008-03-14 1:28:02 AM
Can a "American Pretty Woman Idol" be far behind?
Lots of potential judges:
Clinton as the jovial token 1st black president,Spitzer is a shoo-in as the cantankerous one and representin' the fairer sex ,Paula swish alike Jim McGreevey.
The Host/ess? Monica in fashionista blue
The sheer volume of candidate try-outs would necessitate a standardized format during the initial round,maybe humming the "Star Spangled Banner"while servicing local politicians.
The franchise potential for an international version would be limitless.
Posted by: Bocanut | 2008-03-14 9:36:22 AM
Martha proved that a real fighter always gets up off the canvas.
As for Ashley, one thing that never changes. Once a whore, always a whore.
Posted by: dp | 2008-03-14 9:44:45 AM
Sorry folks but no matter what you may think of this woman, she did not bring Spitzer down. He did it through his own choices. He is no victim, so please let us drop the blame game.
Posted by: Alain | 2008-03-14 4:06:01 PM
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