July 8, 2013 10:21AM # Eliot Spitzer Seeks Political Comeback By [Walter Olson](https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson) --- SHARE Disgraced ex-governor Eliot Spitzer has announced a surprise bid for New York City Comptroller, resulting in [general merriment on Twitter](http://twitchy.com/2013/07/07/you-cant-make-this-up-eliot-spitzer-to-run-for-nyc-comptroller-against-former-madam/) and joy in the world of NYC tabloids (as well as more [sober political analysis](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/07/08/eliot-spitzer-is-running-for-office-again-and-yes-he-can-win/)). In all seriousness, some of the prime memories to keep fresh about the 2008 scandal are: 1) Spitzer not only prosecuted those who engaged in the same behavior he was up to, but cynically led a public campaign for longer sentences for “johns”; 2) he engaged in the white-collar offense of [structuring](https://www.cato.org/blog/forfeiture-farm-feds-structuring-crackdown) or “smurfing,” deliberately keeping financial transactions below a reportable threshold, after prosecuting others based on the same sorts of bank reports; 3) he then used expensive lawyers to beat the rap on both counts, even as smaller fry continue to be convicted for both; 4) from what I can tell — I invite correction if I’m wrong — he’s done approximately nothing in the years since to work toward relaxing or removing legal penalties for small-fry (or for that matter big-fish) johns and smurfers. More quick resources on Spitzer from me and Cato colleagues: - [Tim Lynch notes](https://www.cato.org/blog/eliot-spitzer) that the wider scandal about Spitzer is the behavior he was applauded for — trashing defendants and the Constitution — rather than the personal failings. [Alan Reynolds on](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/trial-press-release) Spitzer’s penchant for “trial by press release.” His strange [milk-price crusade](https://www.cato.org/blog/regulatory-madness) and his [brutalist style in the gunmaker litigation](https://www.cato.org/blog/andrew-cuomo-gunmaker-litigation). And [much more](https://www.cato.org/search/results/%22eliot%20spitzer%22). - In this [2008 *National Review* article](http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/223892/saving-spitzer/walter-olson) from the height of the scandal, just before he resigned, I recalled how a key part of Spitzer’s “distinctively relentless style” was to demagogically personalize his prosecutions into crusades against “ ‘imperial’ CEOs — he did much to popularize the phrase — \[who\] had come to feel they were above the law… all talk of forgiveness for momentary lapses in judgment, of deference to uniquely valuable skill sets, and even of basic old-fashioned due process for the accused, were but excuses.” - As part of our [tag on Spitzer](http://overlawyered.com/tag/eliot-spitzer/) at Overlawyered, we cover the [smurfing charges](http://overlawyered.com/2008/03/eliot-smurfer/), how Spitzer “[curried political favor](http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/disgraced-ex-gov-eliot-spitzer-to-lecture-at-ethics-center/) with anti-libertarian feminist and legal services groups” through his crusade against johns, and his subsequent lectures on (not making this up!) [business ethics](http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/disgraced-ex-gov-eliot-spitzer-to-lecture-at-ethics-center/). ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).