New York Governor Eliot Spitzer apologised today after he was accused of involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring as recently as last month.
With his wife at his side, Gov Spitzer did not elaborate on the scandal, which drew calls for his resignation.
'I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family,' said the Governor.
His involvement in the ring was caught on a federal wiretap as part of an investigation opened in recent months, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The New York Democrat, identified in legal papers as 'Client 9,' met last month with at least one woman in a Washington DC hotel, the law enforcement official said.
The ring
The prostitution ring, identified as the Emperors Club VIP, arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris, prosecutors said.
Four people allegedly connected to the high-end ring were arrested last week.
The club's website displays photographs of scantily clad women with their faces hidden. It also shows hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.
The scandal was first reported on The New York Times website.
Gov Spitzer (left) spoke hours later. Stunned lawmakers gathered around televisions at the state capital, Albany, to watch, and a media mob gathered outside the office of Lt Gov David Paterson, who would become governor if Mr Spitzer were to resign.
Mr Spitzer is also a superdelegate reportedly pledged to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. There are questions over whether he would step down from that post as well.
Crusading Governor
Eliot Spitzer, 48, built his political reputation on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general.
He stormed into the governor's office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the worst state governments in the US.
But his term as governor has been marred by problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear his main Republican rival.
He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, handling organised crime and white-collar crime cases.
His cases as state attorney general included criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and probes into tourism involving prostitutes.
In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.
