Investigators say Spitzer is the man identified only as "Client9" in a series of wiretaps involving a high-end firm called Emperors Club VIP, which arranged a tryst in Washington between him and a prostitute in Washington last month.

An affidavit prepared by an FBI agent says "Client 9" paid the woman 4,300 dollars in cash to meet him at a hotel room in Washington and that there are several indications that the client was a regular customer.

In Monday's news conference Spitzer apologized without offering any explanations or specifics.

"I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and violates my, or any, sense of right and wrong. I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, whom I promised better," Spitzer said, with his wife Silda at his side.

Spitzer made his reputation as attorney general as a hard-charging, relentless reformer. The so-called "Sheriff of Wall Street" took down some of the street's biggest players. Wall Street bankers said all of the reforms made their jobs harder.

If Spitzer resigns, Lt. Gov. David Paterson would take over and finish out Spitzer's term, which ends in 2010.

Paterson would be New York's first black governor. Paterson, who lost most of his sight after an infection at the age of three months, would also be the first legally-blind governor.

The Brooklyn-born Paterson was first elected to represent Harlem in the State Senate in 1985 and became Senate minority leader in 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2008)