Ex-NYSE Director Langone on Spitzer: "We All Have Our Own Private Hells. I Hope His Private Hell Is Hotter Than Anybody Else's."

Huffington Post   |  Rachel Sklar   |   March 11, 2008 09:21 AM


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The revelations about Eliot Spitzer's illegal dalliances with a high-priced prostitute have got plenty of his former targets coming out of the woodwork to wish him, er, not well. Last night CNBC found ex-NYSE director Ken Langone — a former Spitz target in the matter of Dick Grasso's giant pay package, for which Spitzer blamed Langone for greasing it through and Langone vowed eternal enmity on Spitzer — and got a few of his thoughts on the matter. The interview aired this morning on Squawk Box, and it's a doozy — not only does Langone call Spitzer a "hypocrite" who "destroyed reputations" and should resign, but he also claims to know someone who stood behind Spitzer in line at the post office and saw him purchase $2,800 worth of mail orders (for purposes unknown, obviously, but Langone has an idea). Interview below:

CNBC: Do you think that he should resign?

KEN LANGONE: Absolutely.

CNBC: Tell me why?

LANGONE: Because he's a hypocrite. He destroyed reputations of people who had good reputations and deserved reputations. He talked today about his standards - but what he didn't talk about was the standards that he held everybody else to that he couldn't keep. So how do I feel? I certainly feel sorry for his daughters, very much so. I don't know his wife, but I have to assume she has some idea of this happening. For him? It couldn't be enough to please me. What he's done to people, not me, I'm standing, thank God, but the number of people that he besmirched, the number of people whose reputations were earned that he soiled is horrible.

CNBC: Would you say that you were surprised by this news?

LANGONE: Not at all. I had no doubt about his lack of character and integrity. It would only be a matter of time, I didn't think he would do it this soon or the way he did it. But I know for sure he went himself to a post office and bought $2,800 worth of mail orders to send to the hooker.

CNBC: How do you know that?

LANGONE: I know it. I know somebody who was standing in back of him in line....We all have our own private hells. I hope his private hell is hotter than anybody else's.



Update: Here's the video:







Related:
Target: Spitzer
[NYmag]
(it calls Langone an "extremely angry billionaire bent on revenge")


 
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- MajorKong I'm a Fan of MajorKong 372 fans permalink
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Just because Spitzer is bad doesn't make the Wall Street fat cats good.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:25 PM on 03/12/2008

It appears that the parasites and manipulators of the financal industry are dancing on Spitzer's grave. It's a shame that more of these manipulating crooks haven't been put away. Wall Street has an unbroken record of stealing from the poor and enriching themselves since it was deregulated. There truly is "honor among thieves" and the state of America's economy brilliantly reflects that fact.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:54 AM on 03/12/2008
- JScott I'm a Fan of JScott 20 fans permalink

I thought that pic was of Fyvush Finkel.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:15 AM on 03/12/2008

We don't care what people do behind closed doors right? We support gay rights, yes? We tolerate fetishes, sex shoppes, all of it. You've seen some porn, or at least know well of it, you've been to the clubs when you were in college. We've all enjoyed good, low down, sometimes "dirty" most times sensual intercourse, no? We love sex and why not? And again, behind closed doors is behind closed doors.

His wife was there by his side. Who understands their dynamic? Maybe they swing. Maybe she has a girlfriend. Who knows. Who Cares. Did the guy clean up corruption? Do his job? Judge him on that. I don't even know his record but please spare me the holier than thou arguments.

The moment you throw that stone you become every bit the hypocrite you accuse him of being.

It's America 2008. Not Taliban Afghanistan or Puritan New England.

It's consensual sex between adults.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:01 AM on 03/12/2008
- BARRISTER I'm a Fan of BARRISTER 17 fans permalink

"Let He who is without sin cast the first stone"

Sounds familiar?? Its your very own Jesus. Abide that admonition America.

Stop being a bunch of opportunistic, parasitical hippocrites!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:42 AM on 03/12/2008

He prosecuted people for using HOOKERS!!!

this isn't about fidelity - it's about DOUBLE STANDARDS for prosecution.... he should be prosecuted... JUST LIKE those he prosecuted....

How can anybody say this guy is honest.... if he hadn't conducted witch hunts for the same behavior - I might have sympathy.... but this guy is twisted.../

and the wife? -- just like all political wives.... she doesn't give a horses rear end who he's boinking so long as she gets the perks of power....

He and his wife are garbage

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:06 PM on 03/12/2008
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We don't all have our own private hells. Only sick twisted people who can't be honest with themselves and those around them, who aren't authentic and don't have internal strength and integrity, have private hells. The rest of us, who don't spend our lives kicking down and kissing up, in order to satisfy overreaching ambitions, or lust for power or money, are quite content and satisfied.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:20 PM on 03/11/2008

Ken Langone is absolutely correct in his assessment of Spitzer. "Overzealous prosecutor" seems to be the norm these days. Spitzer destroyed everyone and everything in his path, all the while waving the flag. Above reproach? Hardly. I only hope the next shoe to drop is to learn that CEOs were paying bribes to him under his threats of criminal prosecution. Then we'd really have something to blog about! Spitzer is not the only corrupt, self-righteous prosecutor; just one of the worst exposed so far. In any event, prosecution for personal gain is the most reprehensible kind of abuse in our legal system today. Spitzer got there on the backs of some fine CEOs. Most won't recover. I pray he doesn't either. Bobby Vassallo

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:02 AM on 03/12/2008
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Are you the same Bobby Vassallo who defrauded investors of more than 11 million dollars and was pursued by the SEC in San Diego? You should use a more anonymous screen name next time you start whining and bitching about Spitzer.

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr18554.htm

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:49 AM on 03/12/2008

Yes, our biggest problem in this country is prosecutors who go after rich people and big business. They're just so, so- overzealous! I mean, aren't there REAL problems, like black people dealing drugs and NAMBLA and people who cut the tags off of their mattresses?

"Overzealous" prosecutors. Only in New York, kids, only in New York.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:11 PM on 03/12/2008

Spitzers indescretions hurt only his family, but illegal activies on Wall Street hurt all of us, as investors, consumers or workers.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:29 PM on 03/11/2008

what about the people he prosecuted for prostitution? -- he deserves what he dealt

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:07 PM on 03/12/2008

Note he has nothing to say about small investors who had someone to fight for them.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:43 PM on 03/11/2008
- rh654 I'm a Fan of rh654 11 fans permalink

It is refreshing to see someone speak their mind a bit instead of the PC junk that usually gets spouted.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:56 PM on 03/11/2008

Langone doesn't have a mind! He is a arrogant corrupt twit. This guy is a poster boy for corrupt capitalism

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:36 PM on 03/11/2008
- truthyguy I'm a Fan of truthyguy 42 fans permalink

Talk about a nonsequitur. Making the billionaire stock traders and overpaid CEOs follow the law and cheating on one's spouse. I am sure no stock exchange members ever paid a hooker for a hummer.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:45 PM on 03/11/2008
- loki I'm a Fan of loki 125 fans permalink
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I seriously doubt Spitzer announced that he needed the mail orders for hookers. so how does this moron know for sure what it was for?

He knows a lot more than he is saying. This I bet, was a set up to bring spitzer down. and he is trying to let everyone know he did it. He wants all the pats on the back from his fellow criminals.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:26 PM on 03/11/2008
- loki I'm a Fan of loki 125 fans permalink
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LANGONE: Not at all. I had no doubt about his lack of character and integrity. It would only be a matter of time, I didn't think he would do it this soon or the way he did it. But I know for sure he went himself to a post office and bought $2,800 worth of mail orders to send to the hooker.

CNBC: How do you know that?

LANGONE: I know it. I know somebody who was standing in back of him in line....We all have our own private hells. I hope his private hell is hotter than anybody else's.
**********­**********­**********­**********­**********

Is he is announcing that he is behind a set up ??

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:24 PM on 03/11/2008
- rh654 I'm a Fan of rh654 11 fans permalink

Setup? Unless Spitzer was forced at gun point to transfer money to the company that employed the hooker, then traveled and had sex with the hooker under some threat - how in the world is that a setup?

Even if the hooker was bought and paid for by someone else to "set him up" -without Spitzer paying for sex and showing up and whipping it out - there would be nothing at all.....

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:58 PM on 03/11/2008
- loki I'm a Fan of loki 125 fans permalink
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No simpleton. Not forced him, but once they found something on him, anything, but using his power and money to make sure that an somehow the feds could make something , even something as little as buying a hooker, stick and ruin his career.
You cant force him to hire a hooker, but you can make sure the law finds out and that they can fabricate it in such a way as to make it cling to the wall.
There are hundreds in DC who use prostitutes every single day. Next to Vegas, DC is the home of a large amount of high priced hookers, and I dont mean the ones in Congress.
But the ones that Congress, Corporate CEOs and others with a lot of power and money use.
And for Emperor to be taken down, and the only one to be exposed is Spitzer, is really amazing. Are the Feds really that stupid they cant figure out anyone else who used the services and expose them too? Or havent the feds been paid enough to do it to anyone else.

Makes you wonder, especially since Langone swore revenge on Spitzerand has spent millions trying to get it.
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/bizfinance/finance/features/15300/
The usual course of action for a man in Langone’s circumstances is to lie low and let his high-priced lawyers do their job. If he really wanted the case to disappear fast, he could probably settle for far less than the $18 million Spitzer is seeking. The money itself would make an imperceptible dent in his net worth, and what’s a couple days of bad press for a man who owns several homes? He could just get out of town. But that would not be Langone’s style. Gesticulating with his big hands, he looks at me and says pointedly, “One way or another, Spitzer is going to pay for what he’s done to me and the havoc he’s caused in the New York business climate.”

Coincidence ?
I think not

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:46 PM on 03/11/2008
- loki I'm a Fan of loki 125 fans permalink
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Criminals always hate the bringers of justice dont they .

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:23 PM on 03/11/2008

The sadness is that one of the few guys with the talent and tenacity to smoke out fraud and abuse, would be so insecure that his arrogance would destroy his life, and provide his past and current adversaries the platform for gloating.

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/03/ethics-where-art-thou.html

In the meantime the tax payer will look elsewhere for ethics and principals.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:15 PM on 03/11/2008
- Rule Of Law I'm a Fan of Rule Of Law 144 fans permalink

Spitzer screwed some pros. Langone and all his buddies are Pros, who've screwed all the rest of us! Who are the bigger whores?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:05 PM on 03/11/2008

Yeah, with this kind of vitriol, you know Spitzer must have been doing something right.....Hope he stays in. At least he was having sex with a woman. And from what I can tell about the operation, very classy women who knew what they were doing and getting paid for it. It wasn't with boy pages, little girls and foolish stupid female interns.

He should stay in, admit his faults and continue to kick ass on wallstreet.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:50 PM on 03/11/2008
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