So Long, Spitz

I’m not usually one to gloat over another man’s misfortunes. I mean, we all make mistakes. I’m making an exception, however, in the case of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. You remember, I’m sure, his well-publicized exit from the governor’s mansion last March over his involvement with a New-York-based prostitution ring. What you might not remember is the role Spitzer played in the nuisance lawsuits against the gun industry back when he was the New York State attorney general.

So Long, Spitz During his eight years as attorney general, Spitzer didn’t compile much of a record for the successful prosecution of criminals. He did, however, compile an impressive record for persecuting legitimate businesses and for keeping his name in the headlines. In 2003, he extorted $1.4 billion in "protection money" from Wall Street trading firms using basically the same strongarm tactics the Mafia uses on the owners of neighborhood restaurants and corner grocery stores.

And in what has to be the single greatest abuse of political power I’ve seen in my lifetime, he attempted to bankrupt America’s leading gun-makers with the ruinous cost of the legal defense against a series of totally bogus lawsuits. He even’oddly enough’came down hard on New York’s prostitution rings; again, without much success in putting criminals in jail, but with lots of media coverage. As you know, our legal system permits lawsuits for the redress of grievances.

But to use the taxpayer’s money to sue businesses operating within the law in the hopes of bankrupting those businesses with the cost of their legal defense is an unconscionable abuse of power and the public trust. The other lawyers involved in the other 30-odd municipal lawsuits against our industry at least pretended they were suing for redress of a legitimate grievance. Mr. Spitzer didn’t even pretend to have a winnable case.

His first lawsuit was dismissed in a lower court, and the dismissal was upheld by a higher court, and still he pressed on. When Ruger’s management refused to sign a "voluntary settlement," he told them: "…bankruptcy lawyers will be knocking at your door." Spitzer was wrong, of course, and Sturm, Ruger & Co. is in fine shape today. But his high-profile bullying did succeed in one respect. Spitzer, whose friends referred to him as "Mr.

Clean," apparently never made any secret of the fact that he considered the attorney general’s office to be a stepping stone to the New York governor’s mansion, and he intended to parlay that job into a run for the White House in 2012. Well, he made it to the governor’s mansion but I think he can forget about the White House; Mr. Clean has tripped over his you-know-what. And try as I might, I can’t think of anything more appropriate to say than "na, na, na, na, na." Need Some Extra Cash?

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