December 30, 2002
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Now that headline writers refer to Eliot Spitzer with comic-book-hero honorifics like "the Enforcer" or "Sheriff of Wall Street,"http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/23/60minutes/main555310.shtml it's worth remembering that when the New York State attorney general began his breakthrough investigation of Merrill Lynch in 2001, he wasn't sure what he was doing. A general suspicion about the veracity of investment bankers' advisories had prompted Spitzer to launch a bit of a fishing expedition into Merrill's records. It wasn't turning up much, however, until early 2002, when Eric Dinallo, Spitzer's top aide on the project, came into his office and showed him a blue binder full of e-mail he had compiled that suggested Merrill's analysts had downgraded an Internet company, GoTo.com because it hadn't given Merrill its investment-banking business. Spitzer scanned the pages and realized that, with this e-mail, Dinallo was hitting pay dirt.
"Get them all," he said.
What will Spitzer do for an encore? His success fighting the investment banks raised his profile and has created hopes in some New York Democratic circles that he will run for Governor in 2004. Spitzer's wife says she has never once heard him talk about such an ambition; he says only that he "won't rule anything out." For now, he's focused on the law. His battles are complicated, and it's hard to tell when, exactly, he's entitled to a victory dance.
"The cases against Wall Street are like stopping someone speeding on a highway," he says.
"The other cars slow down for a while, and then, after a certain number of miles, they speed up again. The question is, How many miles before they start speeding again?" Our hero, the "Caped Highway Cop," awaits."
