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Mr Spitzer, a father of three who built his career fighting corporate corruption as New York state attorney general, issued only a brief statement after the reports broke, saying he had failed to live up to his own standards.

"I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family, that violates my or any sense of right and wrong," Mr Spitzer said, flanked by his wife of more than 20 years.

"I apologise first and most importantly to my family. I apologise to the public, whom I promised better," he said.

According to the New York Times, Mr Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet a high-end prostitute at a Washington hotel last month.

Mr Spitzer was believed to have called an exclusive ring known as the "Emperor`s Club VIP," which was broken up by New York authorities last week.

The Times said that Mr Spitzer learned last week that he had been implicated in the prostitution probe and informed his top aides Sunday night.

Prosecutors declined to comment on Mr Spitzer`s alleged involvement with the ring, although prostitution clients are rarely charged by federal authorities.

Prosecutors said last week the ring operated in cities across the United States and in London and Paris, employing more than 50 prostitutes who charged fees ranging from $US1000 ($1090) to more than $5500 per hour.

The club even offered clients the option of paying with cash, credit card, wire transfer or money order, selling the prostitutes` services through a website that ranked each of them on a system of one to seven diamonds.

His alleged involvement with the ring drew a swift call from the Republican Governors Association for Mr Spitzer to step down.

"Eliot Spitzer campaigned on ethics reform; unfortunately the governor of New York has egregiously failed his constituents," the group`s executive director, Nick Ayers, said in a statement.

"The governor of New York should immediately resign from office and allow the people of New York to pursue honest leadership."

Mr Spitzer, 48, a former New York state attorney general, became governor in January last year, pledging to bring ethics reform.

At his inauguration, he used his address to say "we must transform our government so that it is as ethical and wise as all of New York".

His time in office, however, has been marked notably by a scandal involving the use of state police to keep tabs on Republican state senate majority leader Joseph Bruno.

It was during his time as attorney general that he earned a reputation for toughness and high ethical standards.

When he first took on the post, he locked horns with the Gambino Mafia family in a bid to break their hold on the New York and New Jersey waterfronts.

He later made a name for himself as one of the toughest corporate cops in the United States, with a crusade against Wall Street wrongdoers.

In May 2002, he led a spectacular victory over the Wall Street titan Merrill Lynch, which paid $100 million to settle charges that it advised clients to buy stocks it secretly believed were "junk".

And in December of the same year, he helped wring $1.4 billion out of top Wall Street banks and brokers for stock research abuses. His other targets ranged from the music industry to major insurance carriers.

During that period, he also prosecuted at least two prostitution rings, and according to the New York Times, in 2004 spoke with revulsion after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating one high-end ring.

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