Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer speaks at the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit 2010 in New York April 28, 2010. 
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was hit with two libel lawsuits seeking $90 million by former Marsh & McLennan Cos executives over a column posted on Slate.com about an insurance bid-rigging scandal. 
 
 The lawsuits arose from Spitzer's August 22, 2010, column, "They Still Don't Get It," advocating prosecution of corporate wrongdoers and defending his own enforcement activity against Marsh and insurer American International Group Inc. 
 
 William Gilman, a former Marsh executive marketing director, and Edward McNenney, a former Marsh global placement director, contended that they were defamed by the column, which appeared thee months after a judge threw out their convictions on felony antitrust charges. Neither is named in the column. 
 
 Slate.com is owned by Washington Post Co, and its parent Slate Group LLC is a defendant in both cases. 
 
 Gilman filed his $60 million lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, while McNenney filed papers seeking $30 million with the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Both cases were filed on Friday and made public on Monday. 
 
 Spitzer, in a phone interview, declined to comment after the first of the lawsuits, Gilman's, became public. Rima Calderon, a Washington Post spokeswoman, declined to comment. 
 
 Gilman had worked at Marsh for 28 years and McNenney for 14 years when Spitzer, then New York's attorney general, in 2004 opened a probe into the company's practices -- including alleged kickbacks for steering of clients to favored insurers. 
 
 Marsh, then the largest U.S. insurance broker, agreed in January 2005 to pay $850 million in a civil settlement with Spitzer, and eight insurance executives including Gilman and McNenney were indicted eight months later in the probe. 
 
 Both men were found guilty in February 2008, but the presiding judge threw out that conviction in July 2010, citing new evidence. That case was dismissed in January. The other indicted executives either were acquitted or had their cases dismissed. Twenty-one others pleaded guilty. 
 
 "SCAPEGOATS" 
 
 In his complaint, Gilman said Spitzer defamed him in writing, stating that "Marsh's behavior was a blatant abuse of law and market power: price-fixing, bid-rigging and kickbacks all designed to harm their customers and the market while Marsh and its employees pocketed the increased fees and kickbacks." 
 
 Gilman also said Spitzer defamed him in writing by stating that "many employees of Marsh" have been "convicted and sentenced to jail terms," when none had. 
 
 Spitzer had written the column shortly after an editorial critical of him in The Wall Street Journal. 
 
 "While Mr. Spitzer's statements do not refer to Mr. Gilman by name," Gilman's complaint said, "Mr. Gilman is readily identifiable as the subject of the defamatory comments." 
 
 "Mr. Spitzer was well aware of his own allegations as attorney general and the resolution of those allegations in favor of Mr. Gilman and yet, recklessly disregarded these facts," the complaint said. 
 
 Punitive damages account for half the amounts sought in each lawsuit. "I don't know what possessed him to make the statements that he made," Jeffrey Liddle, a lawyer for Gilman and McNenney, said in an interview, referring to Spitzer. 
 
 In June, Gilman and McNenney accused Marsh in a separate lawsuit of colluding with Spitzer to make them "scapegoats" and avert potential criminal charges against the company. That case seeks to recover unpaid compensation and other damages. 
 
 Last month, Time Warner Inc's CNN canceled Spitzer's low-rated television talk show "In the Arena," after less than one year on the air. [ID:nN1E7651A4] Spitzer resigned as New York's governor in March 2008 after a scandal in which it was revealed that he had hired a high-priced prostitute. 
 
 The cases are Gilman v. Spitzer et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-05843; and McNenney v. Spitzer et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 109628/2011. The earlier lawsuit is Gilman et al v. Marsh & McLennan Cos et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-08158. 
 
 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman and Matthew Lewis) ||||| The art of the "big lie" is to repeat something often enough, and with a powerful enough megaphone, such that your distortions are not challenged. So it is with the Wall Street Journal's obsession with attacking and misrepresenting the multiple cases that I brought against both AIG and its former chairman and CEO, Hank Greenberg. 
 
 At stake is much more than the particular cases at issue. By trying to rewrite the narrative of the economic cataclysm we have lived through, the deniers are attempting to challenge the common-sense conclusions that flow from an accurate understanding of history. They are desperately trying to protect a particularly rabid, and ultimately damaging, anti-regulatory philosophy that has dominated the past 30 years. They are trying to protect a broken and misguided understanding of how markets really function, a view now openly rejected even by such staunch free-market advocates as Judge Richard Posner and former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. Acknowledging the propriety of any government prosecutions of corporate wrongdoing would make impossible their current effort to push back against even the government's minimal responses to the financial crisis. 
 
 So, in view of the Journal's recent editorial, a few facts are in order: Greenberg was removed as CEO of AIG by his own board—of its own volition—after his refusal to answer questions about his involvement in fraudulent reinsurance contracts that his company had created. Five people were convicted by a jury in Connecticut in 2008 for their role in these frauds. The federal prosecutor, in his summation, called Greenberg an unindicted co-conspirator in the scheme. In New York, the judge who will hear the case based on these facts, brought by the state when I was attorney general, called the case "devastating" and referred to AIG as a "criminal enterprise." AIG as a corporate entity settled the case with my office in 2006 by restating its financial results and paying a fine of $1.6 billion. Shareholders are now awaiting judicial approval of an additional $750 million settlement to compensate them for damages they suffered from these accounting frauds. 
 
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 Contrary to the claims of the Journal's editorial, the cases against Greenberg and AIG have been both proper and successful. More to the point, perhaps, they have been necessary to the vindication of justice and ethics in the marketplace. 
 
 The Journal's editorial also seeks to disparage the cases my office brought against Marsh & McLennan for a range of financial and business crimes. The editorial notes that two of the cases against employees of the company were dismissed after the defendants had been convicted. The judge found that certain evidence that should have been turned over to the defense was not. (The cases were tried after my tenure as attorney general.) Unfortunately for the credibility of the Journal, the editorial fails to note the many employees of Marsh who have been convicted and sentenced to jail terms, or that Marsh's behavior was a blatant abuse of law and market power: price-fixing, bid-rigging, and kickbacks all designed to harm their customers and the market while Marsh and its employees pocketed the increased fees and kickbacks. Marsh as a company paid an $850 million fine to resolve the claims and brought in new leadership. At the time of the criminal conduct, Jeff Greenberg, Hank Greenberg's son, was the CEO of Marsh. He was forced to resign. 
 
 What does it mean that supposedly thoughtful voices in the corporate world continue to deny the simple fact that irresponsible behavior should be addressed head on, and the rules of conduct altered sufficiently to permit a sound foundation for future economic growth? 
 
 I fear that we have still not constructed a social contract or general understanding of the role of government in the marketplace that will bring things into balance—in terms of both individual behavior and collective responsibility. Maybe we are still living in the remaining hours of a fading regime, still addled by the warped perspective of too many who have done perhaps too well over the past decade or two. A case in point is Steve Schwarzman, the founder and CEO of Blackstone, a private equity firm. Schwarzman recently compared the attempt to tax the often astronomical fees earned by private equity managers as ordinary income—as they should be—to Hitler's invasion of Poland. This horrific statement, from someone who spent millions of dollars on his own birthday party, is an unfortunate reminder of the mind-set of at least some pockets of our corporate leadership. It is time for more enlightened voices in the corporate world to use their own megaphones. 
 
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 Like This Story ||||| He’s still living a secret life. 
 
 The hooker-loving Eliot Spitzer was seeing a sultry 25-year-old blond at the same time he was carrying on with his girlfriend — but became enraged when the Russian bombshell wanted to move back to her native country, sources said Monday. 
 
 The disgraced former governor is accused of attacking Svetlana Travis — aka Svetlana Zakharova — Saturday night inside a posh, $1,000-a-night suite at The Plaza hotel on Fifth Ave., a day before she flew home. 
 
 Spitzer’s lawyer admitted the two know each other. But he denied allegations that Spitzer got physical with Travis and said she never told cops he did. 
 
 EX-GOV. ELIOT SPITZER BEING INVESTIGATED FOR ASSAULTING WOMAN AT PLAZA HOTEL 
 
 Democrat Spitzer and his girlfriend, Lis Smith, 33, broke up in December. It was revealed in 2013 that the fallen governor was dating Smith, a Democratic operative who left her job after their relationship became public. On Monday night, Spitzer issued a statement denying he was dating Travis. 
 
 Svetlana Travis (pictured) was trying to break up with Eliot Spitzer when the alleged choking incident took place, sources said. 
 
 “The woman who initially made the allegation was not my girlfriend. Lis Smith was my girlfriend, and I had and have deep affection for Lis,” he said. 
 
 Travis is the same woman who calls herself “Svetlana Z” and wrote a 2014 article for the website Medium that was headlined “Sex Is Sex, But Money Is Money,” “Inside Edition” reported Monday. 
 
 In the article, the woman, who claimed to earn upward of $5,000 a night, wrote: “I’m a businesswoman. I did what politicians in this country are always encouraging immigrants to do: work hard, seize opportunity, maximize your talents.” 
 
 SPITZER, PATERSON AIDE TO LEAD FIGHT AGAINST ASSISTED SUICIDE IN NEW YORK 
 
 When the Daily News asked by email if she wrote the article, a person claiming to be Travis said she did not. A Gmail account is included in Travis’ public records and tracks to a Russian-language message board offering escort services and erotic massages. 
 
 Sources said that the 25-year-old Travis cut herself with a broken glass after Spitzer allegedly choked and pushed her at the Fifth Avenue hotel near Central Park. (Alo Ceballos/FilmMagic) 
 
 The person claiming to be Travis, who refused to provide a photo for verification and later deleted the Gmail account, said she was already back in Russia. She said she was suicidal and that’s why she initially said Spitzer hurt her and then recanted. 
 
 “If I didn’t say Eliot started (it) all, I think I would be hospitalized in some mental home for a few months. I made up the story in order to not be hospitalized,” the person claiming to be Travis wrote. 
 
 She said she’d tried to cut her wrists Saturday night while Spitzer was with her at the hotel. He pushed her onto the bed to stop her, she wrote. She denied being a call girl and said she’s fine now. 
 
 Police sources said that after Spitzer, 56, allegedly choked and pushed Travis — someone he’s known for two years — at the hotel, she cut herself with a broken glass. 
 
 “She then cut herself with the glass,” one source said. “It wasn’t really on the wrist, like she was trying to kill herself. It was more on the arm. She said she was having a nervous breakdown.” 
 
 Front page of the New York Daily News for February 15, 2016, details how former Attorney General and Gov. Eliot Spitzer is being investigated after allegedly assaulting and possibly choking a woman at the Plaza hotel. SPITZER PLAZA ATTACK DRAMA (New York Daily News) Daily News Front: Pay For Luv Gov How the News covered latest Spitzer scandal (l.) and initial bombshell in 2008 when he was caught in hooker sting. 
 
 Travis went to Roosevelt Hospital, where she named the “Luv Gov” as her attacker, the sources said. After the hospital visit, while she was being driven by police, “at one point she gets out of the car and says she doesn’t want to press charges,” a source said. 
 
 ELIOT SPITZER HAS FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES, THROWS BOOK PARTY FOR GIRLFRIEND'S FORMER BEAU 
 
 In the hours after the alleged scrap, Spitzer was caught on hotel video wearing a wool cap pulled down low over his eyes, sources said. While Travis was in the hospital, a man identifying himself as “George” called twice to ask about seeing her. 
 
 Later, a man believed to be the same person showed up using the name “George” and wanted to see her but was told he could not, sources said. 
 
 Police believe the caller and the visitor were Spitzer because hospital video shows him wearing the same wool cap, sources said. 
 
 The Plaza Hotel, where Spitzer allegedly choked Svetlana Travis, who has since taken off to native Russia. (BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS) 
 
 Spitzer was known to use the alias “George Fox” — the name of a longtime friend and supporter — when he was soliciting hookers in 2008. 
 
 Later Monday, Spitzer’s lawyer sent a “fact sheet” acknowledging he was in the hotel room with Travis — but strongly denying he had assaulted her or been involved in any criminal activity. 
 
 The lawyer wouldn’t say what type of relationship the two had or how long they’d known each other. The ex-governor visited her at The Plaza hotel at her request as she passed through New York on her way back to Russia, the statement said. 
 
 “They had a brief and amicable conversation, and then Mr. Spitzer left,” his attorney Adam Kaufmann said. 
 
 When Travis called a few hours later and asked Spitzer to return to The Plaza, he did, the lawyer said. 
 
 New York Daily News front pages of 2016 
 
 “He saw her becoming highly emotional and threatening to self-harm. She dialed 911 and said she was having a breakdown,” Kaufmann wrote. 
 
 “She then called 911 again and sought to cancel her prior call to 911. She was distraught and Mr. Spitzer sought to keep her calm. There were no allegations to 911 or to the police — either in the 911 call or when they responded to the Plaza hotel — of any assault or physical contact,” the lawyer said. The allegation against Spitzer came during her psychiatric evaluation, Kaufmann said. 
 
 The woman claiming to be Travis told The News in an email that she and Spitzer “were friends, but not anymore.” 
 
 She said she had a history of suicide attempts and had been institutionalized in the past. When she saw how deeply she’d cut her wrist Saturday night she dialed 911 — then called back to cancel out of fear she’d be locked up in a mental ward, she explained. 
 
 “He didn’t choke me,” she wrote. “Eliot didn’t cut me, didn’t choke me, he knows about my mental issues in the past and he was the only one who had helped me that night.” 
 
 Eliot Spitzer is seen in 2008 as New York governor speaking about the prostitution scandal that led to his resignation. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 Prosecutors will determine whether any charges will be filed against Spitzer. NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce is leading the investigation. Spitzer has yet to be interviewed by cops. 
 
 The super of a Murray Hill building where Travis lived said she moved out in late January. Neither he nor a neighbor had seen Spitzer at the building. 
 
 “She seemed friendly. She’s Russian. I know who he is, but he’s never been here,” the neighbor said of Spitzer. 
 
 The neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said there was an eviction notice on her door last month. 
 
 “On Jan. 29, which was a Friday night, was the last time I physically saw her here,” the neighbor said. “She had to be out by the 31st. She took out some lamps and a couple of boxes with books, normal moving stuff.” 
 
 Travis had lived at the building for about a year, he said. 
 
 “She was always quiet, polite to people in the hallway,” the neighbor said. “She was soft-spoken. There was never any disturbances, loud music. Definitely no governors here.” 
 
 Spitzer resigned in disgrace in March 2008 after he was embroiled in a prostitution scandal linked to escort Ashley Dupre. 
 
 Before that, the Luv Gov was the state’s hard-charging attorney general, earning the more flattering Sheriff of Wall Street nickname. 
 
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– Two former execs at an insurance firm that paid out $850 million to settle allegations of shady dealing brought by Eliot Spitzer in his days as a crusading attorney general are now suing the former governor for libel. The former Marsh & McLennan execs, who claim Spitzer libeled them in a recent column for Slate entitled "They Still Don't Get It," are seeking $90 million in damages, Reuters reports. Neither man is named in the column, which stated that Marsh's behavior was a "blatant abuse of law and market power." Spitzer then listed illegal acts that he wrote were "designed" to harm customers. Both men were indicted on dozens of charges following Spitzer's probe. They were found guilty on one count of restraint of trade and competition, but that conviction was later overturned.