New York Attorney-General Elliot Spitzer's campaign over the last five years to expose corporate crooks and win billions in restitution has entered a new stage. So has power has gone to Spitzer's head? Or do the latest developments have anything to do with payback by former AIG chief Hank Greenberg? Or more to the point, does the timing have something to with his plans to run for New York Governor next year?

It was there last week in an extraordinary piece in the Wall Street Journal by former Goldman Sachs chairman John Whitehead who claimed Spitzer threatened him during an April phone call for writing an open letter critical of Spitzer's attacks on deposed AIG chief Hank Greenberg. The WSJ is for subscribers only so here's the piece:

"Last April, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by me titled "Mr. Spitzer Has Gone Too Far." In it I expressed my belief that in America, everyone -- including Hank Greenberg -- is innocent until proven guilty. "Something has gone seriously awry," I wrote, "when a state Attorney General can go on television and charge one of America's best CEOs and most generous philanthropists with fraud before any charges have been brought, before the possible defendant has even had a chance to know what he personally is alleged to have done, and while the investigation is still under way."
Since there have been rumors in the media as to what happened next, I feel I must now set the record straight. After reading my op-ed piece, Mr. Spitzer tried to phone me. I was traveling in Texas but he reached me early in the afternoon. After asking me one or two questions about where I got my facts, he came right to the point. I was so shocked that I wrote it all down right away so I would be sure to remember it exactly as he said it. This is what he said:
"Mr. Whitehead, it's now a war between us and you've fired the first shot. I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done. You will wish you had never written that letter."
I tried to interrupt to say he was doing to me exactly what he'd been doing to others, but he wouldn't be interrupted. He went on in the same vein for several more sentences and then abruptly hung up. I was astounded. No one had ever talked to me like that before. It was a little scary.
It's up to others to make their own conclusions. I have only set out here what happened."

Spitzer has denied the accusations . No surprises there.

OK, so one of them is lying! But that's not really the point.

This sort of stuff can have ramifications, both politically and on Wall Street. And as expected, it's generated comments and attacks on Spitzer. Examples include UCLA Professor Stephen Bainbridge's blog entry Spitzer = Thug? and Republican gubernatorial aspirant William Weld

Is it another example of "Crisis PR 101", as suggested by Herb Greenberg at MarketWatch? Actually, it smells like politics. Spitzer might be ahead in the polls but his chances of getting into office would be damaged if he is perceived as a power-mad bully.

In the meantime, he has gone for the four record companies - the Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI, and the Warner Music Group -- in an investigation to see whether they violated anti-trust laws in pricing songs sold by Internet services.