Those who have been following the Eliot Mess closely will recall that the FBI staked out Spitzer’s hotel room during an earlier Washington visit in December, but came up empty-handed.

What do you suppose led them to do that, since the FBI almost never goes to these lengths in prostitution cases? Unless maybe they get a tip from a scummy GOP dirty tricks artist? For which, see this Miami Herald story:

Almost four months before Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal, a lawyer for Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter to the FBI alleging that Spitzer ‘‘used the services of high-priced call girls’’ while in Florida.

The letter, dated Nov. 19, said Miami Beach resident Stone learned the information from ‘‘a social contact in an adult-themed club.’’ It offered one potentially identifying detail: The man in question hadn’t taken off his calf-length black socks “during the sex act.”