Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has had informal talks with CNN, according to Brian Stelter in the The New York Times. (H/t: ICN)

Speculation has been swirling on media blogs that Spitzer would join CNN as a replacement anchor for Campbell Brown's soon to be empty chair, or, as The New York Times article mentions, a network contributor.

"Mr. Spitzer has held conversations — but so far only informal ones — about becoming a regular contributor to the cable news channel, according to two people who were briefed on the matter. But the people said he was not being courted for an anchor job, meaning he would not directly replace Ms. Brown at 8 p.m.

Rumors of Mr. Spitzer’s hiring set off widespread speculation inside CNN this week, and even made it into David Letterman’s monologue Tuesday night. His punch line: “That would be a switch — somebody paying him for an hour.”

Mr. Spitzer resigned the governorship in 2008 after it was revealed that he had solicited prostitutes."