Governor Spitzer’s decision to resign was not tied to any deal with the federal prosecutors who are investigating his liaisons with prostitutes.

“There is no agreement between this office and Governor Eliot Spitzer, relating to his resignation or any other matter,” the Manhattan U.S. attorney, Michael Garcia, said in a statement sent via e-mail yesterday.

The possibility looms that Mr. Garcia will seek charges against Mr. Spitzer. The New York Times reported on its Web site yesterday the existence of a grand jury investigating the matter. It was not clear whether the target the prosecutors have in mind is Mr. Spitzer or four people arrested last week on accusations that they ran the high-end prostitution service allegedly used by Mr. Spitzer.

Those four people have not been indicted, but they were arrested on the sworn affidavit of an FBI agent.

Legal experts who are not connected to the case say it is possible that prosecutors will cut a deal with any, or all, of the four persons in return for their testimony against Mr. Spitzer. There is not yet any public proof that prosecutors are ultimately going to seek charges against Mr. Spitzer.

As of Tuesday, prosecutors had not made cooperation offers to the four people accused of running the prostitution service, one lawyer with direct knowledge of the case said. Nor had lawyers for the governor reached out to the four people accused of running the prostitution service, called Emperors Club VIP, the source said.

Mr. Spitzer’s decision to resign, reports of which began to circulate Monday evening, ended speculation that he would reserve his resignation as a bargaining chip for any plea negotiations with prosecutors.

Mr. Spitzer is vulnerable to charges that he violated the Mann Act, which forbids transporting women across state lines for purposes of sex. Prosecutors are also investigating whether Mr. Spitzer committed financial crimes when making payments to an alleged prostitution service, according to news reports.

Present at the news conference yesterday where Mr. Spitzer announced his resignation was the latest member of the governor’s defense team, Theodore Wells. Mr. Wells was the attorney for an aide to Vice President Cheney, Lewis Libby, in a criminal trial last year in Washington. Also on Mr. Spitzer’s legal team are his top deputy from when he served as attorney general, Michele Hirshman, and a white-collar criminal defense attorney, Mark Pomerantz. All three are members of the New York firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.