NY-20: Somebody Is Lying

by: phillip anderson

Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 14:37:51 PM EDT

"My parents still live in Northern Westchester." Stone wrote. "I visited them at the end of last week and then drove up to the Albany area to see some friends...I certainly have no formal role in the recount. I have many friends of long standing who are involved."

That's pretty much all I could get out of him after trying to reach him on several occasions.

He declined to say much more, and also declined to respond to any of the postings at TAP, which he referred to as "left-wing blog crap," adding in vintage Stone style: "Liberals are paranoid."

He also confirms, much as I suspected, that his buddy Michael Caputo in along for the ride, though he insists Caputo is only in New York to "revive his father's insurance business in Buffalo." Caputo is apparently doing all the reviving from Halfmoon. Or something.

Irene Jay Liu at CapCon goes a bit further and asks both the Tedisco campaign and the NRCC if Stone may be in the district at their behest. Both camps deny it and I'm pretty sure at least one of them is being, shall we say, less than truthful. She even gets a dig in at those of us who pay attention to such goings on as chasing a "white whale" in Stone. But, whatever.

Roger Stone, controversial GOP political consultant and white whale of sorts for New York's liberal bloggers, has been spotted in Upstate New York.

More specifically, the liberal "The Albany Project" alleges that Stone was spotted at the campaign headquarters of GOP 20th congressional candidate Jim Tedisco, which has pro-Murphy blog commenters all in a tizzy.

The Tedisco campaign says, unequivocally, that Stone has no involvement in the campaign. From Tedisco campaign spokesman Tyler Brown via email:

We've had no contact with Mr. Stone and he is not affiliated with the campaign in any capacity.

(He is not a volunteer and he is not on loan from the campaign committees).

Stone has not been retained as a consultant for the campaign by the National Republican Congressional Committee, said spokesman Paul Lindsay.

Let's make this simple. This is Roger Stone and (most likely) his pal Michael Caputo:

This picture was taken minutes after they left Tedisco's HQ. Period. Stone and Caputo may indeed not be technically working for the Tedisco campaign or the NRCC, but for the Tedisco campaign to claim that they have had "no contact" with Stone is simply not true. They know it. Stone knows it. Now you know it.

I have no idea who is paying for Stone's services up in the 20th, but someone is, and I can guarantee you that Stone and Caputo are not on the ground up there for the weather and they don't work for free.

It would be especially ironic if they were working for the NRCC, given that the NRCC blasted their list hours after the polls closed in NY-20 screaming, "Don't let them pull a Franken!" and steal this election. Then again, screaming "don't let them steal it!" whilst sending their chief election skullduggerer into the fight would be oh so poetic and par for the course these days.

NY-20: Roger Stone Snapped In Clifton Park With...Michael Caputo?

by: phillip anderson

Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 22:06:27 PM EDT

In our tipster's words:

I ended up too busy to head over to the Tedisco HQ at lunch time but I did manage to get out of the office early this evening. I went over to the HQ parking lot and pulled into a spot. I think it used to be a restaurant or something. I wasn't there ten minutes when freaking STONE came out and was driven to Bellini's in Clifton Park. They were dropped off by a guy who left the parking area and drove away. He didn't come inside - or at least I don't think he did. I wasn't there long.

I went inside and asked for the bathroom. I walked in toward the men's room and saw Stone and the other guy standing there. They appeared to be waiting for the rest of their party.

When I returned from the bathroom they were still standing there so I snapped an iPhone photo. It isn't very good, but I only had one opportunity. It is pretty clearly Stone but the other guy suddenly looked up so his face is not so clear. He saw me take the pic and followed me outside the restaurant. He stood at the door, watched while I got in my car, and then went inside to rejoin Stone.

He also says that the other man in the photo was with Stone the other night at Loporto's in Troy. He goes on:

I think its that Caputo dude you outed for fronting that Stone anti-spitzer Web site long ago.

Michael Caputo? Could it be? You remember Michael Caputo, don't you? The guy who claimed to have "never worked in New York politics at Roger Stone's behest?" NYFacts.net, anyone?

Is it Caputo in the picture with Stone? I don't know. It certainly could be. Judge for yourself.

Regardless, I think it's safe to assume that Stone and his pal aren't here in New York and hanging out at the Tedisco HQ for, ya know, the scenery.

On the web: Protect NY-20.

They're Only 'Questions' if You're Not Terribly Bright

by: phillip anderson

Mon Aug 27, 2007 at 12:28:39 PM EDT

Roger Stone may be gone, but the Republican operative left a few mysteries in his wake.

...

But there's more. Questions remain about Caputo, a one-time Stone associate who's running an anti-Spitzer e-mail campaign and Web site. The GOP operative, who alternates between Buffalo and Florida, insists he isn't working with Stone, Bruno, or the GOP, and is entirely independent.

Last week, several blogs were certain they'd caught Caputo and Stone in a lie after discovering they appear to share e-mail lists.

But Caputo said it makes sense Republican operatives would have the same electronic address book. He said he subscribes to a service that provides him with targeted e-mail lists, and whenever someone registers on his site, the service's list is updated. Other subscribers using the service get the updates, too.

OK, where to start?

1. I am not on any Republican email lists for hire. None. Why would I be? Why would Ben Smith's family be?  They didn't buy these lists. Period. This is just dumb.

2. The real story here is that ALL THE EMAILS FOR EVERY ONE OF THESE PHONY "GRASSROOTS" EFFORTS COME FROM THE SAME PLACE and the legit company they spoofed is none too happy about it.

There are no "questions" about this. There are no "mysteries".

Deal with it.

Please, Roger, Just. Shut. Up.

by: phillip anderson

Fri Aug 24, 2007 at 13:05:28 PM EDT

The Credico Connection

The latest conspiracy theory making its way around the Internet is that Randy Credico, a longtime drug law reform activist and comedian known for his spot-on impersonations of political figures, is the voice behind the alleged Roger Stone call to Gov. Eliot Spitzer's dad.

An e-mail from someone named Frank Reubens, who appears to hail from Stony Brook, says the following:

"Did you know that Randy Credico does an uncannily accurate impression of Roger Stone? Credico, who appeared on Leno and Letterman, is known for his political impressions; Nixon, Clinton, Reagan, Strom Thurmond, Al Damato, Ed Koch and George Pataki. Credico is now a Drug Legalization Activist in New York City. Credico hates Stone and is the major source of much of the information in the Village Voice series on Stone. Credico was quoted on the record in those stories. Credico is close to Senator Thomas Duane who has been the leading defender of Governor Spitzer in the Troopergate matter.

The voice on the "voicemail" is Credico."

I just reached Credico, who is in Florida following the death of former drug offender-turned-activist Veronica Flournoy. He denied the allegation, calling it "the funniest joke I have ever heard," but said he has been inundated with phone calls from reporters - including one from The Washington Post - who say that Stone himself is behind the story.

...

This has all the hallmarks of a Stone classic: Denial followed by use of the Internet to raise alternate theories wild enough to keep the press interested and diffuse the power of the original story.

This is getting ridiculous. It's also now just beyond pathetic. Let's face it, Stone is a dinosaur. His way of doing "business" is over and he's sadly the last one to find out. This old dog desperately needs to learn some new tricks. Or maybe he should just shut up and go home.

NYT: Get Back To Work

by: phillip anderson

Thu Aug 23, 2007 at 10:49:20 AM EDT

Curiouser and Curiouser

New York State politics has become an arena best entered through the looking glass.First, Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s team tried to reveal the bad transportation habits of his chief Republican opponent by pushing state troopers to reveal all. Then came the investigations of his administration’s bad habits in using state troopers for political purposes. And now there is The Phone Call.
...

Now that Mr. Stone, the phone call and the caller’s charges are official distractions, we’d like to add to that list of sideshows all the breast-beating in Albany these days about the Spitzer administration. Whatever the new governor’s administration did wrong, it is now just the latest excuse for legislators to avoid doing the hard stuff, like cleaning up brownfields or the scandalous way campaign dollars control politicians in New York State.

Spot on.

BROKEN: Roger Stone's "linkedcampaign.com" Is a Sham

by: phillip anderson

Wed Aug 22, 2007 at 02:15:31 AM EDT

Return-Path: (update@nyfacts.net)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

Return-Path: (Stone@StoneZONE.com)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

Return-Path: (info@SpitzerFile.com)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

Return-Path: (WJMAHONEY@GOP-CLUB.COM)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

"Linkedcapaign.com" was registered, as were every one of the other domains using a service called Domains by Proxy, which allows users to register domains in such a way as to obscure their identities.

When Bouldin and I were researching "linkedcampaign.com" we found that that particular domain redirected to a site for a company called Vertical Response, an email marketing company. We were puzzled as to why a seemingly perfectly legit company would resort to using a service like Domains by Proxy to obscure details about who runs such a site.

We were right to wonder because Vertical Response did no such thing. Roger Stone did. Stone is redirecting his own creation, "linkedcampaign", to Vertical Response and the Vertical Response folks aren't too happy about it. Here's their Director of Policy enforcement the comments:

I'm the Director of Policy Enforcement at VerticalResponse.  This post was just brought to my attention, and I want to state for the record that we have nothing to do with this linkedcampaign.com company.  Their web page redirects to ours currently, but I can only assume this is being done with the goal of deflecting blame for their spam on to us (an owner of a domain can redirect that domain to point anywhere they want).  I cannot stress enough that Linked Campaign is not a service we provide.

The kind of emails you're describing could not make it out through our system.  There are several reasons for this:

1.  We do not allow domain spoofing.  All mail sent through our service must come through our mail.vresp.com domain.  The only time we make exceptions for this rule is when a client works with our engineering team to give us permission to send mail on behalf of one of their subdomains.  Jumping from domain to domain is simply not possible with our system.

2.  We do not own the 24.199.182.6 IP Address (Road Runner owns that IP, and they are not one of our upstream providers.  This means the email has been going through Road Runner).

3.  We have very strict rules in place regarding the sending of mail.  Our clients may only mail those people who have specifically requested info from or about their company.  Nothing else is allowed.  Signing people up through one site and mailing them information about another is prohibited.  If they even managed to get one email out through our site it would almost certainly lead to complaints (we respond to all complaints) and the account would be banned.

You can read our anti-spam policy here:

http://www.verticalr...

The linkedcampaign.com whois page shows their info as being protected by "Domains by Proxy" as you noted.  I am contacting Domains by Proxy to see what we can do to get their contact info and get this spammer domain pointed away from our site.

I would really appreciate it you could forward some of their emails to me: richard at verticalresponse.com.  I would also appreciate it if the post could be corrected to show we were not involved with this issue.  I am happy to discuss this by phone or email if you write me.

Thanks!

So "linkedcampaign" far from being a legitimate service, is exactly what it says it is and a far cry from all the asertions that all of these different efforts were independent of each other. It's right there in the name that Stone himself chose for the endeavour, "linked campaign".
Roger Stone is a liar and a sick, sad sleaze.

As If There Any Doubt...

by: phillip anderson

Tue Aug 21, 2007 at 17:16:18 PM EDT

But a recap for the slow: I subscribed, using a private email account not on anyone's list, to Roger Stone's totally awesome website. I have yet to receive an "update" from the StoneZONE, but I did get mail yesterday from the site he claims to have nothing to do with, "SpitzerFile.com", allegedly run by Mr. Caputo.

Today I got mail from Mr. Caputo's other alleged creation, "NYFacts.net". Here it is in black and white:

Do the math, people. They are lying to you.

Dear NY Media, Let Me Make This as Simple as Possible

by: phillip anderson

Tue Aug 21, 2007 at 10:49:42 AM EDT

Return-Path: (update@nyfacts.net)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

Return-Path: (Stone@StoneZONE.com)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

Return-Path: (info@SpitzerFile.com)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

Return-Path: (WJMAHONEY@GOP-CLUB.COM)
Received: from linkedcampaign.com (linkedcampaign.com [24.199.182.6])

Got it? Good.

Anatomy of a partisan cover-up [Updated]

by: Bouldin

Tue Aug 21, 2007 at 09:14:43 AM EDT

Most of the New York media has been self-indulgent and lazy, choosing to focus obsessively on the childish feud between Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

Indeed. The laziness extends to media coverage of Emailgate, in which New York Progressive blogs conclusively proved that the so-called grassroots campaign of NYFacts.net and SpitzerFile.com is an astroturf operation launched and maintained by Joe Bruno's consultant Roger Stone. The evidence is startlingly clear, so let's take another look at it.

(X-Posted @ TDG)

BUSTED: Roger Stone and Michael Caputo Are LIARS

by: phillip anderson

Mon Aug 20, 2007 at 13:16:40 PM EDT

They are lying. They are lying and I have the proof. Now, Caputo has admitted, if not bragged about, being solely responsible for both "NYFacts" and "Spitzerfile" whilst denying any connection to Roger Stone.

So why is it so impossible for the media and bloggers to believe I can handle NYFacts and SpitzerFile on my own?

Uh huh.

I received the first NYFacts.net email to my Albany Project account on July 10. I mysteriously stopped receiving them on July 23. I never received a "Spitzerfile.com" email or one from the new Astroturf operation, the "W.J. Mahoney Republican Club".

Last week, Bouldin and I decided to do an experiment. I decided to subscribe to Roger Stone's website using an email address that I don't use for political work. In fact, it's an email address I use for my video work. The "Stone Zone" was even thoughtful enough to send me a confirmation of my subscription:

Guess what I got in my inbox today? My very first "Spitzerfile" email ever.

That's right. I got an email from "Spitzerfile.com", my first one ever, to an address that I do not use for political work, an address I use for something completely different, four days after I subscribed to Roger Stone's website. Caputo claims to run that operation, not Stone

Stone and Caputo have denied, to anyone who will listen, including many members of the traditional media, that they are working together. They have done so for a month now.

They are lying.

Game. Set. Match.

The Times Union on the Mahoney Mystery

by: phillip anderson

Mon Aug 20, 2007 at 09:53:48 AM EDT

Anti-Spitzer mystery

There's a new anti-Spitzer e-mail campaign going on, and a bit of a mystery behind it.

Reporters received several missives criticizing Spitzer on economic development last week from something purporting to be the Walter J. Mahoney Republican Club in Buffalo -- which doesn't appear to exist. (Mahoney was a real person, a lawyer who served in the state Senate from 1937 to 1964.)

A check of the group's Web site shows it was registered Aug. 14, two days before the first e-mail, using Domains by Proxy, a service that shields the identify of people who create Web sites.

A similar anti-Spitzer e-mail effort in the Troopergate affair also started through Domains by Proxy, but the creator, Michael Caputo, a longtime Republican operative, says he has nothing to do with the Mahoney campaign. Caputo, who's also from Buffalo (and Florida), maintains he's working on his own and not with the GOP, Senate Republicans, Bruno or his consultant in the scandal, Roger Stone, who's based in Florida.

The Mahoney sender hasn't answered a request for more information.

More on this shortly...

Caputo Responds to Bouldin

by: phillip anderson

Mon Aug 20, 2007 at 00:20:31 AM EDT

1. How did you get access to the emails you have, and from whom?
2. How do you explain that your emails, and those of Roger Stone, and those of other republican entities, all go to the same set of recipients?
3.How is it possible, when Roger Stone is working as a paid consultant for Joe Bruno, and you have worked for him in the past, and you're now both working on the same goal - protecting Joe Bruno's job - and you're both obviously using the same email list, that there is no coordination between you?
4. And lastly: How much does Joe Bruno know about you, and when did he learn about your activities?

Today, Mr. Caputo responds to Bouldin at the Daily Gotham.

As someone who both knows what I know about this sad scenario and knows Bouldin personally, I'll just say this: this isn't going to be pretty.

About the W.J. Mahoney Club

by: Bouldin

Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 11:22:06 AM EDT

Since Thursday at 2:15 PM Eastern, four emails have gone out to the same group of recipients that also receive the Stone/Caputo emails. These bear the imprimatur of the W. J. Mahoney GOP Club of Buffalo.

The problem is that there is no such club. A Google search produces no evidence of this club's actual existence. W.J. Mahoney did indeed exist, and was a republican to boot; he was a co-founder of the New York State Young republicans in 1932. Per Political Graveyard, he was a member of the State Senate and still alive in 1964. In short, this is astroturf.

The newest email after the flip, and some interesting stuff about this web site.

(X-Posted @ TDG)

Caputo Speaks

by: phillip anderson

Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 10:33:46 AM EDT

Look, folks - I am not being paid. Not by Sen. Bruno, not by Roger Stone, not by anyone. I am just a conservative activist and I take orders - and money - from nobody on this.

Unfortunately, I have nobody taking orders from me on this, either. I'm doing it all myself. If I can do it, any dope can - but it does take some time out of my day.

Honest to God, I wouldn't know Sen. Bruno if he boarded my boat. But I graduated from SUNY, I've been in the arena nearly 30 years, I read the news, and I have computers. So why is it so impossible for the media and bloggers to believe I can handle NYFacts and SpitzerFile on my own?

I'm normally thick-skinned, but even I'm starting to get a bit offended here. Fess up: do you think I'm just too stupid to pull this off?

I've never asserted that Caputo was stupid or incapable of anything. His intelligence or skills aren't the issue here.

Remember, the guy who's writing the script for me is Richard Milhous Spitzer. He authored this tragicomedy; he created his own starring role.

What's more funny: the insinuation that I got the DVD from Stone because it came from New York City. Last I looked, there were a few people living there directly affected by Spitzer's capricious, thug-like behavior. Maybe millions?

With all the people AG Spitzer screwed in the business community - entire industries - can't you imagine a groundswell of folks out there eager to see him pay for his crimes? Well, those people are on my email list and many are in New York City.

As Bouldin says, I think this statement is very illustrative of exactly what this effort by Stone and Caputo is all about: overturning the results of last year's election, a familiar Republican tack.

If you could only see my email inbox everyday, chirping all day long with unsolicited incoming information. The DVD was certainly not the first thing I received via Internet, snail and express mail. Is that a shock to all of you?

Importantly, I was threatened; I don't feel threatened. I've been around the block a few times. I've worked in boardrooms, on battlefields, in Belarus. I've been spat upon, beaten, shot, and stabbed. I don't scare all that easily anymore and I am certainly not afraid of this sophmoric attempt to silence me.

Who exactly is trying to silence him? Certainly not me.

More strawmen and obfuscation on the flip...

Bruno, Stone and Caputo: Emailgate

by: Bouldin

Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 00:54:09 AM EDT

So let's take a look at what we know, in the hope of clearing up some of the weirdness. There are three people whose names come to mind in this case. One is Michael Caputo, reputedly of Buffalo and/or Florida. The other is Roger Stone, a GOP consultant. The third is Joe Bruno.

I received my first email blast from Roger Stone on March 28th. This email went to an account not traceable from The Daily Gotham. My initial thought was that these emails originated with Jon Stone, a friend and a director with the Capitol D Group. That impression soon faltered, and Jon confirmed today by phone that he has nothing to do with his namesake.

On June 13th, Daily Politics quotes Roger Stone as having 'always been a Joe Bruno Republican'. The occasion was a fundraiser hosted in his apartment on Central Park South, billed as a 'skinny-cat' protest against a high-dollar fundraiser held in his condo building in a rented room by the Spitzer campaign. This is interesting, because Stone had previously been persona non grata with Albany republicans for his support of Tom Golisano, whom he advised in his three campaigns.

On July 2nd, Fred Dicker wrote his first piece on Brunogate, titled 'GOV PLAYS DIRTY POOL VS. BRUNO'. He followed up on July 5th with GOV'S TROOPER SNOOP JOB ON BRUNO and, on July 9th, with GOV AIDES FISHED FOR BRUNO BUSTERS.

On July 9th, NYFacts.net was registered, with the identity of the registrant masked by an anonymity service.

(X-Posted @ TDG)

The Strange Case of Michael Caputo

by: phillip anderson

Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 13:28:19 PM EDT

The first Spitzer-bashing email from Michael Caputo's NYFacts.net went out on July 10th, 2007, at 12:41 PM Eastern. Since then, the group has sent out 35 further emails. Another site, Spitzerfile.com, which interestingly only loads through a redirect from NYFacts.net, went live sometime after July 10th, and has also been sending out emails.

NYFacts.net even briefly branched out into Obama-bashing on August 8th, with an email entitled "Obama pulls from all-white Harmonie Club', which contained a piece by Maggie Haberman in the Murdoch Post.

Both Bouldin and I were both on this email list as were pretty much every media outlet in the state. It was one hell of a list and it was apparently assembled in record time. what was interesting was not so much who those emails were going to but the addresses that were being used. Some folks were getting those emails at addresses they hadn't used in years, others at brand new ones. Some people were getting them at purely personal addresses.

But this story only gets curiouser and curiouser. Like the rampant speculation that Caputo is working for Bruno consultant, original Watergate CREEP critter, senior official on Bob Dole's 1996 campaign for president, 2000 Miami Mobster and general all around Super Freak, Roger Stone. Caputo denies that he is working with or for Stone, though they have a long history of collaboration. Here's but one example:

Two vendors for a current campaign assisted by Stone—the senate campaign of Larry Klayman—also donated in Florida, with public relations consultant Michael Caputo and Tasmania Productions owner Teddi Segal donating $250 (she says she doesn't know Stone). Caputo, ironically, was Stone's spokesman in 1996, when Stone was embroiled in the most embarrassing scandal of his career—the much ballyhooed revelation that he and his wife had advertised, with photos, for swinging partners in magazines and on the Internet. Caputo has, until recently, been handling press inquiries for Klayman, an evangelical who led the sex assault in Washington on Bill Clinton and is running a moral-majority, retake-Cuba campaign for senate.

Caputo says he's not working with Stone and "never worked in New York politics at Roger Stone's behest", but Robert A. George, a reporter for the New York Post asks this question on his personal blog:

I should make another obvious point: If Stone and Caputo aren't working together in some fashion, how did both of my accounts end up on Caputo's mailing list. I've never previously received e-mails -- to any of my accounts -- from Michael Caputo. On the other hand, as noted above, I have gotten them from Roger Stone.

You ain't seen nothing yet. MUCH more weirdness on the flip...