Roger Stone finally goes around the bend
New York G.O.P. Severs Ties With Consultant
By DANNY HAKIM and ANAHAD O’CONNOR
New York Times
ALBANY, Aug. 22 — A prominent political consultant who was accused this week of leaving a threatening, profanity-laced phone message for Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s 83-year-old father announced today that he would resign from his job and no longer work with State Senate Republicans.
In a statement released this morning, Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate majority leader, made no mention of whether the consultant, Roger J. Stone Jr., admitted to leaving the anonymous phone message. But he said that the allegations against Mr. Stone “can only serve as a distraction from the real issues — the abuse of government power, political espionage and a cover up of information,” and said that Mr. Stone had been asked to step down.
“He has agreed to resign and end his relationship with us at our request,” Mr. Bruno said. “We are not going to allow this incident to become a distraction or to be used as an excuse to hamper people from getting at the truth.”
The allegations against Mr. Stone were laid out in a letter sent Tuesday to Senator George H. Winner Jr., an upstate Republican who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. A copy of the letter — and an audio clip of the phone message — were obtained by The New York Times.
Mr. Stone, a seasoned practitioner of hard-edged politics who worked for Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan and for George W. Bush in the 2000 recount battle, adamantly denied the allegation in an interview on Tuesday, calling it “the ultimate dirty trick.” He asserted that allies of Governor Spitzer may have gained access to a phone in his Manhattan apartment to make the threatening call.
(Continued here.)
By DANNY HAKIM and ANAHAD O’CONNOR
New York Times
ALBANY, Aug. 22 — A prominent political consultant who was accused this week of leaving a threatening, profanity-laced phone message for Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s 83-year-old father announced today that he would resign from his job and no longer work with State Senate Republicans.
In a statement released this morning, Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate majority leader, made no mention of whether the consultant, Roger J. Stone Jr., admitted to leaving the anonymous phone message. But he said that the allegations against Mr. Stone “can only serve as a distraction from the real issues — the abuse of government power, political espionage and a cover up of information,” and said that Mr. Stone had been asked to step down.
“He has agreed to resign and end his relationship with us at our request,” Mr. Bruno said. “We are not going to allow this incident to become a distraction or to be used as an excuse to hamper people from getting at the truth.”
The allegations against Mr. Stone were laid out in a letter sent Tuesday to Senator George H. Winner Jr., an upstate Republican who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. A copy of the letter — and an audio clip of the phone message — were obtained by The New York Times.
Mr. Stone, a seasoned practitioner of hard-edged politics who worked for Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan and for George W. Bush in the 2000 recount battle, adamantly denied the allegation in an interview on Tuesday, calling it “the ultimate dirty trick.” He asserted that allies of Governor Spitzer may have gained access to a phone in his Manhattan apartment to make the threatening call.
(Continued here.)
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