Liberal billionaire George Soros and members of his family have contributed a little more than $1 million into state campaign coffers since 2000, with nearly all of it going to help Democrats in the State Senate.

Already this year, George, his son Robert, Robert’s wife, Melissa, and another son, Jonathan, contributed $199,500. George, Robert and Melissa each gave $25,000 to the New York State Democratic Party and gave the maximum allowable personal contributions - $9,500 - to Eric Schneiderman, David Valesky, Craig Johnson and Joe Addabbo.

(Two other members of the Soros family also contributed this year. Son Jonathan gave $9,500 to Democratic State Senate candidate Rick Dollinger and his wife, Jennifer, gave $1,000 to a pro-abortion rights lobbying PAC that donated to Johnson and Dollinger.  read more »

Former Assemblyman Ryan Karben, who was forced from office for allegations that he acted inappropriately with an intern, said his thoughts are with his friend Eliot Spitzer.

“I just feel terrible for Eliot and his family and he’s been a terrific public servant and he deserves some time to figure things out,” Karben told me just now. “I’m thinking about my friend Eliot, not about the governor.”

Roger Stone, a former consultant for the New York State Senate Republicans who was pushed out after an incident involving a profanity-laced phone call to Spitzer’s father, said, “I don’t find it surprising because he thinks the rules don’t apply to him.  read more »

Here are some more reactions from the big Democratic victory in last night’s special election, which cut the Republican majority in the state Senate down to one seat.

Roger Stone:

“A coup in the Senate would be a power-grab but Malcolm Smith might find he doesn’t have all the Democrats. Remember the difference between a caucus and a cactus? With a cactus all the pricks are on the outside.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/special-election-reactions-stone-sheinkopf-stavisky#comments Politics Evan Stavisky George Fontas Hank Sheinkopf Karl Kruger Malcolm Smith Roger Stone Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:17:41 -0500 Azi Paybarah 65692 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/roger-stone-al-jazeera-english

It doesn't get better (weirder?) than this, really. From an advisory that hit my inbox just now:

Roger Stone will provide political analysis for Al-Jazeera - ENGLISH
from 8pm EST to 11pm EST,
Today January 29th, 2008.

It can be seen in the United States live on the Internet at:

http://english.aljazeera.net/English

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/roger-stone-al-jazeera-english#comments Politics Roger Stone Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:16:20 -0500 Azi Paybarah 64227 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2007/spitz-soup

Football at presidential debate, shunned by Democrats, Governor Spitzer has become political pariah of party; Roger Stone gleeful, Anthony Weiner stressed out.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2007/spitz-soup#comments Arts & Culture Politics Anthony Weiner Driver's Licenses Eliot Spitzer Hakeem Jeffries Immigration Jose Peralta Richard Schaffer Roger Stone Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:11:29 -0500 Azi Paybarah 59985 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2007/roger-stone-dems-knew-about-harmonie-membership

Roger Stone doesn’t think much of the suggestion (based on my reading of a Weekly Standard story) that he had any role in drumming up a controversy over the fact that Eliot Spitzer’s father and MTA nominee Dale Hemmerdinger were members of the racially un-diverse Harmonie Club. Hemmerdinger's membership became a contentious political issue after an angry letter from Democratic Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries.

Stone emails:

Azi
Just for the record, I never spoke to Hakim Jeffries, never spoke to his people and never asked anyone to speak to him. In fact, until I read the story I never heard of him.

He also said, “I admire what Jeffries did.”

In another email, Stone wrote:  read more »

A new Weekly Standard profile of Roger Stone has a suggestive nugget implying that he is still playing a quietly active role in a broad-based anti-Spitzer coalition.

From the story:  read more »

What is it, exactly, with Roger Stone and Richard Nixon?

The G.O.P. strategist, who worked for the state Senate Republicans until shortly after his Manhattan phone number was found to be the source of an obscenity-laced phone call on Aug. 6 to Eliot Spitzer’s father, originally said that he couldn't have placed the call because was out at the time attending a showing of Frost-Nixon at the theater. After it was reported that the play wasn't actually open that night, Stone--who got his start in politics as a Nixon trickster working for CREEP--said he was mistaken.

Now, another notable coincidence, with a remarkably similar theme: On the very day he was publicly accused of the phone shenanigans, according to Stone, he was in California, getting a tattoo on his back of Richard Nixon’s face.

Late last night, Stone's assistant sent me these photographs, which Stone says were taken at The Ink Monkey tattoo shop in Venice Beach, California.

The photos don't really have any bearing on the question of who made the crank call to Spitzer's dad--despite a half-hearted apology for the way in which he constructed his alibi, Stone still claims he was framed. But Stone will be happy to provide evidence, upon request, that he's really the guy in that weird picture on the left and that the tatoo is real.

Does anyone else get the impression that he's enjoying this?

Attached is the actual letter from Roger Stone apologizing to Dale Hemmerdinger, Chairman of the MTA, Democratic fund-raiser, and owner of the building where Stone lives, for saying Hemmerdinger, in essence, framed Stone for the prank phone call to Eliot Spitzer's father.

After the call was traced to a telephone number registered to Stone's apartment at 40 Central Park South, Stone suggested that since Hermmerdinger owned the building, he had keys to the apartment, and therefore, could have let anyone enter the apartment to make the call.

"It was inappropriate for me to suggest that just because you are a major Democratic Party fundraiser, major Spitzer fundraiser and the Governor's appointee to the MTA, that you would wrongly enter my apartment or have someone do so on your behalf even though management has access and keys to every apartment."

I got an email this morning from the author of the latest round of anti-Eliot Spitzer emails being sent from the address WJMAHONEY@gop-club.com. The web site was registered on August 14th and has been a source of regular dispatches about Spitzer’s shortcomings.

The sender's name is Sergio Rodriguez, and he is running for office in Buffalo. He asked not to be quoted but provided the following information:

He is the chairman of the Walter J. Mahoney Republican Club (which may or may not really exist). A member of the group does the graphic design, and the pieces are then emailed to reporters and activists. Rodriquez said he is not working with Roger Stone or Michael Captuo, two other Republican operatives working hard to get the anti-Spitzer message out there.

As for who actually gets the mail, Rodriquez says he rented some Conservative email lists and got email addresses for reporters from a friend with the Giuliani campaign.