Roger J. Stone, Jr. (born 1952 in Norwalk, Connecticut) is an American political consultant, lobbyist and strategist, noted for his use of opposition research, usually for candidates of the Republican Party. He is currently a member of the Libertarian Party. In 1990 The New York Times described him as a "renowned infighter" and during the 2004 United States Presidential Campaign, CBS News described Stone as a "veteran Republican strategist." In 2008 The Daily Beast described him as a "self-admitted hit man for the GOP." In 2007 Stone, a top adviser at the time to Joseph Bruno (the majority leader of the New York State Senate), was forced to resign by Bruno after allegations that Stone had threatened then gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer.[25] Stone was accused on an episode of Hardball with Chris Matthews on August 22, 2007 of being the voice on an expletive-laden voicemail threatening Bernard Spitzer, father of Eliot, with subpoenas.[29] [30] Stone has consistently denied the reports. Thereafter, however, he resigned from his position as a consultant to the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee, at Bruno's request.[25] In January 2008, Stone founded Citizens United Not Timid, an anti–Hillary Clinton 527 group with an intentionally obscene acronym.[31][32] In February 2010, Stone became campaign manager for Kristin Davis, a madam linked with the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, in her bid for the Libertarian Party nomination for Governor of New York in the 2010 election. Stone says that the campaign "is not a hoax, a prank or a publicity stunt. I want to get her a half-million votes."[33] However, he was later spotted at a campaign rally for another gubernatorial candidate, Carl Paladino;[34] of whom Stone has spoken favorably.[35] Stone has admittedly been providing support and advice to both campaigns, on the grounds that the two campaigns have different goals: Davis is seeking to gain permanent ballot access for her party, while Paladino is in the race to win (and is Stone's preferred candidate). As such, Stone does not believe he has a conflict of interest in supporting both candidates.[36] While working for the Davis campaign, he corroborated with a group entitled "People for a Safer New York" to send a flyer labeling Libertarian Party candidate Warren Redlich a "sexual predator" based on a blog post Redlich had made in April 2008.[37] The move backfired, and Davis finished in last place with roughly half the votes Redlich did while Redlich finished with the highest vote total of any Libertarian gubernatorial candidate in the state's history. Stone continues to hold ill will against the Libertarian Party of New York.[38] Stone is featured in the 2008 award-winning documentary on Lee Atwater, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story. He was also featured in the 2010 documentary of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. Stone served as the campaign manager for Steve Berke, a comedian, for the City of Miami Beach mayoral office.[39] Stone endorsed Governor Gary Johnson's presidential campaign in the 2012 Republican primary.[40] Since 2010, Stone has been an occasional contributor to The Daily Caller, serving as that Web site's "male fashion editor." (Archive of Stone's Daily Caller columns) On February 15, 2012, Stone announced that he would change his affiliation to the Libertarian Party, predicting a “Libertarian moment” in 2016 and the end of the Republican party.[3][3] On January 24, 2013, Stone announced he was considering running for Governor of Florida as a Libertarian.[41] Stone's book, The Man Who Killed Kennedy, written with investigative journalist Mike Colapietro contributing, was released by Skyhorse Publishing November 4, 2013. In the book, on the market in time for the fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, Stone asserts that LBJ was behind a conspiracy to kill John Kennedy.[42] On August 11, 2014, Stone's book Nixon's Secrets: The Rise, Fall and Untold Truth about the President, Watergate, and the Pardon will be released. This book chronicles not just the political career of the 37th US President, but how his career and personal life intersected many 20th century political figures, including the Kennedys, the Bush family, LBJ, J. Edgar Hoover, and Henry Kissinger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Stone

• published: 14 Jan 2015
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