The bizarre hi-jinks coming out of the upper echelons of New York State politics continues to get stranger and stranger each day. First there was Troopergate, a story broken by NY Post Editor Fredric Dicker
This involved Governor Eliot Spitzer’s office accusing New York State Senator Joseph Bruno of the misuse of the state’s aircraft and other resources. In turn, Bruno cried fowl and a bizarre flurry of accusations followed from both sides. Critics quickly condemned behavior of both, saying that the on-going feud was interfering with the unfinished work in Albany.
Some say that the man behind the on-going feud was none other than Roger Stone, a well known political strategist and GOP operative who worked in the administrations of Presidents Nixon and Reagan. Bruno hired him to create a political strategy for the Republicans going into 2008. Stone is well known as a trickster, and for his ability to spin magic out of nothing, even an ordinary phone call.
Roger is now accused of making a threatening phone call to Bernard Spitzer, the ailing 83-year-old father of New York’s governor. A not-so-friendly answering machine message was left that made several accusations relating to an investigation of improper loans by the elderly Spitzer to his son. He was quickly asked by Bruno to resign his position with the senate. Roger Stone denies the accusation in a Washington Post story, and he now insists that the call was made by political comedian and famed mimic Randy Credico.
Randy Credico is one of my best friends. We co-founded the Mothers of the NY Disappeared, a leading advocacy group that challenged New York’s harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws. In 2002, I met Roger through Credico who worked with Stone on billionaire Tom Galisano’s gubernatorial campaign. I was invited to do a political commercial for the campaign.
Randy has a history of doing some bizarre stunts. But I know he would draw the line at attacking the elderly, especially someone who has Parkinson’s disease. Credico is a prankster who loves to call people up late at night and use a different voice to fool you. He almost got the great civil rights attorney William Moses Kunstler held in contempt of court when he mimicked Kunstler’s voice to speak to a judge about a case Kunstler was working on. He also had NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo completely confused while he was running for office by imitating former Senator Alfonse D’Amato on the phone.
In Credico, Stone found a perfect patsy to deny the allegations that it was he who made the threatening phone call. Credico, for sure, has the ability to mimic Rodger Stone’s voice. He was recently on the Fred Dicker radio show and did Rodger’s voice dead on. But I have spoken at length with Credico and he denies he made THAT phone call. Credico and his attorneys are now looking into filing suit against Stone for the libelous comments he made about him in the Washington Post story, in which he is quoted saying, “Credico is a cocaine addict and [Stone] knew that any money he gave the guy would go up his nose.” Stone is totally out of line with that comment.
In fact, whoever the caller was would had to have been intoxicated on something to do that. After all, a late-night phone call from Stone threatening the governor’s ill father sounds like he’s the one who’s taken too much of something. I wish Roger the best of luck and hope that Albany politicians can put this affair behind them and get back to working on behalf of the people of New York State.
ANTHONY PAPA is the author of 15 Years to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom and Communications Specialist for Drug Policy Alliance. He can be reached at: anthonypapa123@yahoo.com
Papa’s artwork can be viewed at: www.15yearstolife.com/art1.htm