Spitzer Dad Threat— A Sloppy Set-Up, and Out-Dated CIA Trick... CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL STORY

"A sloppy set-up, and an amateur-- and bungled-- attempt to implement an old CIA tool," says a former federal operative in explaining allegations against Republican consultant Roger Stone, which say he threatened Governor Spitzer's father by leaving a recorded message on an answering machine. "This type of set-up mostly went out with the rotary telephone," he says, laughing. "Is anyone that dumb to leave such a threatening message on an answering machine? Eliot doesn't believe it." ...

The Phantom Phone Call

The operative, and who would only allow himself to be publicly referred to as "Mr. Blue," says the nickname "his people" had for this type of set-up was "the phantom phone call." Mr. Blue says that like most people set-up this way, Roger Stone wouldn't have seen it coming. "Stone didn't know what hit him, and he'll be numb for a while. Then he'll go a little crazy"

Like any good phone call, preparation is important, says Mr. Blue. "You first collect various tape recordings of your "target's" voice—in this case Roger Stone's. "Then you piece together the various recordings into a 'statement' or 'threat' so that it will appear to have been verbalized by your target—and you insert loud background noise, if needed."

"In Roger Stone's case, he's been yapping to anyone who would listen to him about the Spitzers, so he's a very easy target to quickly collect a large quantity of recordings from which to use—overheard in a restaurant, in an 'interview' with a writer-- the possibilities are endless with a babbler like Stone."

The Phantom Phone Caller Then Creates Confirming Proof

"Now you have to make it look good— so you just create the evidence,"says Blue. "You make it look like your target actually placed the phone call from a phone line that would normally be associated with the target, like his home or office. Then from your target's phone line, you telephone the person who is to get the message or threat, and you play the 'previously-pieced-together-recording' over the phone."

Mr. Blue says that in the U.S., most operatives don't want to break into offices and homes, especially since people might be there and considering the advancements of monitoring and security systems. "Oh, and it's against the law," he finally adds. So, pretending to be a telephone repairman, they can easily gain access to an office or apartment building's "telephone room" through which every telephone line must pass. "Clip into the specific phone line you need with your 'telephone lineman's phone' and then place your 'phantom' phone call. It's that simple."

In Stone's case, Blue "speculates," they waited until he went out and then proceeded with their plan. Once, Blue says, he gained access to a Manhattan building by heading off, and replacing himself for, a food delivery person. "I grabbed the kid outside the building and told him that I'd been waiting for him. I paid for the food, and tipped him ten bucks. After the doorman helped me get the food to the real recipient's apartment by confirming their expected delivery and letting me up, I was free in the building to do my thing on another floor in a hallway 'service closet'." Blue was annoyed, however, because his own tip was just half ($5) of what he had given the real delivery person out on the sidewalk.

Sleep Tight...

And to make every homeowner sleep easier at night, Mr. Blue says access to telephone lines in the suburbs is even easier. "At midnight, clip into the phone line, which usually runs down the exterior wall of most houses; or simply climb the telephone pole down the block during the day…"

More and More Proof

And to make it look really good, Blue says non-chalantly, just get the cops or district attorney's office to confirm with the telephone company what you already know-- that the threatening call was made from your target's telephone line. "And the icing on the cake—or in Stone's case, another nail—is to bring in a well-known investigator to confirm the findings." Blue says he laughed when he heard that Kroll Associates was brought in to "confirm the obvious." "It was arranged for them (Kroll) to find what had been left for them to find and, of course, to pass that confirmation along to the authorities."

Conspiracy Theories

"And at some point Roger Stone will question his own sanity," laughs Blue. "Stone will confirm that it's his voice on the tape; 'yes' the phone company says the call was placed from his telephone number; 'yes' he may have been home that day. But one question Stone won't be able to answer is: 'if not by you, how else and by who did this happen?' And once Stone wakes up and fully realizes that he was set-up, he'll shout 'conspiracy!' And that's exactly what they want him to say, so he'll really, really look guilty."

The good 'ole Days

Mr. Blue says that the real truth will come out, or simple fade away, once voice spectrographs (voice finger-print-type technology) and other tests are conducted on the actually answering machine recording. "The evidence will show that a 'cut and piece' job was done on Stone, and that it was "the phantom" who was calling, not him. It only 'sounded' like Roger Stone. But the damage has already been done, and by the time Roger Stone is fully vindicated, no one will really care— but the mission accomplished." Mr. Blue says that nowadays the "phantom" call only works with 'harassing' type calls—hang-ups, heavy-breathing or direct, non-recorded messages. "Advancements in audio forensics technology has changed that aspect of the game," he says. And it's the use of the now-outdated (by spectrograph technology) "phantom recording by Roger Stone" that leads Mr. Blue to conclude that the person behind this latest troopergate headline is an "old-timer" who "worked for the federal government in the 1970's."

Mr. Blue believes that the "phantom call" was more of a "message for people to shut up." "What bothers me most is that they dragged a really nice guy—Bernie Spitzer—into this mess. That was unnecessary. But they succeeded in sending the message that if certain people don't zip their mouth, things are going to get really ugly in the troopergate debacle."

Mr. Blue describes himself as "fully retired," not saying exactly from what, and also as someone who once enjoyed climbing.