Propaganda In Action

Hedge Fund figure financed mosque campaign

 By BEN SMITH   POLITICO’s Maggie Haberman emails that she’s solved a lingering mystery from the now-nearly-forgotten summer storm around a planned Islamic center in Lower Manhattan.

Robert Mercer, the co-CEO of the giant hedge fund manager Renaissance Technologies, appears to have financed the ad campaign entirely himself, through a $1 million contribution on July 26 to the New York State Conservative Party, according to a filing today by the party’s housekeeping account. Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long confirmed to Haberman that Mercer was the source of the ad money.