Anti-Thompson Site Connects to Romney Camp

The look of phoneyfred.org.

A top adviser to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney appears to be behind today's launch of a new Web site attacking GOP presidential rival Fred Thompson.

The site, www.phoneyfred.org, paints an unflattering picture of Thompson, dubbing him: Fancy Fred, Five O'clock Fred, Flip-Flop Fred, McCain Fred, Moron Fred, Playboy Fred, Pro-Choice Fred, Son-of-a-Fred and Trial Lawyer Fred. [View an image of the Web site]

Shortly after a Washington Post reporter made inquiries about the site to the Romney campaign, the site was taken down.

Fred Thompson in period dress -- from the Phoney Fred Web site. (PhoneyFred.org)

Before it vanished, the front page of the website featured a picture of a regal Thompson dressed in a frilly outfit more befitting a Gilbert and Sullivan production than a presidential campaign. Under the heading, "Playboy Fred," the site asks the question: "Once a Pro-Choice Skirt Chaser, Now Standard Bearer of the Religious Right?"

Nowhere on the site does it indicate who is responsible for it. But a series of inquiries leads directly to the website of Under the Power Lines, the political consulting firm of Warren Tompkins, Romney's lead consultant in South Carolina.

The website is hosted by a company called bluehost.com, a firm based in Orem, Utah. An inquiry of that website about phoneyfred.org returns the following statement: "Domain phoneyfred.org is still attached to your politicalnetroots.com account as Addon," the site states. "For security reasons, you must remove it BEFORE you can continue. After detaching phoneyfred.org from politicalnetroots.com, you should experience some brief downtime on phoneyfred.org while its DNS propagates to your new account."

The site www.politicalnetroots.com brings up the homepage for "Under the Power Lines," which lists Tompkins as "Partner, Consultant," along with Terry Sullivan and Welsley Donehue.

South Carolina politics is known to be rough-and-tumble. In 2000, it was in South Carolina that then-candidate John McCain ran into an organized effort to tar his character, including anonymous allegations that he had fathered a black child.

At the time, then-candidate George Bush was desperate to stop a surging McCain, who had just won a stunning upset in the New Hampshire primary. Tompkins was the chief strategist for Bush in South Carolina at the time, though Bush campaign officials have always denied that the campaign was responsible for the attacks.

A spokesman for Romney's campaign said he would look into questions about the anti-Thompson site. "Our campaign is focused on the issues and ideas that are of paramount concern to voters," said spokesman Kevin Madden. "The website we are focused on is MittRomney.com."

Tompkins did not return calls or emails for comment.