Many critics of Mayor Newsom have credited Peter Ragone, his communications director, for the mayor’s media success. But Ragone’s use of different names to launch e-mail attacks on the mayor’s media critics now has him in hot water, with politicians from Aaron Peskin to Willie Brown questioning Ragone’s credibility. Is Peter Ragone the wizard behind Gavin Newsom’s success, or the court jester who calls attention to himself to divert criticism from his boss? And does Wednesday’s announcement of the departure of Newsom’s re-election campaign manager Alex Tourk, and the political circus that now surrounds the Mayor over his alleged affair with Tourk’s wife, make it less or more likely that the Mayor will push Ragone out?

For many activist critics of Mayor Newsom, it is axiomatic that Peter Ragone has been essential to the Mayor’s positive media image. Some even see Ragone as the “brains” behind the Newsom Administration, believing that his departure would severely weaken the Mayor.

But this image of a super-savvy Ragone is hard to reconcile with his media dealings this week.

In case you have not seen the clip from ABC-TV, after the I-Team’s Dan Noyes confronts Ragone with proof that the Mayor’s go-to press guy has used the name “John Nelson” to send hostile e-mails to Newsom’s critics, Ragone panics. He tells Noyes that Nelson is a close friend of his who lives at his home and shares similar views on issues.

The obvious problem with Ragone’s response is that it was subject to verification. Ragone produced John Nelson yesterday, but the man lives in San Anselmo and admits that he did not send e-mails from Ragone's home computer.

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