WASHINGTON - Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show.

 

The records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 ? as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down.

 

The national Republican Party, which paid millions in legal bills to defend Tobin, says the contacts involved routine election business and that it was ?preposterous? to suggest the calls involved phone jamming.

 

The Justice Department has secured three convictions in the case but hasn?t accused any White House or national Republican officials of wrongdoing, nor made any allegations suggesting party officials outside of New Hampshire were involved. The phone records of calls to the White House were exhibits in Tobin?s trial, but prosecutors did not make them part of their case.

 

Democrats plan to ask a federal judge Tuesday to order GOP and White House officials to answer questions about the phone jamming in a civil lawsuit alleging voter fraud.

 

Repeated hang-up calls that jammed telephone lines at a Democratic get-out-the-vote center occurred in a Senate race in which Republican John Sununu defeated Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, 51 percent to 46 percent, on Nov. 5, 2002.

 

Besides the conviction of Tobin, the Republicans? New England regional director, prosecutors negotiated two plea bargains: one with a New Hampshire Republican Party official and another with the owner of a telemarketing firm involved in the scheme. The owner of the subcontractor firm whose employees made the hang-up calls is under indictment.

 

The phone records show that most calls to the White House were from Tobin, who became President Bush?s presidential campaign chairman for the New England region in 2004. Other calls from New Hampshire senatorial campaign offices to the White House could have been made by a number of people.

 

A GOP campaign consultant in 2002, Jayne Millerick, made a 17-minute call to the White House on Election Day but said in an interview she did not recall the subject. Millerick, who later became the New Hampshire GOP chairwoman, said in an interview she did not learn of the jamming until after the election.

 

A Democratic analysis of phone records introduced at Tobin?s criminal trial shows he made 115 outgoing calls ? mostly to the same number in the White House political affairs office ? between Sept. 17 and Nov. 22, 2002. Two dozen of the calls were made from 9:28 a.m. the day before the election through 2:17 a.m. the night after the voting.

 

There also were other calls between Republican officials during the period that the scheme was hatched and canceled.

 

Prosecutors did not need the White House calls to convict Tobin and negotiate the two guilty pleas.

 

Whatever the reason for not using the White House records, prosecutors ?tried a very narrow case,? said Paul Twomey, who represented the Democratic Party in the criminal and civil cases. The Justice Department did not say why the White House records were not used.

 

The Democrats said in their civil case motion that they were entitled to know the purpose of the calls to government offices ?at the time of the planning and implementation of the phone-jamming conspiracy ... and the timing of the phone calls made by Mr. Tobin on Election Day.?

 

While national Republican officials have said they deplore such operations, the Republican National Committee said it paid for Tobin?s defense because he is a longtime supporter and told officials he had committed no crime.

 

By Nov. 4, 2002, the Monday before the election, an Idaho firm was hired to make the hang-up calls. The Republican state chairman at the time, John Dowd, said in an interview he learned of the scheme that day and tried to stop it.

 

Dowd, who blamed an aide for devising the scheme without his knowledge, contended that the jamming began on Election Day despite his efforts. A police report confirmed the Manchester Professional Fire Fighters Association reported the hang-up calls began about 7:15 a.m. and continued for about two hours. The association was offering rides to the polls.

 

Virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same number, which currently rings inside the political affairs office. In 2002, White House political affairs was led by now-RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. The White House declined to say which staffer was assigned that phone number in 2002.

 

?As policy, we don?t discuss ongoing legal proceedings within the courts,? White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said.

 

Robert Kelner, a Washington lawyer representing the Republican National Committee in the civil litigation, said there was no connection between the phone jamming operation and the calls to the White House and party officials.

 

?On Election Day, as anybody involved in politics knows, there?s a tremendous volume of calls between political operatives in the field and political operatives in Washington,? Kelner said.

 

?If all you?re pointing out is calls between Republican National Committee regional political officials and the White House political office on Election Day, you?re pointing out nothing that hasn?t been true on every Election Day,? he said.

 

Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera said Monday: ?With every development in this case, there are new questions about the extent to which key national Republicans had knowledge of or were involved in a criminal scheme to keep New Hampshire voters from getting to the polls. The American people have a right to know whether the White House political director, who today sits as chairman of the national Republican Party, had any hand in it.?

 

They just keep on coming...

If true there will be sever litigious consequences and...

 

I dare say it...

 

American politics would never be the same. I mean, blatant tampering in this day and age? Granted, they'd be more angry with American Idol tampering, probably...

 

Oh, well, I'll believe it when I get more proof.

have to link these GM...

have to link these GM...

 

 

Yeah, I missed the absence of a source.

yeah

 

 

not seeing it on a few majors

Ugh, this is the wrong time for something like this. I want the damn immigration issue to be settled before we deal with this crap.

Here you go:

 

Election Scandal

 

I get 99% of my articles from MSNBC.com.

I want to see this pan out... but I'm not happy about this.

Wouldnt surprise me, I dont like it at all, but wouldnt surprise me.

Kinda offsets the Kerry's supporters slashing the tires of the vans that were to be used to take republican voters to the polls. Doesn't justify either act, and both have the same purpose as the KKK prevent-the-vote tactics.

 

 

 

 

I get 99% of my articles from MSNBC.com.

 

 

Nobody should rely that heavily on a single source. Probably all media outlets have an agenda. To only listen to the news you want to hear is, well, sad.

Kinda offsets the Kerry's supporters slashing the tires of the vans that were to be used to take republican voters to the polls. Doesn't justify either act, and both have the same purpose as the KKK prevent-the-vote tactics.

 

 

Yeah, but there's a big, big difference, here.

 

"supporters" vs. "White House"

 

Public officials doing this, compared to a few zealous idiots, is a big time problem. It's corrupt as hell.

 

And, even though it's beneath me, it's not like "Kerry supporters" were the only ones pulling this crap. In Columbus we had that vandalism crap on both sides.

I agree there's a big difference between a couple of people slashing tires, and the actual party itself, or at least part of it, deliberately trying to interfere with an election.

I agree there's a big difference between a couple of people slashing tires, and the actual party itself, or at least part of it, deliberately trying to interfere with an election.

 

 

 

The tire slashers, or at least some of them (the slashing of RNC van tires was widespread) were paid staffers of the Kerry campaign.

 

Neither case is acceptable. When somebody's right to vote is violated, no matter what the circumstances, to claim that one means is more acceptable than another. Any attempt to do so is foolish.

I agree there's a big difference between a couple of people slashing tires, and the actual party itself, or at least part of it, deliberately trying to interfere with an election.

 

 

 

The tire slashers, or at least some of them (the slashing of RNC van tires was widespread) were paid staffers of the Kerry campaign.

 

Neither case is acceptable. When somebody's right to vote is violated, no matter what the circumstances, to claim that one means is more acceptable than another. Any attempt to do so is foolish.

I had not previously heard of that.

 

I agree that there is no acceptable reason to interfere with an election.

Here's one link that's still online link about Operation Elephant Takeover - gotta love that name.

Here's one link that's still online link about Operation Elephant Takeover - gotta love that name.

 

 

I'm skeptical they worked for Kerry after reading that article. If they some idiot from the campaign hired them, yeah, it's still shady. But 20 vehicles? Meh, that's nothing compared to all the votes not counted in Florida in the first election...

Here's one link that's still online link about Operation Elephant Takeover - gotta love that name.

 

 

I'm skeptical they worked for Kerry after reading that article. If they some idiot from the campaign hired them, yeah, it's still shady. But 20 vehicles? Meh, that's nothing compared to all the votes not counted in Florida in the first election...

 

 

You must think Ted Kennedy is a conservative. You can't face reality, and have a habit of ignoring the truth. and don't forget Bush won in all 14 of the left-wing recounts that were held after the election.

Here's one link that's still online link about Operation Elephant Takeover - gotta love that name.

 

 

I'm skeptical they worked for Kerry after reading that article. If they some idiot from the campaign hired them, yeah, it's still shady. But 20 vehicles? Meh, that's nothing compared to all the votes not counted in Florida in the first election...

 

 

You must think Ted Kennedy is a conservative. You can't face reality, and have a habit of ignoring the truth. and don't forget Bush won in all 14 of the left-wing recounts that were held after the election.

 

You think I'M ignoring the truth? The person who posted that 20 cars were vandalized by "Kerry supporters" as compared to the freaking WHITE HOUSE and I'm the one who can't face reality because I searched this story on other sites and found dick.

 

True. I guess I'm the one living in denial. This administration doesn't suck regardless of whether or not the original allegations are true. Typical.

Most recounts actually favored Gore, but in the Supreme Court case (Bush v. Gore) the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in his favor to end the recounts and make Bush president.

You think I'M ignoring the truth? The person who posted that 20 cars were vandalized by "Kerry supporters" as compared to the freaking WHITE HOUSE and I'm the one who can't face reality because I searched this story on other sites and found dick.

 

True. I guess I'm the one living in denial. This administration doesn't suck regardless of whether or not the original allegations are true. Typical.

 

 

Yes, you are ignoring the truth. I don't know why. If you are like so many other of the far left, it may be just because the truth doesn't fit your agenda. I don't know what you read, but why don't you Google, Yahoo, or Dogpile "Kerry Tire Slashing" and read any of the numerous reports? They say the same thing about paid staff member slashing tires.

 

Get it straight, at this time, there is only a vague stretch of the story that even has the smallest implication of the administration. The were paid member of Kerry's campaign staff indicited for the tire slashing. Neither Bush nor Kerry are or were implicated. The far left is trying to extrapolate that Bush himself authorized and executed the jamming, and ignoring facts and jumping to conclusions to do so.

 

 

And, for what it's worth, you seem to imply that (1) I approve of either incident, and (2) am in love with the current administration. If so, you are wrong on both counts.

 

As for the first apparent implication, I think both incidents should be fully investigated, and prosecuted. As for calling the White House, there are thousands of employees. Further, most calls to the White House never are received in that building, including these particular calls. These calls went to the political affairs office, which is actually located in the Old Executive Office Building. For whatever reason, employee of the OEOB are called White House employees, and have been for decades. I guess its just an ego trip, just like how in DC people bragged about being on Cipro during the anthrax scare in 2001. I have never seen any evidence that Kerry knew of, approved, or would have approved of the tire slashing incident; I don't hold him responsible. Further, I have never seen any evidence that Bush knew of, approved, or would have approved of the phone jamming incident; I don't hold him responsible.

 

As for the second implication, I think the Bush administration is dreck and will go down as doing more harm to this country than any other in our livetimes (at least I hope we don't get something even worse in the future). While I believe there are media source that have a left slant, I also believe there are those that have a right slant. For example, there is all kinds of celebration today about the trade deficit dropping from $68.5 billion in January to "only" $65.7 billion in February. First, in China, factories and businesses were shut down during the lunar new year in February. Also, in January the daily trade deficit was $2.21 billion. In February, the daily trade deficit was $2.35 billion (a per-day growth of about 6% in one month even with the shutdown for the lunar new year). The right wing media is ignoring this in its analysis. Also, since getting an increase in the spending limit March 16, the administration has expanded the deficit from $2.1 billion a day to $3.2 billion a day. Even this new cap will be hit in less than 6 months (my estimated target date is September 6). The cap went from $8.184 trillion to 9 trillion. The deficit, as of yesterday, was already at 8.407 trillion. We should all be appalled at Bush's recklessness. The right wing media is ignorning it, and the left wing is more interested in superficial news.

 

 

Most recounts actually favored Gore, but in the Supreme Court case (Bush v. Gore) the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in his favor to end the recounts and make Bush president.

 

 

There were 13 post-election media reccounts, including Miami Herald, USA Today, Knight-Ridder, Tampa Tribune and others. Bush won all 13. The Universityy of California Irvine, which included overvotes (more than one presidental candidate received a vote) Gore won by 3 votes. However, overvotes are illegal and, by law, stricken from the counts of all candidates. It was impossible for Gore to have won unless overvotes were counted.

See, you're assuming because they were paid members of Kerry's staff, of which during a campaign is comprised of THOUSANDS, that they were explicitly told by Kerry to do so.

 

Which none of the court documents, or stories about, even REMOTELY assume. It's an assumption you've made on your own.

See, you're assuming because they were paid members of Kerry's staff, of which during a campaign is comprised of THOUSANDS, that they were explicitly told by Kerry to do so.

 

Which none of the court documents, or stories about, even REMOTELY assume. It's an assumption you've made on your own.

 

 

Wrong again. You are remarkable in the way you blatantly ignore the facts. Here again, is exactly what I said:

 

I have never seen any evidence that Kerry knew of, approved, or would have approved of the tire slashing incident; I don't hold him responsible.

 

How on earth were you able to turn that into me assuming that Kerry explicitly told them to slash tires?

See, you're assuming because they were paid members of Kerry's staff, of which during a campaign is comprised of THOUSANDS, that they were explicitly told by Kerry to do so.

 

Which none of the court documents, or stories about, even REMOTELY assume. It's an assumption you've made on your own.

 

 

Wrong again. You are remarkable in the way you blatantly ignore the facts. Here again, is exactly what I said:

 

I have never seen any evidence that Kerry knew of, approved, or would have approved of the tire slashing incident; I don't hold him responsible.

 

How on earth were you able to turn that into me assuming that Kerry explicitly told them to slash tires?

 

You're right, I missed one part of your later post. I was sill going off your original post where you stated they "were paid staffers of the Kerry campaign" without explicitly saying Kerry wasn't involved.

 

So, again, if random people are partaking in this clearly illegal behavior, lock 'em up or whatever you do to people who have committed that crime. However, it's still worse when people in power interfere in our so-called democracy on such a grand scale. As bad as those Kerry supporters get it, whoever in the White House set this up should get it worse. But, that's assuming they're guilty and this isn't some huge misunderstanding.

So, again, if random people are partaking in this clearly illegal behavior, lock 'em up or whatever you do to people who have committed that crime. However, it's still worse when people in power interfere in our so-called democracy on such a grand scale. As bad as those Kerry supporters get it, whoever in the White House set this up should get it worse. But, that's assuming they're guilty and this isn't some huge misunderstanding.

 

 

Aw, geez, now that you said that it turns out we were pretty much having a violent agreement.

So, again, if random people are partaking in this clearly illegal behavior, lock 'em up or whatever you do to people who have committed that crime. However, it's still worse when people in power interfere in our so-called democracy on such a grand scale. As bad as those Kerry supporters get it, whoever in the White House set this up should get it worse. But, that's assuming they're guilty and this isn't some huge misunderstanding.

 

 

Aw, geez, now that you said that it turns out we were pretty much having a violent agreement.

 

:lol

 

It happens.