State GOP tries to block subpoena to phone jamming trial

[Judi Lynn]

State GOP tries to block subpoena to phone jamming trial
By Beverley Wang, Associated Press Writer | November 29, 2005

CONCORD, N.H. --New Hampshire's Republican Party is fighting a federal subpoena for documents from its own investigation of a plot to jam Democratic phone lines on Election Day 2002.

Prosecutors in the case against James Tobin, a former national Republican campaign official, have requested that state Republicans hand over papers and hard drives examined by lawyers the party hired to conduct a 2003 investigation. The documents form a portion of the files Democrats sought but were unable to obtain in a related civil lawsuit.

Tobin, of Bangor, Maine, is scheduled to go on trial in U.S. District Court on Dec. 6, according to the court's most recent information. He has pleaded not guilty to one charge of conspiring against rights, one count of conspiring to commit telephone harassment and two counts of aiding and abetting in telephone harassment.

In 2002, Tobin was political director of the national committee working to get Republicans elected to the Senate. He is accused of orchestrating the phone jamming plot, in which hundreds of computer generated hang-up calls paralyzed Democratic get-out-the-vote and ride-to-the-polls phone lines in New Hampshire for more than an hour on Nov. 5, 2002. That year, in a closely watched Senate race, Republican John Sununu defeated Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, 51 percent to 46 percent.

Last year, Tobin served as President Bush's 2004 New England campaign chairman, but resigned that October after the phone-jamming accusations surfaced.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/11/29/state_gop_tries_to_block_subpoena_to_phone_jamming_trial/

[seafan]

1. And the beat goes on. n/t

[loudsue]

2. So....what are they hidig??? Hmmm?

Crooked assholes.

:kick:

[mourningdove92]

3. didn't something like this also happen in North Carolina?

Or do I have my "corruptive acts by Repugs" mixed up?

[Judi Lynn]

4. To refresh memories, an article from last year: Former Bush campaign offic

Former Bush campaign official indicted
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: December 1, 2004, 3:17 PM PST

A former Republican Party bigwig in New England has been indicted on charges of orchestrating a low-tech version of a denial-of-service attack.

Internet DoS attacks, which overload a Web site's servers and cause them to be temporarily inaccessible, have targeted everything from Whitehouse.gov to the SCO Group and eBay.

Now James Tobin, who was the top Bush campaign official for New England and formerly the Republican National Committee's regional director, is being accused of mounting a similar kind of attack on the phone networks of five Democratic Party offices during the November 2002 election.

A federal grand jury indictment released Wednesday charges Tobin with attempting to "disrupt communications" by clogging the Democrats' phones on Election Day through repeated hang-up calls. The four-count indictment also says Tobin targeted the Manchester Professional Firefighters Association's phones in an attempt to interfere with its get-out-the-vote effort.

Tobin could not immediately be reached for comment. "I am saddened to learn that this action has been taken against me," he said in a statement provided to the Associated Press. "I have great respect for the justice system and plan to fight back to clear my name."

While allegations stemming from the "phone jamming" on Election Day 2002 already have been swirling through the court system, Tobin is the most senior Republican to be implicated. Chuck McGee, former executive director of the state Republican Party, and consultant Allen Raymond pleaded guilty to related charges.
(snip/...)

http://news.com.com/Former+Bush+campaign+official+indicted/2100-1028_3-5473524.html

[formercia]

5. The Abramoff-Frist-Tobin connection

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-06-abramoff-bush_x.htm

Money also flowed from the Marianas to Bush's re-election campaign: It took in at least $36,000 from island donors, much of it from members of the Tan family, whose clothing factories were a routine stop for lawmakers and their aides visiting the islands on Abramoff-organized trips.

Two Tan family companies gave $25,000 each to the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2002 elections. Greenberg Traurig, too, was a big GOP giver. Its donations included $20,000 to the Republican National Committee for the 2000 elections and $25,000 each to the GOP's House and Senate fundraising committees in 2000 and again in 2002.

The Marianas' lobbying paid off — it fended off proposals in 2001 to extend the U.S. minimum wage to island workers and gained at least $2 million more in federal aid from the administration.

There were also donations from the Indian Tribes.

[annabanana]

6. good.. tie em all up in a nice big, rotten bow!. . .n/t