a telemarketer hired by the state GOP jammed the telephones of five state Democratic and one firefighters union get-out-the-vote phone banks.
CALLING KEN?
In the days before and after the state Republican Party’s 2002 Election Day phone-jamming scheme, the man who now chairs the Republican National Committee was the White House director of political affairs.
And a Democratic-affiliated advocacy group says that court records show Ken Mehlman’s office received more than 75 telephone calls from now-convicted phone-jam conspirator James Tobin from Sept. 30 to Nov. 22 of that year.
The Senate Majority Project, a brainchild “527” of former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, wonders why Tobin called the White House so often. Tobin at the time worked for the Republican National Committee and the affiliated National Republican Senatorial Committee — and a hot race that year was the New Hampshire Senate contest between Republican John Sununu and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.
On election morning, a telemarketer hired by the state GOP jammed the telephones of five state Democratic and one firefighters union get-out-the-vote phone banks.
Former state GOP executive director Chuck McGee admitted masterminding the scheme and served seven months in jail last year for it. Tobin was found guilty in December of federal telephone harassment charges for acting as a middle man. An appeal is expected if the trial court in Concord turns down his request for a new trial.
“All we have is the phone number and the fact that calls were made to the White House,” says SMP executive director Mike Gehrke, a former high-level Clinton administration staffer. “But we also know from the court record that a lot of other calls about the scheme were going on. For a period of time, this was the hot topic.
“With that many calls, I believe it’s inconceivable that there wasn’t some knowledge of this at the White House,” Gehrke said. “At the very least, it is evidence that there needs to be a bigger net cast here before the end of this case.”
Meanwhile, John McCain has hired Tobin’s old boss at the RNC, Terry Nelson, as an adviser to his Straight Talk America PAC.
Nelson was identified in the Tom DeLay indictment as the recipient of a $190,000 check in illegal corporate campaign contributions and a list of Republican candidates for the Texas Legislature for whom the money was intended.
In 2002, Nelson was Republican National Committee national political director while Tobin was both RNC New England political director and Northeast political director of the GOP senatorial committee.
Nelson and Tobin then moved to the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign — Nelson as campaign political director and Tobin as New England chairman.
Dismissing the notion that Nelson had anything to do with phone-jamming, New Hampshire McCain strategist Michael Dennehy said of Nelson, “We’re happy to have him.”
New Hampshire Union Leader
In the days before and after the state Republican Party’s 2002 Election Day phone-jamming scheme, the man who now chairs the Republican National Committee was the White House director of political affairs.
And a Democratic-affiliated advocacy group says that court records show Ken Mehlman’s office received more than 75 telephone calls from now-convicted phone-jam conspirator James Tobin from Sept. 30 to Nov. 22 of that year.
The Senate Majority Project, a brainchild “527” of former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, wonders why Tobin called the White House so often. Tobin at the time worked for the Republican National Committee and the affiliated National Republican Senatorial Committee — and a hot race that year was the New Hampshire Senate contest between Republican John Sununu and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.
On election morning, a telemarketer hired by the state GOP jammed the telephones of five state Democratic and one firefighters union get-out-the-vote phone banks.
Former state GOP executive director Chuck McGee admitted masterminding the scheme and served seven months in jail last year for it. Tobin was found guilty in December of federal telephone harassment charges for acting as a middle man. An appeal is expected if the trial court in Concord turns down his request for a new trial.
“All we have is the phone number and the fact that calls were made to the White House,” says SMP executive director Mike Gehrke, a former high-level Clinton administration staffer. “But we also know from the court record that a lot of other calls about the scheme were going on. For a period of time, this was the hot topic.
“With that many calls, I believe it’s inconceivable that there wasn’t some knowledge of this at the White House,” Gehrke said. “At the very least, it is evidence that there needs to be a bigger net cast here before the end of this case.”
Meanwhile, John McCain has hired Tobin’s old boss at the RNC, Terry Nelson, as an adviser to his Straight Talk America PAC.
Nelson was identified in the Tom DeLay indictment as the recipient of a $190,000 check in illegal corporate campaign contributions and a list of Republican candidates for the Texas Legislature for whom the money was intended.
In 2002, Nelson was Republican National Committee national political director while Tobin was both RNC New England political director and Northeast political director of the GOP senatorial committee.
Nelson and Tobin then moved to the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign — Nelson as campaign political director and Tobin as New England chairman.
Dismissing the notion that Nelson had anything to do with phone-jamming, New Hampshire McCain strategist Michael Dennehy said of Nelson, “We’re happy to have him.”
New Hampshire Union Leader
