Miss. governor(Haley Barber) helped implicated(phone-jamming) firm

[RedEarth]

-- Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former Republican Party chairman, arranged the startup financing for a GOP telemarketing company implicated in two criminal cases involving election dirty tricks.

Virginia corporation records show Barbour's investment company arranged a quarter-million dollar loan to GOP Marketplace in 2000 and also gave a promotional plug to the telemarketer several months later.

A spokesman for the governor said Barbour had no idea the company would engage in criminal activity two years later. The lawyer for the now-defunct company's convicted president said Barbour was not consulted about its operations.

"None of the creditors had any role in the management or activities of the company. In fact, the loan was not fully repaid," gubernatorial spokesman Buddy Bynum said. "There has never been any claim that Governor Barbour or any of the other creditors knew of any illegal conduct or did anything improper."


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Phone_Jamming_Barbour.html

[Javaman]

1. Damn, is this not the most corrupt bunch of screwballs ever?????

what a bunch of fithly pigs.

I'm not amazed by them being corrupt, what amazes me is: it's appearing as if they are ALL corrupt and the depth at which it runs.

[UpInArms]

2. AP: Miss. Governor (Barbour-R) Helped Implicated Firm (phone jamming)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=3&u=/ap/20060428/ap_on_re_us/phone_jamming_barbour

WASHINGTON - A GOP telemarketing firm implicated in two criminal prosecutions involving election dirty tricks got its startup money from Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, financial records show.

Barbour's investment company arranged a quarter-million-dollar loan to GOP Marketplace in 2000 and also gave a promotional plug to the telemarketer several months later, according to Virginia corporation records and other documents.

<snip>

Barbour, who became Mississippi governor in 2003, gushed over the prospects of GOP Marketplace in a company press release in 2000. He predicted it would be profitable and "give Republicans an edge" by using the Internet to buy and sell telemarketing services.

The loan made Barbour and his Washington business partners part owners of the company, the incorporation papers show.

By 2002, federal court records contend, GOP Marketplace president Allen Raymond and the Alexandria, Va.-based company were carrying out political dirty tricks in New Hampshire and New Jersey.

...more...

[UpInArms]

3. sorry for the dupe, RedEarth!

It looks like Barbour is actually a part owner of this corrupt corporation!

:banghead:

Is there one really and truly honest Republican (with a capital R) out there????

[ShockediSay]

4. Dirty tricks on the level of Nazis in the Weimar elections

Dirty tricks in Federal Elections need to be elevated to the felonly of

obstructing fair elections a la

obstruction of justice IMHO

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Those stinkin', dirty, slimeballs. They give capitalism a bad name.

[UpInArms]

6. kicking this back to the top - because it is important!

:kick:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. "Barbour had no idea..."

I can hear it now. "I'll put up $250,000; and if you're doing anything risky, I don't want to know about it."

[sofa king]

8. Another dirty trick from Haley Barbour

Haley Barbour's firm lobbied vigorously to do something which had never happened before: have a non Senate-approved Interior apparatchick reverse a decision on whether or not an Indian tribe exists.

Last year, the Bush Administration killed the recognition efforts of two tribes in Connecticut, after the Department of the Interior's own experts recommended in favor of recognizing the tribes.

Unsurprisingly, Barbour, Griffith & Rogers contributed to ARMPAC, the DeLay/Abramoff cutout organization which filtered money to Republicans.

I would not be surprised if we find that these two stories dovetail somewhere in a smoky backroom in some New England Congressperson's office, perhaps Nancy Johnson's?

We shall see.

[UTUSN]

9. Rule of thrumb: ANY Repuke entity will commit a crime in due time n/t

[Judi Lynn]

10. Bloomberg: White House linked to phone jamming?

White House linked to phone jamming?

By Heidi Przybyla :

(Bloomberg) - To Republicans, the New Hampshire phone-jamming incident is an isolated case of political dirty tricks that took place more than three years ago.

To Democrats, it's a scandal with echoes of Watergate that may reach all the way to the White House.
(snip)

Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts wrote U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on April 20 seeking information on any links Abramoff or the White House may have had to the phone-jamming scheme.

Republicans said the calls to the White House didn't involve discussion of phone-jamming. And they said they only paid the legal bills of James Tobin, 45, who was convicted in December of conspiracy to commit telephone harassment because the Republican National Committee's previous leadership had agreed to do that.

"Democrats are trying to stir up crap," said Joe Gaylord, a Republican consultant.
(snip/...)

http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=5094

Joe Gaylord: A new (to the American public) scum on the horizon?



Los Angeles Times - March 30, 1997

The World; Business As Usual? Crossing The Line Between Politics and Policy

On a recent day, Speaker Newt Gingrich's former spokesman, Tony Blankley, served coffee in his Virginia home, along with a dose of his familiar spin. The topic was a controversial political consultant, Joseph R. Gaylord, and his role in the speaker's day-to-day affairs. Blankley, ever the Gingrich loyalist, downplayed Gaylord's influence, even insisting he's rarely in the Capitol. Yet, at that exact moment, across the Potomac, Gaylord was spotted by a Democratic staffer chain-smoking in a House of Representatives bathroom.

Outside Washington, few people have heard of Gaylord. Yet, in the corridors of power, his footsteps echo loudly. "Joe Gaylord is empowered to supervise my activities, set my schedule, advise me on all aspects of my life and career," Gingrich once instructed in a memo.

"He's the best inside player in U.S. House politics without being a member himself," says one GOP operative.

This dealmeister's behind-the-scenes power violates congressional rules and ethical standards but it also reveals a lot about the culture of Washington now--particularly how life in the Capitol has become one long election campaign. The avalanche of revelations regarding the Clinton campaign's finance shenanigans has buried a stark reality: Congressional Republicans, led by powerful non-members like Gaylord, have been adept at selling off government to the highest bidder.

Now, the line between winning office and serving in office has become so blurred that strategists and fund-raisers like Gaylord can literally move into the speaker's office.

Gaylord, who masterminded the "contract with America," is an independent political consultant. Yet, for years he has effectively run Gingrich's office--in violation of House rules, since he is not a House employee and, therefore, not subject to provisions governing conflicts of interest and other concerns.

Today, he is a dominant force in the speaker's legislative business, "the de facto chief of staff," according to several current and recently departed staffers. One source, currently on staff, says Gaylord has somewhat reduced his physical presence in the office in response to increased scrutiny, but not his place in the decision-making process.
(snip)

http://www.russbaker.com/The%20Los%20Angeles%20Times%20%20--%20%20Line%20Between%20Politics%20and%20Policy.htm

[rodeodance]

11. to Repugs it iis an old isolated case (like a few bad apples).

...(Bloomberg) - To Republicans, the New Hampshire phone-jamming incident is an isolated case of political dirty tricks that took place more than three years ago.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Yeah, it's an "old, isolated case" for which they've paid TONS of money

trying to defend. Apparently they're just a skosh worried that it could burst into flame, or they wouldn't have spend a horrendous amount of money trying to defend James Tobin.


Posted 10/19/2004 9:06 PM

Senators ask Ashcroft to let phone-jamming suit go forward
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two Democratic senators asked U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday to stop interfering in a civil suit over phone-jamming by New Hampshire Republicans during the 2002 elections.
U.S. Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Patrick Leahy of Vermont wrote a letter demanding that the Justice Department, which is pursuing a separate criminal case, withdraw its request to put the civil case on hold for six months.

Lawyers for the Democratic Party were scheduled to take sworn testimony from Republican witnesses last week about a national GOP official who allegedly approved the phone-jamming operation.

At the last minute, Justice Department lawyers involved in the criminal case called and said they were going to ask for a stay. The GOP witnesses did not show up, despite a state court order requiring them to do so.

Democrats then said in a court filing they believed the witnesses were going to name James Tobin, New England chairman of President Bush's reelection campaign, as a co-conspirator.

"The last-minute timing of the Department's motion to intervene appears calculated to prevent the disclosure of information that might embarrass or implicate Tobin and possibly other campaign officials," said Kennedy's and Leahy's letter, obtained by The Associated Press.
(snip/...)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-10-19-phone-jamming_x.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone would have heard a whole lot more about this crime if the RNC hadn't fought like wildmen to keep it quiet!