http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=51612DNC: Mehlman's Get out of Jail Free Card: Another Example of the RNC's 'Say One Thing, Do Another' Strategy
8/11/2005 2:55:00 PM
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To: National Desk
Contact: Karen Finney of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Only days after RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman claimed that his party has a "zero-tolerance" policy against voter fraud, intimidation, and suppression, it has been reported that the Republican Party has spent more than $722,000 to defend a former Bush election official accused of conspiring to keep Democrats from voting. (Boston Globe, 8/11/05; Letter to the American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund from RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, 8/9/05)
The RNC is paying the legal bills of James Tobin, a former RNC official, who is charged with four felonies accusing him of conspiring with a state Republican operative and a Virginia-based consultant to jam Democratic and labor union get-out-the-vote phone banks in New Hampshire in November 2002. (AP, 8/11/05) As a result of the scheme, many voters were unable to receive critical information and support on Election Day. Tobin's two other associates have already plead guilty and federal prosecutors have secured testimony from them directly implicating Tobin. (AP, 8/11/05) After his role in the 2002 scandal, Tobin was hired by Mehlman to be the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign chairman for New England.
"My counterpart has spent the past month apologizing for the Southern Strategy, but it seems that the southern strategy is alive and well in New England. Perhaps he should apologize to the voters of New England. This is just another example of his 'say one thing, do another strategy.' Ken Mehlman tells crowds his party is against voter fraud and intimidation, while in the backrooms he supports Republican officials who engage in these dirty tricks," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "The RNC is sending a disturbing message that the Republican Party will do just about anything to win elections. You cannot claim to have a 'zero-tolerance' policy on voter suppression and then pay the legal bills of a top campaign official who is charged with these very same offenses."
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Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
http://www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
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