James Tobin goes free now. Holder has dropped charges. Looking back at the NH phone jamming.

[madfloridian]

Ted Stevens is free now. Tobin is free now. Don Siegelman is not free, and appears to be ignored by this administration's DOJ.

Here are several write-ups looking back at the phone-jamming in New Hampshire in 2002. I am stunned that this conviction of Tobin was overturned.

From Mark Crispin Miller writing at After Downing Street.

Holder DROPS charges against GOP election-rigger.....but not those against Don Siegelman.

James Tobin ran the phone-jamming scheme in NH in 2002--the election that John Sununu thereby "won." That also was the year that Saxby Chambliss "won" in Georgia, Wayne Allard "won" in Colorado, and Norm Coleman "won" in Minnesota (Paul Wellstone having perished in a small plane crash just days before Election Day). That also was the year, moreover, when Don Siegelman, who'd just won re-election as Alabama's governor, was stealthily un-re-elected in the wee hours on Election Night.

So it was a very good election for the GOP, which, through such victories, snatched back the Senate from the Democrats, who briefly ruled it after Sen. James Jeffords had switched parties in the spring.

A real Attorney General would look into all of that, and start by mounting a real probe of that phone-jamming operation in New Hampshire (which Jack Abramoff had paid for with two checks from his client, the Choctaw Indians).

But this Attorney General, and this president, will not go near that scandal, or lift a finger for Don Siegelman--or for Paul Minor, Wes Teel, Oliver Diaz or any of the several hundred other Democrats nailed groundlessly by Karl Rove's DoJ (which is, apparently, Karl Rove's Department still).

Miller sounds a little angry, and I can understand that. This seems beyond comprehension.

From Blue Hampshire in 2007, more about this conviction that Holder has dropped.

NYT calls phone-jamming "voter fraud", plus new Tobin outrage

"The Bush administration has spent a lot of time talking about mythical cases of voter fraud and election improprieties," says the editorial in today's NY Times, "but the New Hampshire phone jamming case was the real thing."

Amen!!

The Times is endorsing the recent request by Representative Paul Hodes for a Congressional investigation, citing multiple actions by the now-disgraced Department of Justice that left many avenues unexplored or even blocked.

In other phone-jamming news, James Tobin's lawyers filed a motion (on September 14) for a Judgment of Acquittal on grounds that seem to me completely outrageous...more below the fold.

On Election Day, 2002, non-stop hang-up phone calls blocked Democrats' phones for hours -- the investigation was probably "slow-walked" though some small-fry did get jail terms--the biggest fish caught was political consultant James Tobin of Maine, a stringer for DCI Group who had been friends with the Virginia-based consultant Allen Raymond at least since the two of them worked to try to make Steve Forbes president.

Indicted shortly after the 2004 Presidential election (Tobin had moved up the political food chain to be New England Chair for Bush/Cheney 2004), James Tobin was quickly lawyered up at the expense of the Republican National Committee and has consistently refused to testify about what he did or who else knew of the plan to jam phones in NH. Appeals Court in Boston overturned Tobin's conviction by a NH jury, saying the NH Judge's charge to the jury defined "harassment" too broadly. Tobin was sent back to NH for re-trial; jury selection will start in early December.

There is much more outrageous stuff at that link. I believe the RNC spent about 3 million dollars defending Tobin. Real party spirit.

I found and posted a liberal blog from Cornell University in October 2006. I can not find the blog post now, but I kept some important parts of it.

From 2006

I did find this post from a liberal blog from Cornell University. There is no date on it, but the title is interesting.

"Back Burner:Watergate Bush-Cheney Style"

And some interesting portions from it.

"Going back to the last midterm elections, one event, or rather scheme stands out in this young perverted undergraduate’s mind: the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal and the horrible parallels it draws to Watergate, quite possibly the most damaging event to American political perception and attitudes in our history. With the 2002 midterm elections approaching, Rove et al found themselves determined to regain a majority in the Senate, which had been split right down the middle until that weenie Jim Jeffords switched party allegiance to Independent. Cue James Tobin, a field operative in the northeast. Tobin got in touch with GOP Marketplace, ostensibly a non-partisan firm, to head up a plan that would jam phone calls coming out of one of the headquarters of then Senate Democratic-nominee and former Governor of New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen. And jam they did. From 11:30am until 1:30pm, phone lines at Gov. Shaheen’s get out the vote operation were jammed by repeated calls to each line that would hold on the line for five seconds and then disengage. After Shaheen lost (to be fair, her margin of loss was calculated to have not been effected by the phone-jamming), the details began to trickle out.

Tobin was subsequently sued by the Democrats in New Hampshire. For those that haven’t been sued lately, court costs are a bitch, so when Tobin racked up $2.5 million in legal fees who was there to pay for it? The Republican National Committee. Why you would ask? Who cares, because that’s money they can’t use to bash liberal pussies who oppose the war. But for the sake of the article, let’s delve further. As court proceedings went on, the phone calls of the Republicans themselves were brought into speculation as it came out that Tobin made repeated phone calls to then White House Director of Political Affairs, Ken Mehlman, from 11:00am until 2:00am on the infamous day. Kenny said the phone calls concerned the state of the election in New Hampshire – not exactly a magnanimous denial of events And then as Ken was promoted to director of the RNC, he made the decision to keep funding Tobin’s legal adventure, saying “it was right to honor that decision.” The White House, of course, has been mum on the subject. Ken Lisasius claims “we don’t comment about ongoing legal proceedings, unless it’s Tom DeLay’s indictments, which we have a running folder of.” OK, that last part was made up, but the White House, as per always, has nothing to add. So what does this all add up to?

And a little more from Democracy for New Hampshire, part of the DFA group. The NH Democratic party worked hard to bring this to light. I guess they are feeling like their efforts are now in vain thanks to Holder's DOJ.

NHDP refutes Mehlman statements on phone jamming

Mehlman claims that Tobin spoke with his deputy, Alicia Davis, throughout the day about "all kinds of questions" regarding the New Hampshire Senate race, which was "one of the closest and most contested campaigns" in the country.

However, 12 of the 22 calls that James Tobin made to the White House on Election Day occurred AFTER Jeanne Shaheen conceded and the Associated Press declared John Sununu the winner. In fact, Tobin's cell phone records show that he left Manchester at 9:41 pm, at which point it was clear who had won the race.

"Ken Mehlman's story contradicts the official phone records from that day. Jim Tobin was not simply checking in with the White House throughout the day to talk about a close Senate race. In fact, most of his phone calls came long after the race was over," said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan.

"On one end of the phone was Jim Tobin, who has now been convicted of crimes that occurred on election day, 2002. On the other end of the phone was the White House Political Affairs office, headed by Ken Mehlman, whose story contradicts the official phone records. Add the fact that the Republican National Committee has spent $2.8 million to keep James Tobin off the witness stand, and you can see why so many questions have been raised about who said what to whom on election day 2002"

So now the record is:

Ted Stevens is free.

James Tobin is free.

Don Siegelman is not free and is reduced to having to beg his own party for attention...and he is depending on the grassroots to help as the party leaders appear to have abandoned him.

[ThirdWorldJohn]

1. Change you can believe in. - JUST WORDS SPOKEN DURING AN ELECTION YEAR -

[depakid]

5. Thus far, that would appear to be much the case at the Justice Department

And it seems to go well beyond these cases.

[L. Coyote]

53. The Bush Junta ran DoJ cover-ups for many years, and sabotaged justice.

HELLO!!! There is this factor to consider:

The Bush Junta made certain that this case and others could not possibly go forward successfully.

[pam4water]

39. Tell me again how I can tell the Obama administration from the Bush administration? n/t

[AlbertCat]

56. Well, just to start with....

The president can form a complete sentence... with a subject and a predicate.

This "they're all the same" meme that rears its stupid head every time things don't go just as someone wants it to is as juvenile, lame and unhelpful as the "She's a racist" platitudes. Alas, things are more complicated than a bumper sticker or campaign slogan.

Obama is not Kucinich...never was and never pretended to be. He was a centrist during the campaign and he is now. Perhaps people should have not projected their own image onto him in the 1st place.

Things still suck because there are many Bushies (Ronnies and Nixonies too) we never heard or hear about still in operation in DC.


All that being said... this still sux. But I bet it's not so over.

[Robb]

47. Welcome to DU!

:eyes:

[dbonds]

63. You might can believe in it, but that doesn't make it real.

At least not yet. So far I have been disappointed by many decisions.

[mdmc]

2. A hero ain't nuthin but a sandwich bought with CHANGE

Change you can count..

[Hawkowl]

3. Change we can disbelieve in!

(Void where prohibited. Change is a metaphor of ironic legal purposes for entertainment purposes only.)

[howmad1]

68. Hey, would you buy a used car from Obama?

Fuck no!

[Bluebear]

4. Accountability! Transparency! Change!

[chill_wind]

6. WTF?!

k & R.

[mod mom]

7. same as it ever was. Tobin & Stevens free while Siegelman prosecutors seek to up the sentence

[Metta]

8. Happy karma, Obama. You're not immune from the harm you cause.

shmuck.

[PM Martin]

9. Should the US congress go back

into Republican hands, the Republicans will go after Obama just how they went after Bill Clinton.

[girl gone mad]

16. Don't count on liberals to defend Obama like they defended Clinton, though.

We're tired of being manipulated by the mealymouthed middle.

[PM Martin]

26. This is going to get either

more interesting or it will be a trainwreck upon a multi-car accident that no one wants to know anything about.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. Wow, what a fucked up distortion of Buddhism.

Kinda funny, in a sick sort of way.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[QC]

11. How hopeful! n/t

[blm]

12. I think some powerful Dems back then LET the RNC do what it wanted in 2000, 2002 and 2004

because they had their sights set on a Hillary2008 run. I think Obama and Holder may not care to expose that wing of the party, since Obama ended up benefiting from the Clintonites' deceits against the 2002 and 2004 Dem candidates.

[Bluebear]

13. That's right, Hillary has her evil finger in everything. Mwahahaha!

[blm]

21. Clinton people most certainly ran the Dem party from 1993-2005. Ran it into the ground

as party infrastructure in too many states were left to collapse by the late 90s, and McAuliffe certainly showed no interest in rebuilding them for 2002 and 2004.

[madfloridian]

25. They still are, blm

In many positions.

You are right.

[chimpymustgo]

44. Let me get this straight: it's HILLARY"S fault that OBAMA and HOLDER aren't doing the right thing?

Sick.

Second of all, this is one time, I will say, it's only been *** of days. But whatever happens now - is ALL in Obama's hands.

[blm]

48. No. YOU said it's Hillary's fault...I say it's Clinton wing of the party that has compromised

our elections in the past due to negligence that I view as deliberate. I also think the people around Obama (especially the former Clintonites) know they benefited from past electoral deceits and are not anxious for those deceits to get attention. They would PREFER it seem like Obama was the party's savior in 2008. Unfortunately that's human nature and especially the nature of those intent on crafting and preserving political perception.

[olegramps]

55. I don't agree that it was deliberate.

I believe that Democrats tend to be naive and can not grasp the fact that the Republican Party has become the Machiavellian Party. Like Machiavelli's Prince, they willing stoop to the most immoral actions justified by the self serving concept that ends justify the means. I have little doubt that many in their ranks would not hesitate to commit murder if it served their purposes.

[glitch]

15. Something has to explain it. We know they are not incompetent.

There aren't a whole lot of possible explanations. Corruption, fear of whatever (losing lobby money?) are obvious ones.

One thing is certain, there have been plenty of warnings and no effective solutions even proposed. Other than ones that make the situation worse.

We could be wrong about the competence.

[madfloridian]

14. Eleaner Clift's column on Tobin and phone jamming from 2006

She said Rove's "demotion" from the WH gave him more time to work behind the scenes to get the GOP back in the majority.

Winning at Any Cost

The Republicans have built an enviable machine for winning elections, but governing is about bringing people together and the GOP’s divisive tactics are catching up with them. A little noticed scandal in New Hampshire about phone-jamming is gaining traction. Initially dismissed as a petty political trick, it led to the trial and conviction for telephone harassment last December of the New England political director for the Republican National Committee, James Tobin. That in itself would barely register on anybody’s radar except Tobin was represented by one of Washington’s white shoe law firms, Williams & Connolly, and his legal fees were $2.5 million. The Republican National Committee picked up the tab, which suggests this may not have been a rogue operation.

Was Tobin’s high-priced defense an effort to keep him from ratting out his contacts in the Bush White House? The RNC has said it paid Tobin’s legal fees because he is a long-time supporter and because he has maintained his innocence. Tobin is appealing his conviction. Meeting with reporters over breakfast Wednesday morning, Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said an examination of Tobin’s phone records revealed “hundreds of calls” between the White House and New Hampshire party operatives at the time of the phone-jamming on Election Day 2002. “I don’t think they were discussing the weather,” Dean said. The stakes were high in ’02. Democrats controlled the Senate by one vote and the White House was determined to regain the majority.

In New Hampshire, Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican John Sununu were in a tight race for the Senate. Get out the vote operations were critical to both sides, so when Democratic workers arrived at five key centers to find their phone lines jammed, they suspected dirty tricks. They were right. The jamming was traced to an Idahotelemarketing firm. The fee for the jamming service, reportedly $15,600, was paid by the New Hampshire Republican Party through a Virginia consulting firm. Public records filed by the state GOP show three checks, each for $5,000, conveniently arriving to cover the charge just before the election. One was from Tom DeLay’s Americans for a Republican Majority; the others from Indian tribes that were clients of the now indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Shaheen lost to Sununu by just under 20,000 votes. Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman was White House political director at the time. He says a high volume of calls with field operatives is routine on election day, and that he had no knowledge of the phone jamming. Dean is dubious. “Let’s put him under oath and find out,” he says. Mehlman and others could indeed end up testifying. In addition to Tobin, two others have already been convicted, Charles McGee, who was executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party in 2002, and the Virginia telemarketing executive hired to do the job. Meanwhile, a civil suit against the state’s GOP is in the courts. “We’re not going to let this go,” says Dean. Restoring public confidence in the Bush White House will take more than a change of venue for Rove.

[BlueJac]

17. I am getting used to criminals going free............

they run the country and wall street, but smoke a joint and you go to jail.

[howmad1]

69. I keep telling ny grandkids:

"CRIME PAYS!" Ask any politician. Thankfully, they are beginning to believe it and now want to be politicians.

[PufPuf23]

18. There is much rot and multi-generational connections to

private wealth and power in Alabama and the Bush cabal and the MIC.

Example: Iran-Contra weapons to Iran came from Redstone Arsenal. Ed Rodgers (partner of K Street Barbour, Griffith, & Rodgers -- clients include Allawi) warrants a chapter in the Kerry BCCI Report with questions remain unanswered. Rodgers and Griffith are also owners of the specific Medjet -- also used for CIA renditions -- secretly brought to Aruba to recover Natalee Holloway. Rodgers met with arms dealer Kharshoggi in CA and the Middle East regards to financing Iran-Contra. The Kerry Senate BCCI inquiry went no farther and devoted a chapter to Rodgers in the Senate Report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDvB5OOd79s&feature=related

Aruba is 17 miles off the opening to the Maracaibo Basin / state of Zulia that alone has 4X the proven oil reserves of the USA; the richest oil patch in the western hemisphere -- the refinery on Aruba produced most of the aviation fuel used by the allies in WWII Europe. The Germans attacked Aruba and failed and then the area was mined. The mined area was mapped under the cover of looking for Natalee in a crab trap in December 2008. Google Drummond (of AL) and Colombia coal -- now back in civil court for corporate murders -- or Halbert and no-bid African embassies and Aruba or Richard Shelby + drug kingpins + Mansur. One of the Fab 7 that made the initial trip to Aruba is the brother or cousin of Margaret Tutwiller; another the son-in-law of former Governor O'Neal and the CEO of McWane Steel, a large private concern with a checkered past. Kinda Sleazy is from Birmingham and knows these folks. Oh yeah we have a military base on Aruba and another on Curacao, the adjacent Netherland Antilles island. The military base (FOL) established on Aruba in 2001 was controversial with the Arabians but the contract was with the Dutch and USA. F-16s were bombing in Colombia out of Aruba and because local opposition improvements planned for Aruba were delayed and more infrastructure went in place on Curacao.

GOP sleaze is deep and well funded in AL - GWB and Rove have a local history. I saw George Wallace -- as a protestor (edit geez a c instead of an s changes the meaning)-- at a rally for POTUS at the Cow Palace in SF in 1968 -- GW was a lightweight compared with the deep MIC now in AL.

Seigelman's big sin may be he is a populist and not a corporate teat sucking Blue Dog.

The mystery in the public is what happened to Natalee Holloway but the story has been used for propaganda and cover for covert ops. Or never mind I am nutty. lol

[Cincinnati Kid]

19. Philadelphia New Black Panther Party is free too

I am suprised that there is little to no mention anywhere of the DOJ dropping the case against the Philly New Black Panther trio that was outside a polling place with night sticks.

The right to vote is the only weapon Americans have to make changes and I dont care if its the right or the left, VOTER INTIMIDATION IS WRONG!

I am losing faith in the Obama administration by the day, transparency. phooey!

The right to vote is worth defending!

[Wednesdays]

22. The New Black Panther Party is in the higher echilons of government?

:shrug:

I mean, yeah, if there's wrongdoing there it should be addressed, but that's small potatoes compared to what happens with a state governor, a U.S. senator, etc.

[madfloridian]

23. Remember Allen Raymond's book? "How to rig an election"?

He mentions Tobin also. Raymond now thinks the GOP picked him because he was "expendable".

NH phone jammer says GOP "not only threw me under the bus but then blamed me for getting run over."

Last night on C-Span at the NH Democratic dinner, Howard Dean mentioned Allen Raymond's book which is coming out..."How to Rig an Election". Dean gave kudos to his Yale roommate, Paul Twomey, for pursuing Raymond on this issue. It is the story written by Raymond of his role in the New Hampshire phone jamming and the rigging of the election there.

I think this might be an interesting book because Raymond is so angry at the GOP who gave him the shaft. Here's how he put it:

"After all, when the shit hit the fan, my political party and my former colleagues not only threw me under the bus but then blamed me for getting run over."

He speaks of Tobin.

Mr. Raymond pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit phone harassment and was sentenced to five months in prison. Mr. Tobin argued in court that the idea to jam the phones was not his and that he committed no crime. A federal appeals court in Boston reversed his conviction, saying that the law he was found guilty under was not “a close fit for what he did.” The Republican Party has paid a high-priced law firm in Washington to defend Mr. Tobin, according to The Associated Press, and Mr. Raymond suspects it is because Republican bigwigs “wanted him to keep his yap shut” about the origins of the scheme.

Until the judge tore into me, I had been thinking I'd get nothing worse than a few months of home confinement, a bit of a break that could be used to catch up on some relaxing little projects around the house. From the second the FBI came to my door I'd done everything they wanted, connecting all the dots between the shady tactics of the New Hampshire Republican Party during the John E. Sununu Senate campaign, the Bushie who'd orchestrated the whole thing, and me. The Department of Justice was getting ready to indict, because of my testimony, President George W. Bush's main political guy in New England. The DOJ went so far as to argue that I should be given the best possible treatment by the court for my exemplary cooperation. Why wouldn't I have cooperated? After all, when the shit hit the fan, my political party and my former colleagues not only threw me under the bus but then blamed me for getting run over.

More from Raymond:

Raymond's telemarketing consulting firm engineered the 2002 New Hampshire phone jamming, where Republicans jammed Democratic get-out-the-vote phone banks. But it wasn't his idea (it was the New Hampshire GOP's executive director's), and he was referred to the job by a big-wig from the Republican National Committee (more on this shortly). Yet when the story broke, his former co-conspirators did all they could to pin the thing entirely on him. So, with nothing left to lose, Raymond walks readers through his rise in the ranks at the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (where he encounters Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), whom he frequently compares to "a sheet of drywall"), and finally on to create his own telemarketing firm, which he started with the help of Haley Barbour, now the governor of Mississippi. He also gives great insight into the murky world of phone tricks.

You might say he holds a grudge. But you can't say he minces words. "Back in 2002," he writes, "just about every Republican operative was so dizzy with power that if you could find two of us who could still tell the difference between politics and crime, you could probably have rubbed us together for fire as well."

Or in case he wasn't clear, he writes about heading to prison for his role in the jamming: "After ten full years inside the GOP, ninety days among honest criminals wasn't really any great ordeal."

[leftofthedial]

24. looking at Wall Street, anything to do with the DOJ, civil liberties, human rights,

and "defense" policy, it looks to me like the bush cabal is still in power.

[Octafish]

27. What Karl Rove wants, Karl Rove gets.

Something is obviously wrong.

[madfloridian]

29. Karl knows where the bodies are buried.

So to speak. He probably has files just like J. Edgar did.

[Octafish]

34. Sen. Frank Church warned us about the govt turning NSA against We the People.

This was about 1976, that with the technology of that day the government would be able to put down any opposition because it would know who was meeting whom and who stood where.

“That capability at any time could be turned around on the American people and no American would have any privacy left, such is the capability to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn’t matter. There would be no place to hide. If this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back, because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the government to know. Such is the capability of this technology.

I don’t want to see this country ever go across the bridge. I know the capability that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return.”

Frank Church and the Abyss of Warrantless Wiretapping.

[madfloridian]

36. We did not listen.

In fact our Democratic congress made all the retroactive spying legal last year.

The bill would authorize massive warrantless surveillance.

The bill would require no individualized warrant even when an American’s communications clearly are of interest to the government.

The bill would curtail effective judicial review of surveillance.

The bill would grant retroactive immunity for wrongdoing.

The bill would not provide a reasonable sunset.

All the begging and pleading we did made no difference.

[abq e streeter]

28. I had my fears about too much "let's make nice with the republicans"

from this administration, but WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

[pleah]

31. I had the same thought.

Has some deal been made to get something in return for these dismissals?:shrug:

[abq e streeter]

32. or have they been given the "shame about Wellstone, Connell, DC Madam etc " talk

"Sure hope some unfortunate accident or sudden urge to commit suicide doesn't happen to you too". I can't believe I actually have come to the point where I don't think this is out of the realm of possibility. I doubt it I suppose but there's a little part of me that really wonders...

[pleah]

33. I believe that that could be a real possibility.

:(

[Octafish]

50. Little? Jim Hatfield got the full 'treatment.'

My Friend, here's something big from the guy who wrote "Fortunate Son," an unauthorized bio of monkey.

Why would Osama bin Laden want to kill Dubya,
his former business partner?

By James Hatfield

Editor's note: In light of last week's horrific events and the Bush administration's reaction to them, we are reprising the following from the last column Jim Hatfield wrote for Online Journal prior to his tragic death on July 18:

July 3, 2001—There may be fireworks in Genoa, Italy, this month, too.

A plot by Saudi master terrorist, Osama bin Laden, to assassinate Dubya during the July 20 economic summit of world leaders, was uncovered after dozens of suspected Islamic militants linked to bin Laden's international terror network were arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, and Milan, Italy, in April.

German intelligence services have stated that bin Laden is covertly financing neo-Nazi skinhead groups throughout Europe to launch another terrorist attack at a high-profile American target—his first since the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen last October.

According to counter-terrorism experts quoted in Germany's largest newspaper, the attack on Dubya might be a James Bond-like aerial strike in the form of remote-controlled airplanes packed with plastic explosives.

SNIP...

In June 1977, Dubya formed his own drilling company, Arbusto Energy ("arbusto" means "bush" in Spanish), in Midland, Texas. Like his father before him, Dubya founded his oil business with the financial backing of investors, including James R. Bath, a Houston businessman whom Dubya apparently first met when they were in the same Texas Air National Guard unit. (Interestingly, both Dubya and Bath were both suspended from flying in August and September 1972, respectively, for "failure to accomplish annual medical examination.")

CONTINUED...

http://web.archive.org/web/20011211190206/http:/www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Hatfield-R-091901/hatfield-r-091901.html

Please download and spread the story. I can no longer find it at Online Journal. Not trying to scare you, but we're facing those willing to kill a million innocent people for their freakin' oil. Our only real weapon is the truth. They don't care, they go for the jugular. What's a few journalists or politicians or regular folk to them?

[abq e streeter]

57. I know, sometimes more than "a little" part of me

but as we know, these guys are pros; cover their tracks extremely well, and have a mainstream press that is really nothing more than the ministry of propaganda/sideshow distraction, so we ain't gonna find out anything resembling the truth from them...Plus citizens such as myself, who, while they see something awfully damn suspicious ,to say the least, out of all this, are hesitant to flat out accuse the government of murdering its own citizens, while at the same time not being able to keep from noticing all these amazingly coincidental and awfully convenient deaths . Also, as far as being just a little part of me that wonders about this, as far as why the Democrats roll over and play dead on command, as in this Tobin case most recently, is that they don't need to be threatened, because they are either so spineless they need no threatening, and/or more likely, they're all part of the same corporate party anyway, and are willing participants in the illusion of democracy, and are therefore neither spineless nor being intimidated or threatened. I just don't know, and barring some miracle of a successful mass effort to force the truth to the surface, I fear that at least in my lifetime, I'll never know for sure. Sometimes a string of coincidences( that just happen to all benefit those in power) is just that, but you get enough of em, and the "unthinkable" starts becoming more and more plausible.Its still just "a little part of me" that thinks this because for one, I have no evidence beyond circumstantial, and secondly, the implications that they're capable of killing anyone who even could potentially get in their way are too enormous to want to consider, though that possibility ( at least) must frighteningly, be considered. Thanks for the info link, BTW....I've read American Dynasty ( I think that was the title), about our beloved , patriotic Bush family and their bunch of swell friends....Lots of stuff about BCCI, Bath etc there too.

[downindixie]

30. Obama was a plant used by the GOP

Well,maybe

[midnight]

35. So let me get this. Don Siegelman has his election win stolen

from him after he goes to sleep election night. Then when he re-runs, he is prosecuted for an action that is not a crime. The first judge dismisses the case for no merit. So the prosecution finds a judge to allow the prosecution in bad faith of no crime at all. The jury behavior is questioned and found to be questionable. Something about jury member and one of the court police asking questions about dating? Anyways there is no crime and the bush panel of judges want to lock this innocent man up for an additional twenty years? Mr. Holder, either we have justice or we don't. But please, let's not act like we do, when we don't. Free this man.

[OwnedByFerrets]

37. This is utter BULLSHIT!@!! Don Siegelman is guilty of being a Democrat

[JDPriestly]

38. Obama is a total cop-out. He misrepresented himself to good

Democrats everywhere. What a wimp.

[dreamnightwind]

40. Doesn't seem wimpy to me...

I'm quite certain he's no wimp. What that makes him, though, is beyond me, it's looking much worse than a wimp through these eyes. Still holding a little hope for him, but continuously shaking my head wondering if he's a total fraud.

[ima_sinnic]

41. "change" blah blah blan "change" blah blah blah "look forward"

I am buying a house in another town next month. When I move over there, I am changing my voter registration to Independent. I will not be voting for Obama in 2012. Or am I supposed to "give him more time" to somehow fix this? Is the "supernatural industrial-strength grand master chess player" planning some hypercosmic move that will FINALLY allow JUSTICE to prevail? Excuse me if I don't hold my breath waiting for that one.

[EFerrari]

42. How is this even POSSIBLE.

:grr:

[madrchsod]

43. selling out seems to be the standard operating procedure for obama

oh well, we are stuck with him for another 3 1/2 years.

no healthcare reform

no prosecution of war crimes

bail out of banks

selling out the middle and lower class

continuation of spying on the american people


is this going to be the same old shit wrapped in a new piece of paper? i guess we will have to wait and see

[democracy1st]

45. K & R

[The Wizard]

46. Democrats have to stop

worrying what Republicans will say about them. Republicans will say anything, true or false, to disparage Democrats.
Rather than cowering from the Republican media assaults, the Democrats should be striking back with prejudice.

[MasonJar]

49. There is so much to see in the Seigelman case that the original judge

has written Holder. I called his message line Thursday and told them that Seigelman needs immediate attention and so do war criminals. Everybody call and keep calling at 202-353-1555. I called Obama too, but had to wait so long I finally hung up (202-456-1111/800-833-6354.)

[L. Coyote]

51. Deja DU: Phone Jamming Cover-up at DoJ? Conyers Wants Answers

Oct-05-07 = Original message
Phone Jamming Cover-up at DoJ? Conyers Wants Answers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1982370

Election irregularity investigations are moving forward, and back in time too!

=======================
Phone Jamming Cover-up at DoJ? Conyers Wants Answers
By Paul Kiel - October 5, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004376.php


It happened nearly five years ago, but House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) still has plenty of questions about the New Hampshire phone jamming case.

In a letter Wednesday, he asked Acting Attorney General Peter Keisler a number of questions about the case, focusing in particular on whether the Justice Department has "adequately investigated and prosecuted" the case. You can read the letter here.

On Election Day, 2002, remember, Republicans schemed to jam Democratic get-out-the-vote phone banks (here's our timeline of the scandal). The executive director of the New Hampshire GOP, Charles McGee, who hatched the scheme, subsequently explained that he'd gotten the idea from his time in the Marines, where he was taught to jam the enemy's communications. Both McGee and Allen Raymond, who ran the consulting firm that arranged the jamming, pled guilty and have served their time.

The case moved slowly -- the pleas not occurring until June of 2004. And it wasn't until after the 2004 election that James Tobin, who'd been the Republian National Committee's New England Regional Political Director, was indicted for his role in the conspiracy. He was ultimately convicted, ...........

-----
mething more. The DEMs had to file a civil action. Check this out:

NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATS MOVE TO DEPOSE FORMER RNC CHAIR GILLESPIE, TOP RNC, NRSC AND WHITE HOUSE OF

=================
NH Phone Jamming
NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATS MOVE TO DEPOSE FORMER RNC CHAIR GILLESPIE, TOP RNC, NRSC AND WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS IN PHONE JAMMING CASE
Submitted by Hilary Sargent on June 8, 2006 - 10:09am.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Senate Majority Project
Contact: Mike Gehrke 202-204-9054 or Christy Setzer 617-512-7572
Thursday, June 8, 2006
http://www.senatemajority.com/taxonomy/term/65?page=1

NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATS MOVE TO DEPOSE FORMER RNC CHAIR GILLESPIE, TOP RNC, NRSC AND WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS IN PHONE JAMMING CASE

Dems seek White House phone records of Ken Mehlman, others

Today, the New Hampshire Democratic Party filed documents outlining a bold move in its legal strategy against the Republican phone jamming criminals. Based on evidence and testimony from the criminal trial of convicted RNC, NRSC and former Bush campaign official James Tobin, the NHDP asked the court to allow it to depose top Republican officials in Washington, D.C.

“You can run from New Hampshire, but you can’t hide in Washington, DC,” said Senate Majority Project Executive Director Mike Gehrke. “It looks like the multi-million dollar stonewall strategy of Ken Mehlman and the Republican National Committee is crumbling. Top Republican party officials will finally have to answer, under oath, whether they knew about the plan of national operatives to stop New Hampshire voters from going to the polls on Election Day 2002, and whether they helped carry out or conceal the conspiracy.”

Those named in the motion include former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, former White House political director (and current RNC Chairman) Ken Mehlman, and Terry Nelson, a top strategist in the political operation of Sen. John McCain.

Others who the New Hampshire Democrats are seeking to depose: .............

-----------------
May 2006: John Conyers (D-MI) asks Attorney General to Appoint Special Counsel to Investigate

John Conyers (D-MI) asks Attorney General to Appoint Special Counsel to Investigate Phone Jamming:
http://www.senatemajority.com/node/227

* On May 12, John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking minority member on the House Judiciary Committee, called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to appoint a special counsel to investigate the GOP New Hampshire phone jamming scandal.
o Conyers wrote: "A special counsel outside of the Department is needed, however, because there are possible connections between the plot and the White House, as well as potential federal election law violations stemming from state Republican Party reporting of Native American tribe donations connected with Jack Abramoff, that have yet to be examined."
o The letter went on to say: "As you are aware, under the Department's regulations, you are required to appoint a special counsel when (1) a criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted, (2) the investigation by a United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department of Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department,� and (3) it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter. There is little doubt that all three factors are met in this case."
..........

----------------
2004: Senators ask Ashcroft to let phone-jamming suit go forward

Senators ask Ashcroft to let phone-jamming suit go forward
10/19/2004 = http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-10-19-phone-jamming_x.htm

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. ..........

-----------------
House Judiciary Committee Press Release

Edited on Sun Oct-07-07 08:39 PM by L. Coyote
Immediate Release - 10/3/2007
Judiciary Members Seek Answers on "Phone Jamming," Voter Suppression Cases
http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=857

(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairpersons Robert C. Scott (D-VA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Linda Sánchez (D-CA) sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Peter D. Keisler seeking answers about allegations of voter suppression in battleground states across the country, using a technique called "phone jamming," as well as failing to register Democratic voters and destroying Democratic voter registration cards. The committee's interest in this issue peaked recently as allegations of Justice Department and White House officials engaging in selective prosecution and other efforts to affect political outcomes arose out of the U.S. Attorney investigation.

"These cases – the notorious “phone jamming” case that arose in New Hampshire in 2002 and the equally troubling activities of a firm known as Sproul & Associates during the 2004 election cycle – present extremely disturbing allegations regarding interference with voters’ rights," the members write. "Serious concerns remain, however, regarding whether the department has adequately investigated and prosecuted these cases."

In 2002, New Hampshire Republican operatives jammed the phone lines of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and a Manchester Fire Fighters Association to hamper get-out-the-vote efforts on election day. In the letter, Conyers and his colleagues review charges regarding subsequent investigative failures in the FBI and Justice Department.

In 2004, Sproul and Associates was hired for voter registration efforts in several states but allegedly "engaged in serious misconduct such as declining to register Democratic voters and destroying registration cards collected from Democratic voters in several states prior to the national elections in 2004," the letter states. However, the lawmakers state that they have not been made aware of any "enforcement action, criminal or civil, by the Department on this matter."

The members are requesting answers about the cases by October 19.

==========================
ALSO Archived: NH Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) Pushes for Phone Jamming Investigation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1750605

[KoKo]

64. Well...Conyers finally got his answer...but from the Obama Justice Dept...

:grr:

[L. Coyote]

52. VIDEOS

Deja DU - May-14-08
VIDEO: Rep. John Conyers Addresses the NH Phone Jamming Incident
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x132279

More videos linked here: HOUSE JUDICIARY: Joint Hearing on Allegations of Selective Prosecution
May-13-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3277259


VIDEO: House Judiciary Hearing on Selective Prosecution: Richard Thornburgh Opening
VIDEO: House Judiciary Hearing on Selective Prosecution: Rep. Scott Opening
VIDEO: House Judiciary ""Allegations of Selective Prosecution" Hearing. Rep. Davis re Siegelman Case
VIDEO: Scott Horton Speaks in AL on Media Corruption, Political Prosecution
VIDEO: Rep. Cohen Raises Concerns over Selective Prosecution in MS
VIDEO: Former AG Dick Thornburgh Testifies about Politicization of DoJ
VIDEO: Fired US Attorney Paul Charlton Speaks to Jason Leopold
VIDEO: Eye To Eye: Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias
VIDEO: Rep. Conyers Issues Warning to AG Mukasey About Subpoenas

[BlueJessamine]

61. If the DOJ isn't doing their job...

then why doesnt Congress cut their funds?:shrug:


but then the DOJ might investigate Congress...:crazy:


silly me ;)

[L. Coyote]

66. Bush's DoJ was doing their jobs, as defined by Bush!

DoJ does investigate Congress. See Ted Stevens!
And look how well they handled that, by derailing prosecution.

[L. Coyote]

54. REC # 60 with grave reservations. Too much blame Obama/Holder dudes ...

The Bush Junta DoJ had years to sabotage this one, and noone seems to have given
that context the slightest consideration before throwing mud at other Dems.

I can just imagine the political hacks laughing their arses off now, reading this thread,
saying, "We knew they would have to drop this, but why were we worried they would blame us?"

Everyone should be clamoring to investigate the Bush Junta DoJ instead of starting internecine warfare!!!

[aquart]

58. But Obama/Holder have taken that off the table.

So good luck with that.

[madfloridian]

60. I do not consider my posts throwing mud. I consider it righteous anger.

I am very upset about this issue, and I wonder how much more Siegelman and his family can take. I would imagine they had hopes once a Democratic congress and Democratic president were in control. Now I doubt he feels much hope at all.

How do you think he feels to see Karl Rove all over TV having never been required to testify under oath?

The DOJ Karl Rove set up still has the power.

[BlueJessamine]

62. ...

:fistbump:


:hug:

[L. Coyote]

65. I agree with you, and reference the thread, not the OP.

A lot of thrown mud follows the OP w/o much critical analysis.

I guess it is easier to blame Obama/Holder than to prosecute a Bush criminal while forced into playing second chair to the Bush lawyers.
Obama/Holder inherited a lot more mess than we realize, I'm sure. The Bush Junta DoJ was stonewalling everything and did a damn good job of that.

[madfloridian]

71. The solution is that the Bush lawyers must go very soon.

Thanks for the response.

There is no easy solution, but Siegelman must not go back to jail.

[EFerrari]

59. Kick

[bertman]

67. One party, the Corporatist Party. Two wings: the DLC/Democratic and the RNC/Republican wing.

Recommend.

[avaistheone1]

70. The world and justice are upside down.

Ted Stevens is free now. Tobin is free now. Don Siegelman is not free, and appears to be ignored by this administration's DOJ.

It makes no sense.


Why is justice dying in America?

[madfloridian]

72. Feels that way sometimes.

.