Corruption
Sean Hansen, the head of the telemarketing company that jammed Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire in 2002 has now been charged with comlicity in the operation allegedly masterminded by Republican stooge James Tobin. Republican operatives Chuck McGee and Allen Raymond have already been convicted and sentenced to federal prison for their complicity in these crimes.
The trial of James Tobin, former regional director of the NRSC and Bush-Cheney '04 New England campaign chairman, will take place in June. Tobin is a resident of Bangor, where he owns the Tobin & Co. consulting agency. He was a "Bush Ranger" in 2004, raising more than $200,000 for the President's campaign.
Here's a bit from a December 2004 Department of Justice press release:
As part of the conspiracy, Tobin and Charles McGee, then-Executive Director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, allegedly discussed the hiring of a telephone services vendor to annoy and harass Democratic telephone volunteers on Election Day. Tobin allegedly provided McGee with contact information for Allen Raymond, a former colleague of Tobin's who operated a Virginia-based telephone services vendor called GOP Marketplace. The indictment alleges that McGee sent a check for $15,600 on the account of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee to GOP Marketplace. The indictment further alleges that GOP Marketplace then paid $2,500 to an Idaho-based telemarketing services vendor to place the calls. The vendor allegedly placed several hundred calls to the numbers in New Hampshire, causing them to ring repeatedly and continuously.
The big question that this trial will hopefully answer is how high the plot went and whether then NRSC head Senator Bill Frist and other Washington Republican leaders had knowledge of the operation.
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posted by @ 12:31 PM 
6 comments
6 Comments:
You appear to be going off the deep end with this one, Mike. Even if there were more people involved in this dirty trick, those involved would never let elected folks anywhere near the plan.
Posted by George
You seem to know a bit about the intricacies of pulling off dirty tricks George, must come with your party registration.
The reason I posed that question was this quote from Josh Marshall last month:
"Keep an eye out, though, for what comes next. And whether it pulls in someone else with lofty ambitions in the next few years: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R) of Tennessee. [...]
We hear that those involved in the phone-jamming scam are now claiming that the plan was aired with NRSC personnel in Washington in advance. If any of the key players are willing to testify to that effect when Tobin goes on trial later this year it could quickly open up a Washington dimension to this story."
PS. Illinois is coming back. This is turning into quite the game.
Posted by Mike
So the basis for your question is a comment by a partisan blogger? Why not just imply that the President was involved? There has been nothing presented in court that anyone other than those charged were involved in the incident. To suggest that elected officials may have been involved in a criminal enterprise without any evidence is shameful. You have fallen to the level of those who suggested that Hillary Clinton was involved in Vince Foster's death.
Posted by George
Marshall isn't the only one to pose that question, here's a short list of some of the local publications that have "gone off the deep end" by mentioning the possibility of higher-ups being involved.
The Union Leader
The Portsmouth Herald
New Hampshire Public Radio
The Portland Press Herald
The Boston Globe
The Concord Monitor
If you actually read the link above, you'd find that the BDN piece from yesterday also makes mention of what Frist might know.
In fact, this possibility has been mentioned in the press since 2002 when Tobin was first implicated.
From the NHPR link above:
"When news of his connection to the phone jamming first emerged late last year, Tobin stepped down from his role as New England director of President Bush's Re-election campaign. During a visit to Concord at about that time, Sentor Frist was asked about Tobin's and the phone jamming. Frist claimed not to have heard of the controversy, but did ultimately allow that he and Tobin worked closely in 2002."
I'm not making wild accusations and I'm certainly not looking for a witch to burn. What I said above is that this is a question that I hope is resolved during the course of the trial and I stand behind that 100%.
Posted by Mike
The links you provided only indicate that the New Hampshire Democrat Party is trying to tie Frist to the trial. They are a political party trying to score points against an opponent. That does not make their attacks legitimate.
It certainly appears that those that have copped a plea so far have not been afraid to point fingers at others involved. If they had information about others being involved, I think they would have been charged.
Posted by George
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