Man who jammed phone lines in N.H. feels like the fall guy.

[flashl]

GOP dirty trickster says scandal goes higher


A former GOP political operative who ran an illegal Election Day scheme to jam the phone lines of New Hampshire Democrats during the state's tight 2002 U.S. Senate election says he believes the scandal reaches higher into the Republican Party.

Allen Raymond of Bethesda, Md., whose book Simon & Schuster will publish next month, also accuses the Republican Party of trying to hang all the blame for a scandal on him as part of an "old-school cover-up."

Raymond's book, "How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative," offers a raw, inside glimpse of the phone scandal as it unraveled and of a ruthless world in which political operatives seek to win at all costs.

...

Raymond said those who've tried to make him the fall guy for the New Hampshire scheme failed to recognize that e-mails, phone records and other evidence documented the complicity of a top state GOP official and the Republican National Committee's Northeast regional director.

Both men were later convicted of charges related to the phone harassment, along with Raymond and an Idaho phone bank operator. Defense lawyers have since won a retrial for James Tobin, the former regional director for both the RNC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

...

GOP committees have paid Washington law firms more than $6 million to defend Tobin and to fight a Democratic civil suit against the party. Raymond, himself a former RNC official, said in the book and an interview that he believes that the scandal reaches higher.

"Any tactic that didn't pass the smell test would never see the light of day without, at the very least, the approval of an RNC attorney," he wrote.

Paul Twomey, a lawyer for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said that phone records obtained in the civil suit showed that Tobin made 22 calls to the White House political office in the 24 hours before and after the jamming.

Read Full Text

[AtomicKitten]

1. The scandal not only goes higher but is a pervasive GOP mindset.

Win by any means necessary.

I can hardly wait to see what the GOP has up their sleeve this go.

[flashl]

6. Its in a book ...

Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing Is Turning America Into a One-Party State (ISBN 1585423424).

In the face of overwhelming rejection from African-American and other minority voters, Republicans have adopted a two-tiered strategy:

(1) token efforts at symbolic inclusion, aimed primarily at soothing the conscience of white voters, many of whom want to see themselves as supporters of a racially inclusive party; and

(2) efforts to minimize the number and influence of black votes.

[AtomicKitten]

7. I am terrified of yet another stolen election.

I have no doubt it would incite anarchy, as it should. We have had seven years since the judicial coup d'etat in 2000 and very little has been done to safeguard the vote.

:scared:

[flashl]

2. Phonegate

The 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal involves the use of a telemarketing firm hired by that state's Republican Party (NHGOP) for election tampering.

Four men have been convicted of, or pled guilty to, federal crimes and sentenced to prison for their involvement as of 2007.

A Democratic analysis of phone records introduced at Tobin's criminal trial show he made 115 outgoing calls to the White House.

SourceWatch

[Bitwit1234]

3. Well if he feels that way - why doesn't he TELL ALL.

[rucky]

11. I think he just wrote a book. n/t

[zbdent]

4. Was this guy not paying attention when Bush said

"No longer will anybody be able to hide behind 'I was just following orders!'"?

I mean, nobody really expected that he would be talking about his own army, he was "saying" it about Saddam Hussein's armies and the "terrorists", but once the U.S. forces followed orders, they were hung out to dry ...

[flashl]

5. Maybe he is seeking the 'Libby' treatment?

[madfloridian]

8. TPM posted that it looks like the real thing...trying to get Raymond to post there.

This has gone on so long with no resolution.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/061356.php

Phone-jammistas Behold!

"Now, as you probably know, most tell-all books are more like tell-little or tell-nothing books. We've still got one reader still sulking because he was hounding us for days about why we weren't giving more attention to the Scott McClellan memoir non-bombshell. But I got word yesterday that Raymond's offering is the real deal. Our copy arrived at the office today. And upon a limited initial perusal the normally low-key and laconic Paul Kiel concludes that it is "awesome." So that's saying a lot.

As it happens, this is not surprising from what we've seen thus far of Raymond. Of all the phone-jam scammers, he was the only one who not only took his criminal justice lumps but seemed genuinely to want to wash his hands of the whole rotten business. The rest, as you'd expect, are back on the GOP payroll in most cases after a short pitstop in the can.

Raymond on his sojourn in the slammer: "After 10 full years inside the GOP, 90 days among honest criminals wasn't really any great ordeal."

Anyway, check out the book and we're working on getting Mr. Raymond over here to TPM to discuss the book and perhaps answer your questions."

I am thinking about ordering this.

[flashl]

9. Even the DNC took notice

Rove Trying to Get New Hampshire Republicans Out of A Jam

On the same day that convicted phone-jamming conspirator James Tobin was sentenced to ten months in prison for his role in a criminal campaign to keep New Hampshire voters from getting to the polls, the people of New Hampshire learned that Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove will headline a fundraiser for the state Republican Party. Rove will raise money for the Party amid reports that legal bills stemming from the phone-jamming case have left it almost broke, leaving just $733.60 in its bank accounts.

"James Tobin may be on his way to jail, but critical questions about the criminal campaign to disenfranchise New Hampshire voters still haven't been answered," said Democratic National Committee Communications spokesman Damien LaVera.

"We know there were dozens of calls between the White House and New Hampshire Republicans on the days surrounding and including Election Day, but we still don’t know critical details about who was on the line or what was discussed. We know at least three people will see jail time in this case, but still there are no answers about whether or not anyone at the White House or the RNC helped devise, implement or conceal this plot. And now we learn that Karl Rove is coming to town to rescue the New Hampshire Republican Party, which has been practically bankrupted by legal bills in this case.

"The time has come for the White House and the RNC to stop stonewalling on this case. Sending Karl Rove to New Hampshire to rescue the state party sends a disturbing message that Republicans in Washington are more interested in concealing this scheme than in joining Democrats in protecting the fundamental right of all Americans to vote."

[madfloridian]

10. Over a year ago...Dean on Sam Seder's show talked about it.

NH phone jamming just keeps disappearing from the news.

This is what Dean said in April 2006 on Sam Seder's show.

SAM SEDER: Now I got to ask you ...a couple of stories of the Republicans..I never cease to be amazed. This latest story, the New Hampshire phone jamming case, tell us a little about that. It has been going on for a couple of years, but they just started sending people to jail for this.

DEAN: And there may be a lot more that go. I think my counterpart, Ken Mehlman will end up in court over this...testifying at least. What happened was that the Republicans jammed the GOTV efforts on the phone. Tied it up, they broke the law. Couple of people have gone to jail. The RNC has paid all their legal bills which makes one think this was not just someone just acting on their own. And as often happens in these scandals, the net is getting wider and wider and wider.

Turns out there were many many many phone calls made to the White House political office on the day this stuff was going on and right before it. And the question is who did they talk to in the White House? And nobody will say of course...so it does remind a little bit of Watergate.

And then it disappeared from the news again.

[SpiralHawk]

12. Republicons = sleaze

Why do republicons HATE honesty ?

Thank heavens this low-ranking palooka finally heard the voice of his conscience, unlike virtually all other republicons...

[robbedvoter]

13. Not unlike Abu Grahib, Plamegate and well - everything whenever they get caught

At best we get some minnow to discretely fry while the big fish is out there, vacationing with Scalia. What a banana republic we are!

[Yuugal]

14. way to help crush democracy, asshat

I'll be sure to miss your book

[magellan]

15. No one held a gun to him

This guy admits to having joined the GOP for the sole purpose of making easy $$$, willingly took part in an election crime, and now he wants sympathy for being used like the tool he is?

Hey, Allen Raymond, it's ONLY the fucking COUNTRY you helped screw! Here's a quarter -- call the freepers, I'm sure they'll put you on a pedestal and kiss your sorry ass.