posted May 18, 2006 09:26 AM              

Thursday 18 May 2006, 6:16 Makka Time, 3:16 GMT

Tobin's conviction is an embarrassment for Bush

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A senior official in George Bush's re-election campaign has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for his role in suppressing votes in a US Senate race, a scandal that Democrats say may involve the White House.

James Tobin, 45, one of three Republican campaign operatives convicted in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in a 2002 election, was convicted of two telephone harassment charges.

Prosecutors had asked for a two-year sentence.

Steven McAuliffe. a US district judge, described the crime as extremely serious and a threat to free and fair elections.

"People in your position need to know they cannot do these things and if they do the consequences are very, very serious," he said in handing down a sentence harsher than the six months home detention and community service sought by Tobin's lawyer.

Democrats want an investigation into 22 telephone calls made by Tobin and New Hampshire Republican party officials to the White House on November 5-6, 2002, and say they believe national Republican officials may be involved in the scheme.

Kathleen Sullivan, the New Hampshire Democratic party chairperson, said she did not consider the sentencing to be the end of the matter.

"I consider this to be one more step in the process of uncovering exactly who knew about this. There are still unanswered questions," she said.

The national Republican party, which has paid more than $2.5 million in legal fees to defend Tobin, has said the calls to the White House were routine during a tight state Senate race and had nothing to do with the phone-jamming.

800 calls

Get-out-the-vote hotlines set up by state Democrats and a firefighter's association to urge residents to vote were jammed by more than 800 hang-up calls.

State Republican officials say they tried to stop it once they learned of the scheme.

John Sununu, the Republican candidate, beat Jeanne Shaheen, the then governor in the election and state Republicans swept a number of close polls.

Tobin, the former New England regional director of the Republican National Committee, stepped down as New England chairman of Bush's 2004 re-election campaign when he became subject of a federal criminal investigation.

Several other senior Republican figures have been convicted for their parts in the scheme.

Tobin was denied bail and also fined $10,000 and given two years of probation. He plans to appeal, his lawyers said.

posted May 18, 2006 10:36 AM            

The men had pleaded no contest in January to misdemeanor property damage. A fifth worker was found not guilty.

Those who pleaded no contest were Sowande A. Omokunde, the son of Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee; Michael Pratt, the son of former acting Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt; and Lewis Caldwell and Lavelle Mohammad, both from Milwaukee.

They originally were charged with felony property damage but accepted plea deals on the lesser charge.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Brennan rejected prosecutors' recommendation of probation and no jail time.

"This case had to be a public example of what can happen when you interfere with voters' rights,'' Brennan said.

The men faced a maximum nine-month jail term and fines of $10,000.

Congresswoman Moore said, "I love my son very much. I'm very proud of him. He's accepted responsibility.''

The state Republican Party had rented more than 100 vehicles that were parked in a lot next to a Bush-Cheney campaign office to give rides to voters and poll monitors on Nov. 2, 2004. The vandalism caused some delays in the GOP's Election Day work as party workers rounded up different vehicles.

Democrat John Kerry won Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes in a close race.

Omokunde was sentenced to four months, Mohammad to five months and Caldwell and Pratt to six months. All were granted work-release privileges.

Brennan also ordered them to pay a $1,000 fine each, in addition to the $5,317 in total restitution ordered earlier.

posted May 18, 2006 02:33 PM            

Perhaps you should read the article you posted again or simply give up trying to connect the dots.

The article I posted is directly on the point of the article you posted and neither say a word about bombing.

posted May 18, 2006 06:25 PM              

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Governor Assisted Criminal "Dirty Tricks" Firm

Mississippi governor Haley Barbour arranged the startup financing for a GOP telemarketing firm that was involved in illegal election dirty tricks in both New Hampshire and New Jersey.

While Barbour denies any knowledge of the illegal activities, the head of the firm, who is now in prison for "jamming" phone lines during elections in New Hampshire, was a former employee of Barbour at the Republican National Committee, which Barbour once headed.

And yet, a whole slew of other officials all seem connected to the firms activities:

# President Bush's former campaign chairman for New England, James Tobin of Bangor, Maine, has been convicted in the New Hampshire case.

# The Associated Press reported April 10 that key figures in the phone jamming had regular contact with the White House -- and Republican officials -- as the scheme unfolded. The White House political office, recipient of most of calls, was run in 2002 by the current Republican national chairman, Ken Mehlman.

Since the beneficiaries of the illegal phone jamming were the Republican Party, it just stretches credibility to say that a private business was messed with elections all on its own. And given that Barbour got the whole thing rolling, a bit of healthy skepticism about Barbour's role is warranted.
http://www.progressivestates.org/blog/230/mi-governor-assisted-criminal-dirty-tricks- firm

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"umm hello....may i speak to Mike Rotch please?"

posted May 18, 2006 07:37 PM            

Both groups were attempting to hold down the vote of the opposition party.