Howard sends Ken a letter about NH phone jamming.

[madfloridian]

http://www.democrats.org/blog.html

Dear Ken,
Yesterday, the AP ran a story entitled "Phone Jamming Records Point to White House." This story provides new details about the role of the New Hampshire Republican Party in the phone-jamming scandal and raises serious questions as to whether the RNC and the White House were actively involved.

As you know, on Election Day, a telemarketer hired by the New Hampshire GOP jammed telephone lines at five state Democratic and one firefighters union get-out-the-vote phone banks. The AP noted yesterday that the "records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 - as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down."

The AP story also stated that virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same number (202-456-6173) which currently rings inside the political affairs office. Although the White House declined today to say which staffer was assigned that phone number in 2002, you may be able to shed some light on the subject, as you were the White House Political Director during that time.

You have often spoken of the importance of making sure that every vote counts. In that spirit, we hope that you will take the necessary steps to clear up the lingering confusion surrounding the RNC and the White House's role in this scandal by answering these questions:

* James Tobin called the White House two dozen times in three days. Whom was he calling? With whom did he speak? Whom did he work with in the office of political affairs?

* Tobin worked directly with Terry Nelson, who was then political director at the RNC. When will Mr. Nelson answer questions about his role in the scandal? Whom else at the RNC did Tobin work with?

* Did the White House authorize this phone jamming scheme and, if so, who specifically did so? Or was the phone jamming authorized by the RNC?

* Was anyone on the White House staff or at the RNC involved in concocting, authorizing, implementing or concealing this scheme?

The overt effort by the New Hampshire Republican Party to suppress the vote on Election Day in 2002 is unconscionable. The people of New Hampshire deserve an apology. And America deserves to know exactly how deeply the White House and the RNC were involved in the planning and execution of this scheme. We hope you will provide the answers we need so we can move forward together.

Sincerely,

Governor Howard Dean, MD
Chairman

Delivering the letter. A DNC staffer, Kate.



Picture of the envelope...in case the MSN ignores the event and pretends it never happened.

[ihelpu2see]

1. Way to go Dr. Dean!!! nt

[madfloridian]

2. Mehlman was WH political director at that time.

http://www.democrats.org/blog.html

"Does the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal have tentacles reaching all the way to the White House? Yesterday's AP report seems to indicate that it might. One of the three criminally convicted for his role in the scandal, James Tobin, made about two-dozen calls to the White House in the days before the election. There is certainly reason to wonder if any of those conversations had to do with the "GOP scheme that jammed phone lines to keep state Democrats from being encouraged to vote." The case has already resulted in three federal convictions and millions in legal bills footed by the RNC to defend the architect of the plan and the man mentioned above, James Tobin.

As you might recall, current RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman was the White House Political Director at the time."

[yellowcanine]

3. Howard is kicking butt and taking names. About time.

[madfloridian]

4. NH Union Leader picks up the story of this letter. Good.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Howard+Dean%3A+What+did+GOP+leader+know%3F&articleId=c87eed08-f4e6-4682-bc92-7be7d7efc757

"Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is asking his Republican counterpart what he knows about an Election Day 2002 phone-jamming scheme carried out by GOP operatives.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reported last month that court records researched by a Democratic-affiliated advocacy group showed that convicted phone-jamming conspirator James Tobin made dozens of calls to the White House in the weeks leading up to — and following — the voting on Nov. 5, 2002.

Following a similar report by the Associated Press yesterday, Dean today said, “The overt effort by the New Hampshire Republican Party to suppress the vote on Election Day in 2002 is unconscionable.”

Dean is asking RNC Chair Ken Mehlman if the White House authorized the operation in which hundreds of hang-up calls were made to Democratic and firefighters union get-out-the-vote phone lines on the morning of Election Day."

[mopinko]

11. firefighters union

can we say that a little louder?
they jammed the phones at the firefighters union!!

[madfloridian]

13. Is that the same firefighters' union who supports Republicans...

as much as they support Democrats? They had more GOP guys speaking at their convention recently than Democrats as far as I could find.

"Some union leaders have voiced fears that labor's flirtation with bipartisanship could undercut efforts to return control of Congress to the Democrats, who have been friendlier to labor on issues like workplace regulation and raising the minimum wage."

"As part of the bipartisan approach, Mr. Schaitberger said his union would back candidates, Republicans and Democrats, who have stood with the firefighters on issues like increased spending to hire first responders.

He said his union would back the re-elections of Republicans like Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio but would seek to defeat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California and Senator Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, two other Republicans."
http://www.local786.org/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/view_article.cfm&HomeID=34518

Maybe now they will think twice?

[bluedeminredstate]

5. Love this!

I begrudgingly gave my contribution to the DNC a couple weeks ago but I told the young woman I spoke with that I wanted it noted that the ONLY reason they were receiving a nickle from me was Howard Dean. She laughed and said she would pass it on and it wasn't the first time she'd heard that comment.
:thumbsup:

[Supersedeas]

6. Ken the mouthpiece knows about what happened in NH

[ginnyinWI]

7. is there any way they can press charges, I wonder. n/t

[Scriptor Ignotus]

8. i am shocked

shocked i tell you, that this is not mentioned anywhere on the New Hampshire GOP website.

http://www.nhgop.org/

[madfloridian]

9. NH Dems site asks McCain to fire this guy's former boss...

whom he hired as a campaign manager. McCain acted clueless on all of this, and he deserves to be blasted for it. He is not clueless on this issue.

http://www.nh-democrats.org/newscenter/news/?id=318

NH DEM PARTY CALLS ON MCCAIN TO FIRE PHONE-JAMMER'S BOSS BEFORE SETTING FOOT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE TOMORROW
New "Senior Advisor" is Hip Deep in Two Scandals, Including NH Phone-Jamming


CONCORD, NH - "The New Hampshire Democratic Party called on Senator John McCain to fire his newly-hired "senior advisor" before coming to New Hampshire tomorrow, after new reports revealed that the advisor directly supervised the Republican official convicted of jamming get-out-the-vote phone lines during the 2002 U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire.

"Actions speak louder than words, and that applies to John McCain just like everyone else," said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan.

"John McCain isn't going to get away with talking like a reformer to our faces, then hiring the same old scandal-plagued officials behind our backs. McCain's new advisor has direct ties to the phone-jamming crime committed in our state, and if John McCain sets foot in New Hampshire without firing him than he will have a lot to answer for."

McCain's new advisor, Terry Nelson, was the National Political Director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002, where he directly supervised New England Political Director James Tobin. This past December, Tobin was convicted of multiple felonies related to his involvement in the phone-jamming crime."

The GOP would prefer to act as those this issue did not exist.

[blm]

10. Hah - Great letter Chairman Dean - hope the media gives it coverage.

You know the way corporate media works - whenever Dems fight GOPs where it hurts the more media ignores them.

[madfloridian]

12. WCAX, VT, covers this. Says GOP won't respond to it...

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=4756164&nav=4QcS


"National Democratic Chairman Howard Dean is getting involved in the dispute over who authorized a Republican phone-jamming scheme in New Hampshire four years ago.

The New Hampshire Union Leader is reporting on its website that Dean is demanding some answers from his counterpart, Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman. He is asking Mehlman if the White House authorized the operation that jammed get-out-the-vote phone banks in New Hampshire on Election Day 2002.

Dean says Mehlman, who was White House political director at the time, may be able to shed some light on who received the calls and whether the White House or the Republican National Committee authorized the jamming.

The committee says it won't respond to accusations it says are "false, preposterous and laughable."

[Fleshdancer]

17. the accusations are false?

they really said this? so their stance on this issue is that the phone records are fake? Riiiiight. :eyes:

[madfloridian]

18. Poor Ken, he is a little delusional lately.

Too much pressure. Herding elephants lately is worse than herding cats, and Howard does a pretty decent job of that.

[UrbScotty]

14. I heart Howard (nt)

[Adelante]

15. Oh, this is excellent

Yeah :thumbsup:

[Fleshdancer]

16. Has anyone else Googled the number yet?

The .pdf file that pops up shows up as missing but the html version shows a list of all the times and dates James Tobin called this number...78 calls total. :rofl:

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:XwhWZIGBEeoJ:www.senatemajority.com/files/Tobin_White_House_Calls.pdf+202-456-6173+&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

* 78 calls total
* all calls are to 202-456-6173 except for the call on 10/3/02, at 3:15 pm, which was to 202-456-7016
Source: Exhibits from USA v. Tobin trial, U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire; CASE #:1:04-cr-00216-SM-1

[blondeatlast]

19. YES! C'mon, RNC cowards--explain yourselves--I DARE you! nt

[madfloridian]

20. Mehlman's reply.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=63911

WASHINGTON, April 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman released the following statement:

"As White House political director during the 2002 election cycle, my staff and I regularly communicated with competitive Congressional campaigns and Republican Party organizations. One of the most competitive was the Senate race in New Hampshire and throughout the election season and Election Day, Alicia Davis, my deputy responsible for the Northeast, frequently communicated with the New Hampshire State Party, the RNC and others.

"To be clear, none of my conversations nor the conversations of my staff, involved discussion of the phone-jamming incident. While I have profound policy disagreements with Chairman Dean, I have always tried to maintain what he and I discussed when we were first elected: keep it to the issues."

Sorry, Kenneth, that is an issue. A big one.

[Josh]

21. Senate race in NH was awfully close in 2002, wasn't it?

From memory, Sununu offed the incumbent Senator (Gordon Smith?) and narrowly defeated Jean Shaheen, the governor... I think. Anyone remember what the result was? I suppose I could look it up, but some people here live in NH and probably remember the details better...