Dems: GOP Phone Jamming Case Stalled, Mishandled

[babylonsister]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002839.php

Dems: GOP Phone Jamming Case Stalled, Mishandled
By Paul Kiel - March 21, 2007, 4:59 PM

We reported earlier that people were asking questions about the Justice Department's handling of the Jack Abramoff investigation. Now New Hampshire Democrats are raising questions about another DoJ investigation into Republican wrongdoing -- the New Hampshire phone jamming case.

In a detailed, 10-page letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) signed by Kathleen Sullivan, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, and Paul Twomey, a lawyer for the Democrats, they argue that the investigation, which targeted prominent operatives in the Republican Party, was stalled and mishandled.

On Election Day in 2002, Republicans schemed to jam the phone banks for Democratic get out the vote efforts. Two Republicans involved in the plan pled guilty, and James Tobin, formerly the New England Regional Political Director for the Republican National Committee, was convicted for his role. The case took years to play out; the first guilty pleas in the case were not until the summer of 2004, and Tobin was not indicted until after the 2004 election.

One of the reasons the investigation was stalled, Democrats argue, is that "all decisions had to be reviewed by the Attorney General himself" -- first John Ashcroft and then Alberto Gonzales. To back up that claim, the Democrats say that lawyers working on the case were told by prosecutors that delays in the case were due to the extreme difficulty in obtaining authorization from higher levels at DOJ for any and all actions in the case.

A lawyer for one of the Republicans in the case backs up that claim. John Durken, the lawyer for Allen Raymond, a Republican whose consulting firm managed the jamming, says that the lead prosecutor in the case told him during one meeting that Ashcroft was involved in every decision. "He said, 'Every decision in this case goes all the way up to Ashcroft’s desk.'" Durken told me that such a fact didn't "surprise" him, given the political nature of the case.

more...

[madfloridian]

1. Curiouser and curiouser....in December 2006 a GOP lawyer was gloating.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/729

And who in the world is this mysterious witness the Democrats can't call in order to try to get 4 million in damages? This is the most confusing case I have ever seen. First we hear they can sue the GOP for millions, then they can't.

The GOP lawyer is sort of calling it a win for the defense. So confusing. Why wasn't this thing carried through? How high up in the White House does it go?

Why are the Democrats not pursuing it further?"

And here are the words of the GOP lawyer which really puzzled me.

GOP lawyer Ovide Lamontagne could not speak about the settlement on Friday, but hinted the Democrats did not do as well as they wanted, thanks to a ruling preventing them from using an expert witness they counted on to lay out the basis for initially seeking more than $4 million in damages.

"It was an unbelievable win, in a sense, for the defense side, and it eviscerated, really, their damage claim," he said. "They were scrambling in the last minute here to cobble together lay witnesses that would try to say how much they lost, and the theory didn't hold and the judge saw through it."

This is a very confusing case which went all the way to the White House.

[Ian David]

3. The fix was deffinitely in on this one, wasn't it? n/t

[madfloridian]

4. Yep, indeed. More details. Mehlman in it up to his eyeballs. Link.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/413

Included are Dean's statements on the NH deal on the Sam Seder show.

"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."

There is a lot of research at this link, I did a lot on it. But I got few responses.

[MagickMuffin]

2. Your first K&R

And let's not forget the RNC was paying Tobin's leagl fees...

[Jacobin]

5. I tell ya, Josh Marshall's team is the new Woodward & Bernstein

These guys are fucking good!

I hope he stays off of small planes. Because there is NO ONE, NO ONE AT ALL in the corporate media that will do this

[madfloridian]

6. Good diary on this at Kos.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/21/11153/1708

[deminks]

7. Don't look now, but Talk Left is reporting that Tobin's decision was reversed today

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/3/21/201547/980

Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in prison on charges of telephone harassment. But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that the statute under which Tobin was convicted "is not a close fit" for what Tobin did and questioned whether the government showed that Tobin intended to harass. A Justice Department spokesman said prosecutors were reviewing the decision, and did not say if they planned to appeal.

So, the government failed to show intent to harass.

Hmmmmmmm.

[troubleinwinter]

8. 'nother K & R

[heatstreak]

9. K&R