Judge clears way to proceed with phone-jamming trial

Judge clears way to proceed with phone-jamming trial
By Anne Saunders, Associated Press Writer | December 2, 2005

CONCORD, N.H. --A federal judge ruled Friday on evidence that can be presented in the upcoming trial of James Tobin, a former Republican official accused of involvement in a phone jamming scheme.

Tobin, of Bangor, Maine, is scheduled to go on trial Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe. Tobin is accused in an alleged Republican conspiracy to jam Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002. He denies the charges.
Among the motions considered by McAuliffe was a request from Tobin's attorneys asking the judge to instruct the jury that the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee were not involved.
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Two of Tobin's GOP associates, former New Hampshire Republican chairman Chuck McGee, and consultant Allen Raymond, have already pleaded guilty to phone-jamming conspiracy charges. Both were fined and sentenced to several months in prison; both have cooperated with investigators.

In 2002, Tobin served as political director of the national committee working get Republican senators elected. He is accused of putting McGee in touch with Raymond, then president of Alexandria, Va.-based GOP Marketplace LLC, to set up the phone-jamming plot. Tobin last year served as President Bush's 2004 New England campaign chairman, but resigned last October after the phone-jamming accusations surfaced.
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/12/02/judge_clears_way_to_proceed_with_phone_jamming_trial/

The ultimate scum in a democracy. No matter which side.

the Republicans always try to paint this as a rogue operation. How many rogue operations will there be found out when we realize there's no one left to indict?

Wouldn't it be remarkable if justice prevailed here?

A recent article:

Thursday, December 1, 2005

Judge won't drop count in phone-jamming case

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

CONCORD, N.H. -- A federal judge has ordered a former high-ranking Republican official to stand trial on a charge of conspiring to injure the voting rights of New Hampshire citizens.

U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe denied James Tobin's request to dismiss the charge Wednesday. Tobin, of Bangor, Maine, also faces three other counts of taking part in a Republican plot to jam get-out-the-vote phone lines sponsored by the Democratic Party and the nonpartisan Manchester firefighters union on Election Day 2002. Both groups offered voters rides to the polls.

At the time, Tobin headed the national committee working to get Republicans elected to the U.S. Senate. Last year, he was the New England director of President Bush's re-election campaign, but he resigned a month before the election when the phone jamming accusations surfaced.
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http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/2197075.shtml