ebonlock: (Monarch)
[personal profile] ebonlock
You would think this country might have learned something from the whole Nixon debacle, but no, a majority decided once again to back a bunch of crooks:

Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show.

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 national Republican Party, which paid millions in legal bills to defend Tobin, says the contacts involved routine election business and that it was "preposterous" to suggest the calls involved phone jamming.

The Justice Department has secured three convictions in the case but hasn't accused any White House or national Republican officials of wrongdoing, nor made any allegations suggesting party officials outside New Hampshire were involved. The phone records of calls to the White House were exhibits in Tobin's trial but prosecutors did not make them part of their case.

Democrats plan to ask a federal judge Tuesday to order GOP and White House officials to answer questions about the phone jamming in a civil lawsuit alleging voter fraud.

Repeated hang-up calls that jammed telephone lines at a Democratic get-out-the-vote center occurred in a Senate race in which Republican John Sununu defeated Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, 51 percent to 46 percent, on Nov. 5, 2002...

While national Republican officials have said they deplore such operations, the Republican National Committee said it paid for Tobin's defense because he is a longtime supporter and told officials he had committed no crime...

Virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same number, which currently rings inside the political affairs office. In 2002, White House political affairs was led by now-RNC chairman Ken Mehlman. The White House declined to say which staffer was assigned that phone number in 2002.


Does this administration know how to do anything but lie, cheat and steal? Oh, wait, there's the ineptitude...oh and the racism...and let's not forget the corruption...*sigh*

Edit: No More Mister Nice Blog adds:

"In 2002, White House political affairs was led by now-RNC chairman Ken Mehlman."

And at the time, Mehlman's boss would have been...?

"And when you're at the White House, who do you report to as political director?"

"Karl Rove."

Yeah -- Mehlman was the head of Political Affairs, but he answered to Rove.

When do we nail the sonofabitch? When does our political class stop being amused at the notion that Rove fights dirty but leaves "no fingerprints"? When does someone actually start looking for some fingerprints?

This was a crime -- not a "dirty trick," a crime. A GOP Congress won't investigate it. When is the press going to develop a pulse and start trying to determine whether Rove belongs in prison?

Date: 2006-04-11 07:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moonlightnrain.livejournal.com
Okay, so I know I'm a bit naive about these things, but how does phone-jamming effect voting? I'm confused.

Date: 2006-04-11 08:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ebonlock.livejournal.com
Think of it like a denial of service attack on a website, while the Dems were trying to call registered Dem voters to get them to vote in the Senate race, the GOP were busy jamming their phones to keep them from doing so. That's a no-no.

Date: 2006-04-11 08:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moonlightnrain.livejournal.com
Hmmm, okay. I see that that's a big no-no, but does a telephone campaign to people registered Democrat have that much impact? I always find those calls annoying, since, yeah, that's the way I'm already voting. What I mean is, do they think it would have changed the results? The GOP must have, if they endorsed it, but it just seems a rather ineffectual means of tampering.

They should have had Col. Tigh help them.

Date: 2006-04-11 09:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ebonlock.livejournal.com
It wasn't so much to get them to register, from what I understand, it was to remind them to go vote right before the election. The overall idea was to suppress the Dem vote, which they did beautifully, while getting their own folks out in droves under equally shady methods.

Date: 2006-04-11 09:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moonlightnrain.livejournal.com
I didn't think it was to get them to register, no, I thought it was to get already registered Democrats to vote for a Democrat. Which seems safe to assume they already would, right? Are people really sitting at home on election day just waiting for someone to tell them what to do? How sad.

Date: 2006-04-12 04:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cyranocyrano.livejournal.com
There are, in my experience, a lot of people sitting at home on election day thinking "It's raining. I don't want to go out." or "There's a Real World marathon on, and I'll miss it if I go vote." or "Enh. My vote doesn't really count anyway." or some such thing, and getting a call from somebody who says "I would really like it if you went out and voted." is a strong motivator for some people.

Date: 2006-04-12 05:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moonlightnrain.livejournal.com
Really? I guess I just don't think of people as so... maleable.

Date: 2006-04-12 09:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] psyfic.livejournal.com
Well, that and a lot of people are so busy or forgetful that a call is a reminder of the day. I don't know how many times in the last few years my elderly aunt has said she nearly forgot to vote except she got a phone call reminding her.

Date: 2006-04-12 04:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moonlightnrain.livejournal.com
See, I wasn't thinking of the elderly at all...

Date: 2006-04-12 09:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] psyfic.livejournal.com
It wasn't just that but to inform them of options if they needed assistance. The local firefighters were driving elders and handicapped people in to vote, but unless they were informed, they had no way of knowing and some quite likely didn't vote because they had no transport and/or it wasn't very easy for them to get to the polls.

Date: 2006-04-12 04:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moonlightnrain.livejournal.com
There! Thank you. *That* makes a heck of a lot more sense to me. :)

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