Last week, the Senate Majority Project dredged up the fact that Allen Raymond, whose consulting firm was hired to jam New Hampshire Democratic phone banks on Election Day in 2002, appeared to still be in the teleservices business.
But Raymond, who’s been out of jail for only about five weeks, told me that he’s “effectively out of politics” and says he’s moved on to a career in real estate investment.
Shortly after the phone jamming scandal broke in February of 2003, Raymond shut down GOP Marketplace, a teleservices consultancy which was now unfortunately associated with electoral sabotage, and opened up a company called Telus Communications. It was the same company without the baggage.
Since it started up in March of 2003, Telus has serviced a small handful of Republican clients for relatively modest fees, such as the Idaho Republican Party, the Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico, Christian Voter Project, and the failed campaign of Richard Colburn (R) for a Maryland House seat, according to records on Political Money Line.
“I originally created Telus in order for me to continue to do political work prior to being charged and pleading guilty [in June of 2004],” Raymond told me. He needed to “pay some bills.”
And even with a federal investigation hanging over Raymond’s head, business continued to come in. His firm got referrals even into 2005, long after Raymond pled guilty. Raymond says he’s “not out there soliciting political business” — but that “after being in this industry for fifteen years, we do get inquiries for our services.”
Raymond said that these were “small jobs” - of the clients listed above, the largest fee was $13,134 for the New Mexico Republicans - and that it was all “in the process of transitioning away from political work.” As was apparent from his interview with The Boston Globe, Raymond does not seem eager to get back into the good graces of the Republican Party.
He says he uses Telus now primarily for real estate transactions.
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