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Feds Drop New Hampshire Phone-Jamming Case
Has the New Hampshire phone-jamming case finally come to a quiet end?
Federal prosecutors have dropped their case against former regional NRSC official James Tobin in connection with a GOP plot to jam the phone lines of the New Hampshire Democratic party on Election Day 2002, reports the Associated Press.
Tobin had been acquitted of involvement in the plot -- for which two GOP consultants have served jail time -- but was being tried on new charges of lying to investigators. A court dismissed those charges, and last week an appeals court rejected prosecutors' appeal.
Almost from the start, there has been evidence of White House involvement in the scheme. Phone records show Tobin made 24 calls to the office of Ken Mehlman, then the White House's political director, around Election Day 2002, and the RNC has spent hundreds of thousands on Tobin's defense. Mehlman has denied that any of the calls concerned the scheme.
And New Hampshire Democratic congressman Paul Hodes doesn't view the matter as closed. "New Hampshire's citizens deserve a full airing of what transpired in 2002," said Hodes said in statement. "Granite Staters deserve fair elections and hopefully this case will serve as a warning to those who would seek to tamper with New Hampshire's electoral process."
Josh
Zachary
Um --the guy allegedly lied to federal officers. Last time I looked, that is a crime.
SG
May 27, 2009 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
The federal district court threw out the case and the appellate court affirmed. The DOJ, at that point, has only two options (1) dismiss the case or (2) file a petition for cert with the US Supremes which will almost assuredly not hear the case. I don't see how anybody case blame the Obama DOJ for this - the courts threw the case out
May 27, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course the Obama DOJ can be blamed for this travesty.
They presented such a bad case that the court had no choice but to throw it out.
What is to keep the Obama DOJ from refiling another case and making an effective presentation?
June 1, 2009 9:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Saint,
its the reason Martha Stewart went to jail.
May 29, 2009 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama has his tongue so far up the GOP's ass. First Stevens, who was, you know, actually guilty, prosecution misconduct or no. Then he lets Tobin off the hook, even though Tobin was, you know, actually guilty.
Meanwhile, I hear Don Siegleman, who is, you know, actually innnocent, is going to switch parties to see if becoming a Republican will persuade Obama to have the charges against him dropped.
May 27, 2009 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Loved the Siegleman comparison
May 27, 2009 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you.
May 30, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was going to comment about Don Siegleman as well. Is the Obama Justice Department also being run by Karl Rove -- letting Republicans off the hook, and political prosecutions of Democrats OK?
May 27, 2009 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Youre' missing the point. In this case, the appellate court affirmed a trial court's decision to throw the case out. The DOJ had to dismiss. In Siegelman, the appellate court AFFIRMED the conviction. In Stevens, there was a pending motion to dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct which was almost sure to be granted.
May 27, 2009 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
"prosecutorial misconduct"?
On purpose?
Why are these incompetent Bushies still in the Department of Justice?
May 28, 2009 7:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
RE: Stevens, DOJ could have tried again. But nooooooo.
May 30, 2009 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder who the US Attorney is in this case; is he a Bush holdover or an Obama appointee?
May 27, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well now, it wouldn't be very bipartisan of him to do something that helps democrats. Clearly, the best way to push through a progressive, pro-worker agenda is to give the rebublicans whatever they want.
May 27, 2009 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bingo. Obama is there simply to consolidate Repuke gains and protect them from being rolled back under pressure from an angry public thoroughly disgusted with Repuke excesses. That way, when the anger and revulsion at the Repukes dissipate, a new Repuke president can just pick up where Cheney left off.
May 30, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shouldn't the DOJ be hiring a Special Prosecutor to investigate Bush administration officials for warrentless wiretapping and surveillance, ginning up the Iraq "war", illegal renditions, illegal torture of detainees, chronic misuse and abuse of presidential signing statements, total politicization of governmental departments, coordinated propaganda campaigns against perceived enemies and various other greed and corruption issues? When are they going to get to those important matters. How is "phone jamming" more important?
When are they gonna get to that?
May 27, 2009 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
It seems like every day I become more and more disillusioned with Obama.
May 27, 2009 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
How can one be disillusioned when a mediocre, just-right-of-center-of-the-road politician continues to be himself?
Oh . . . You thought he was progressive because he is registered as a Democrat? So many folk missed that Obama was the 46th most progressive Senator during the four years he served in the Senate.
I keep reccomending http://www.progressivepunch.org/ to keep an eye on elective representatives and their track records . . . Obama was a crap-load better choice than McCain and that is about all we can say about him.
May 27, 2009 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Several commenters are jumping down Obama;'s throat with no valid reason. This case was handled by Bush's DOJ. The appeals court threw out the charges. Looks like Bush's people botched another case. You think they were really gung-ho to catch Republicans stealing elections? These people appointed on the basis of the conservative ideological credentials wanted to do this right, but Obama screwed it up?
Go back and re-read TPM's coverage of Gonzo-gate. How quickly some of us forget.
May 27, 2009 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
There seems to be very little that Obama is doing to get the Bushies out of government. Obama has been President for well over 100 days now and we haven't heard of ANY US Attorneys being fired or replaced. That was always one of the first priorities of every past President.
May 27, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's not so. In fact, Sean Hannity tried to accuse Obama of hypocrisy for accepting resignations from most US attorneys. He still didn't get the difference obviously, but my point is the replacements will take a while. Plus, in this specific case, most of the case was litigated under Bush. There's just no reasonable way to blame Obama.
May 28, 2009 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama knew, after the November election, that he would be President and that he would be replacing the US Attorney's. That was six months ago - and there are still Bush holdovers in the DOJ screwing up cases for the benefit of Republicans?
Yes, at this point, I can blame the Obama Administration.
.
June 1, 2009 9:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Richard,
I believed him during the campaign, ole dopey me.
May 27, 2009 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate the Bush administration for making me suspect that this and the Stevens trial were actually cases of planned incompetence.
May 27, 2009 6:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why do we care about this?
It's certainly understandable that we care about sending more troops to Afghanistan , not releasing the extra torture photos, reinstating military commissions, and preventive detention. And the bail outs. I agree with some , disagree with others but they all raise serious issues.
Not this case. Or rather not in this case given the state of play.
May 27, 2009 9:41 PM | Reply | Permalink