| Topic: |
Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"james g. keegan jr." |
| Date: |
14 Dec 2004 07:02:56 PM |
| Object: |
Judge lectures ex-GOP official |
Judge lectures ex-GOP official
By KATHARINE WEBSTER
The Associated Press
CONCORD — The former New England chairman of President Bush's reelection
campaign pleaded innocent in federal court yesterday to charges he
helped jam Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002.
James Tobin, 44, of Bangor, Maine, faces two criminal counts each of
conspiring to make harassing telephone calls and aiding and abetting
telephone harassment. The operation also involved a ride-to-the-polls
phone line set up by the nonpartisan Manchester firefighters' union.
Tobin, who was Northeast political director of the Republican Senatorial
Committee at the time, was indicted Dec. 1 after an investigation by the
U.S. Department of Justice. He faces up to five years in federal prison
if convicted.
Tobin is free on personal recognizance, and prosecutors agreed he did
not pose a flight risk or a danger to the public.
But U.S. Magistrate Judge James Muirhead ordered him to surrender his
passport and any weapons yesterday and said he should report to pre-
trial services, just like any other criminal defendant.
Muirhead threatened to jail Tobin if he gets so much as a speeding
ticket before his trial begins Feb. 1.
"He's no different than a street hooker in Manchester," Muirhead said.
"If he's guilty, then I find his crime as offensive as any other crime."
Disrupting the electoral process is an "outrage against the
Constitution," Muirhead said.
Tobin stepped down as Bush's regional campaign chairman on Oct. 15, when
state Democrats said in a separate civil lawsuit they believed he took
part in the phone-jamming scheme.
Tobin and his lawyers, Brian Tucker of Concord and Dennis Black of
Washington, declined to comment yesterday.
Tobin denied any involvement when he was first named, but said he was
resigning for the sake of Bush's reelection campaign. When he was
indicted two weeks ago, he said he would fight to clear his name.
Kathy Sullivan, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said after
Tobin's arraignment she was glad the judge was taking the charges
seriously.
"The court understands that this crime was outrageous and an attempt to
undercut our electoral process," she said.
She also criticized Tom Rath, the Republican National Committeeman from
New Hampshire, for allowing a member of his law firm — Tucker — to
represent Tobin. Rath did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Jayne Millerick, head of the Republican State Committee, said in a
statement the "committee is outraged by what occurred on Election Day in
2002. We will continue to fully participate in the ongoing and
appropriate criminal investigation."
Two other Republicans have pleaded guilty to one count each of
conspiracy in the phone-jamming operation: Chuck McGee, former executive
director of the New Hampshire Republican Party; and Allen Raymond, a
former colleague of Tobin's who operated GOP Marketplace, a
telemarketing service in Alexandria, Va. They are scheduled to be
sentenced in February and March.
In past court proceedings, prosecutors have said McGee planned the
phone-jamming operation and discussed it with a "high-ranking official
in the New Hampshire State Republican Committee." So far, that official
has not been named or charged.
Tobin is accused of putting McGee in touch with Raymond after McGee
complained he could not find a telemarketer able or willing to carry out
his plan. McGee then wrote a $15,600 check, using state Republican Party
funds, to GOP Marketplace, according to court records.
GOP Marketplace, in turn, paid an Idaho telemarketing company $2,500 to
place hundreds of computerized hang-up calls to five phone lines used by
state Democrats and one used by the Manchester firefighters' union, the
indictment says. More than 800 hang-up calls tied up the phones for
nearly an hour-and-a-half, before the unnamed official ordered McGee to
stop the jamming.
One of the races affected was the U.S. Senate contest between Democratic
Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican U.S. Rep. John E. Sununu. It was
considered very tight, but Sununu ended up winning by about 20,000
votes.
Tobin founded a communications and political consulting company in
Bangor before getting into GOP politics. He previously served as
national political director for publisher Steve Forbes' Presidential
campaign.
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=48315
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| User: "Andrew McSnerkity" |
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| Title: Re: Judge lectures ex-GOP official |
15 Dec 2004 12:15:47 AM |
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Hello James G. Keegan Jr.
You are an idiot.
"james g. keegan jr." <keegan@nycap.rr.com> wrote in message
news:Xns95BFCBF0D6D09keegannycaprrcom@130.133.1.4...
Judge lectures ex-GOP official
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| User: "Douglas D. Anderson" |
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| Title: Re: Judge lectures ex-GOP official |
15 Dec 2004 07:31:09 PM |
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"Andrew McSnerkity" <abuse@isp.net> wrote
Hello James G. Keegan Jr.
You are an idiot.
He might actually be a three year old prodigy who turns on his parents'
computer when they're not around. There was a news item several years
back about an eight year old boy driving his father's car on an expressway.
They said he was driving well enough, but the police started following when
they couldn't see a driver. Apparently he learned to drive simply by careful
attention to his father, and "parroting" that behavior.
"james g. keegan jr." <keegan@nycap.rr.com> wrote in message
news:Xns95BFCBF0D6D09keegannycaprrcom@130.133.1.4...
Judge lectures ex-GOP official
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| User: "John Savard" |
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| Title: Re: Judge lectures ex-GOP official |
15 Dec 2004 08:06:00 PM |
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On 15 Dec 2004 01:02:56 GMT, "james g. keegan jr." <keegan@nycap.rr.com>
quoted, in part:
Tobin is free on personal recognizance, and prosecutors agreed he did
not pose a flight risk or a danger to the public.
Disrupting the electoral process is an "outrage against the
Constitution," Muirhead said.
Why _doesn't_ he pose a flight risk? Is it certain that, if he is
guilty, he will get nothing more than a slap on the wrist?
John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html
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