White House Phone Freaking?

Quote:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/....ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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 of 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 New Hampshire 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 November 5, 2002.

Besides the conviction of Tobin, the Republicans' New England regional director, prosecutors negotiated two plea bargains: one with a New Hampshire Republican Party official and another with the owner of a telemarketing firm involved in the scheme. The owner of the subcontractor firm whose employees made the hang-up calls is under indictment.

The phone records show that most calls to the White House were from Tobin, who became President Bush's presidential campaign chairman for the New England region in 2004. Other calls from New Hampshire senatorial campaign offices to the White House could have been made by a number of people.

A GOP campaign consultant in 2002, Jayne Millerick, made a 17-minute call to the White House on Election Day, but said in an interview she did not recall the subject. Millerick, who later became the New Hampshire GOP chairwoman, said in an interview she did not learn of the jamming until after the election.

A Democratic analysis of phone records introduced at Tobin's criminal trial show he made 115 outgoing calls -- mostly to the same number in the White House political affairs office -- between September 17 and November 22, 2002. Two dozen of the calls were made from 9:28 a.m. the day before the election through 2:17 a.m. the night after the voting.

There also were other calls between Republican officials during the period that the scheme was hatched and canceled.

Prosecutors did not need the White House calls to convict Tobin and negotiate the two guilty pleas.

Whatever the reason for not using the White House records, prosecutors "tried a very narrow case," said Paul Twomey, who represented the Democratic Party in the criminal and civil cases. The Justice Department did not say why the White House records were not used.

The Democrats said in their civil case motion that they were entitled to know the purpose of the calls to government offices "at the time of the planning and implementation of the phone-jamming conspiracy ... and the timing of the phone calls made by Mr. Tobin on Election Day."

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.

By November 4, 2002, the Monday before the election, an Idaho firm was hired to make the hang-up calls. The Republican state chairman at the time, John Dowd, said in an interview he learned of the scheme that day and tried to stop it.

Dowd, who blamed an aide for devising the scheme without his knowledge, contended that the jamming began on Election Day despite his efforts. A police report confirmed the Manchester Professional Fire Fighters Association reported the hang-up calls began about 7:15 a.m. and continued for about two hours. The association was offering rides to the polls.

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.

"As policy, we don't discuss ongoing legal proceedings within the courts," White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said.

Robert Kelner, a Washington lawyer representing the Republican National Committee in the civil litigation, said there was no connection between the phone jamming operation and the calls to the White House and party officials.

"On Election Day, as anybody involved in politics knows, there's a tremendous volume of calls between political operatives in the field and political operatives in Washington," Kelner said.

"If all you're pointing out is calls between Republican National Committee regional political officials and the White House political office on Election Day, you're pointing out nothing that hasn't been true on every Election Day," he said.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera said Monday: "With every development in this case, there are new questions about the extent to which key national Republicans had knowledge of or were involved in a criminal scheme to keep New Hampshire voters from getting to the polls. The American people have a right to know whether the White House political director, who today sits as chairman of the national Republican Party, had any hand in it."

So.... the Republican Party pays MILLIONS in legal fees to defend these guys and then claims that "of course they weren't coordinating with people". Right. Is this a slam-dunk case? Not quite. But when thrown in with every other scandal the White House is suffering from right now, it's another negative sign.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Despite all these scandals we keep hearing about from the Bush administration its a wonder the damned rascals are still in office.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

"scandals" have been a part of almost every presidents time in office.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

There's a substantial difference between, say, having sex with an intern and, say, wiretapping American citizens without a warrant and jamming your opponents' phone lines.

Most amazing jew boots

Hmph... The phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" comes to mind here.

The worst part is that we'd all be frowning and tsking at the Democrats about similar operations if they were in power.

As much as I hate to admit it, both parties are just borked. They're fine until the exact moment they get a majority, and then the abuses begin. Repbulican, Democrat... it doesn't matter. There's always going to be some asshole who will take advantage of the system for their own gain.

I need to stop posting an hour and a half after I'm supposed to be sleeping.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Yggdrasil

Despite all these scandals we keep hearing about from the Bush administration its a wonder the damned rascals are still in office.

Will somebody hurry up and give the guy a blowjob so he can be impeached?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Oh, but BJs are only impeachable if you're a member of the opposing party. Duh.

Most amazing jew boots

I'd like to add that the correct term is "Phone Phreaking".

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Indeed, I noticed this about 2 seconds after I clicked the "Submit" button. This is what I get for typing stuff at 2am rather than copying/pasting. And I'm unable to edit thread titles.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Just wait until after mid terms. If the Dems regain control, impeachment proceedings are going to kick off pretty quickly.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

While this is disturbing, I must admit I am not at all surprised. This is business as usual for the GOP, I'm afraid. Oh well. This will just put the Democrats on their toes come election day of this year.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Meh....like the dems didn't do the same shit

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=324933

http://www.politicalgateway.com/main...d.html?col=434

Jeez...slashing tires..I think that beats phone phreaking.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Wesker

Meh....like the dems didn't do the same shit

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=324933

http://www.politicalgateway.com/main...d.html?col=434

Jeez...slashing tires..I think that beats phone phreaking.

"They are fucked up, so we can be fucked up."

I was speaking idiomatically.

It's kinda like how I knew shitloads of non-US citizens that went to the polls on election day to vote.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Adamgian

Just wait until after mid terms. If the Dems regain control, impeachment proceedings are going to kick off pretty quickly.

Impeachment proceedings are already getting kicked off in a couple State Legislators. If it won't start with the House of Reps, it'll just have to start somewhere else. Can't place your hopes and dreams on the Democrats actually winning. Think it was Michael Moore that said "The democrats can't win, even when they win." Don't quote me on that though.

Originally Posted by The_Griffin

Hmph... The phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" comes to mind here.

The worst part is that we'd all be frowning and tsking at the Democrats about similar operations if they were in power.

As much as I hate to admit it, both parties are just borked. They're fine until the exact moment they get a majority, and then the abuses begin. Repbulican, Democrat... it doesn't matter. There's always going to be some asshole who will take advantage of the system for their own gain.

My feelings exactly. The Democrats hold no power, therfore they don't have an oppurtunity to be that corrupt yet.

Wait a second. It's just all Bush. Yup Bush. Everything will be okay once Bush is gone.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by PUG1911

"They are fucked up, so we can be fucked up."

Wasn't trying to justify it, just pointing out that the article isn't as impressive as Arainach thinks it is. They both do it, no big suprise here, but on the whole, if you do any amount of research, the dems have been more extensivley involved in various voter fraud schemes.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

These kind of things are believable yet not surprising to me anymore. What really gets me is how we're going to discuss this but nothing in real life will ever come of the truth. I guess I'm sort of frustrated that all the things we're discovering don't seem to make any difference and these sort of operations continue

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Eleo

These kind of things are believable yet not surprising to me anymore. What really gets me is how we're going to discuss this but nothing in real life will ever come of the truth. I guess I'm sort of frustrated that all the things we're discovering don't seem to make any difference and these sort of operations continue

Would you rather delude yourself that instances such as these are just a few bad apples being rotten, rather then the whole barrel? Disillusionment does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. Even though it doesn't feel good.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I have no idea what you're getting at.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Quote:

Posted by Watts
Impeachment proceedings are already getting kicked off in a couple State Legislators. If it won't start with the House of Reps, it'll just have to start somewhere else. Can't place your hopes and dreams on the Democrats actually winning. Think it was Michael Moore that said "The democrats can't win, even when they win." Don't quote me on that though.

I would actually be very surprised if any impeachment hearings ever got anywhere. I don't think I trust the Democrats to have their shit together enough to actually manage something like that, no matter how much control they might get in Congress this November.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Monkey King

I would actually be very surprised if any impeachment hearings ever got anywhere. I don't think I trust the Democrats to have their shit together enough to actually manage something like that, no matter how much control they might get in Congress this November.

Of course, I wouldn't trust the democrats. From a historical prespective it was Republicans, like Goldwater that forced Nixon out of office. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if the Republicans would bail on Bush if they thought that hurt their chances this year and in '08. Maybe impeachment hearings spearheaded by a Republican '08 presidential hopeful? History seems to like to repeat itself. Which is good news for the Democrats in '08.

As for the obscure law that somehow allows State Legistlators to kick off impeachment proceedings... weirder laws have been dug up and successfully utilized.

Originally Posted by Eleo

I have no idea what you're getting at.

You probably will someday. Don't worry about it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Actually, you could elaborate on what you said previously, and that would make you seem like less of an ass.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Eleo

Actually, you could elaborate on what you said previously, and that would make you seem like less of an ass.

Easy. No offense was mean't.

My point was that you are (or at least sound like) you're disillusioned with the way things are politically. Just like a lot of other people in this thread. All I was saying is that while people assume that being dissatisfied with the way things are is a bad thing. They never look at the positive aspect of it. Nothing would have ever changed if people at one point or another, had they just accepted the way things were on any given issue.

An example today is Mayday. There's plenty of discontent people out protesting today. Whether I agree with their prespective is irrelevent. The overall point is they're not satisfied, and trying to redress their wrongs the only way they know how. Satisfaction tends to breed a sort of political apathy. So it's a refreshing change that disillusionment has brought about in one instance.

FELIPE NO