A former national Republican Party official will stand trial on charges he conspired to jam Democratic get-out-the-vote phone lines on election day 2002, a federal judge said in Concord.
Judge Steven McAuliffe rejected an argument by James Tobin that the conspiracy charges should be dismissed because the government’s allegations were insufficient. A trial for Tobin, who in 2002 was political director of the national committee working to get Republican senators elected, is scheduled for Dec. 6.
Josh Marshall has been doing some excellent reporting on this case as it’s developed over the last year or so. This link should get you caught up.
Of note here, keep in mind that a) Tobin was working for the national Republican Party, he wasn’t some loose-cannon, bad apple, lone agent, b) The phone-jamming scandal was in the ’02 election, yet the RNC hired Tobin to head their ’04 Northeastern Regional Campaign even after they knew he was in trouble for the ’02 shenanigans and c) The RNC, as of August, had so far covered his $700k legal bills, that much before the trial had even begun.
Next time a wingnut tosses you the canard about some tires slashed in Milwaukee by a couple of kids, remind them of this guy, still on the RNC’s payroll.
The neoCons and neoConvicts have infiltrated and hijacked the republican party. It is going to cost the republicans if they do not eject the neoCons.
I think this case would not be any surprise to the public in general. That is, even if the MSM carried the story.
The sexy story at this time is the pre-war intelligence and Libby criminal trial … so this story may not be covered like it should.
I question the legality of using political contributions, which are gathered under the guise of being used to elect a candidate, for the legal defense of a private individual.
This would seem to be an improper diversion of funds.
The RNC is evidently doing that (link here). This has the fingerprints of a neoCon operation within the republican party.
Strongly agree with Dredd on "this story may not be covered like it should" and respectfully submit that 6 or 7 BRAD BLOG readers — the ones with functional printers — might consider lending a hand to the effort to make sure that doesn’t happen.
I have two Whispering Campaign links for you this time: the first from Brad’s post above; the second from the TPM post he linked to.
GOP Voting Obstruction Case Bound for Trial by Brad Friedman
Election-Tampering Pure And Simple by Joshua Micah Marshall
Short sharp shocks to the system: Single-page, large-font excerpts all set up for you to print, copy and distribute very casually and quietly, leaving copies in public places for others to read and hopefully to pass along… to others who will pass them on again … and so on…
BTW for those who haven’t visited The Whispering Campaign recently:
The archives have finally been organized — somewhat — by topic, and the elections-related material is now here:
"What’s Wrong With Our Elections?".
And to those who have visited recently:
Thanks for your support!
I don’t know how reliable of a source, but it is scary enough!
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/...cle_7639.shtml
Hell, Brownie’s still on the payroll at FEMA, at 150K per annum.
If the guy is convicted, expect a pardon and a promotion.
Daily updates on Tobin’s trial will be helpful here, because we can’t count on the New York Times or other mainstream papers to cover it. Predictions:
If Fox Network covers it, the focus will be on whether the prosecutor is a partisan Democrat or not (a spokesman for Tom DeLay will be quoted as saying he is). Scottie McClellan will refuse to comment on an ongong case. Ken Mehlmann will say the courts are tying to criminalize politics. And the same right-wingers on Capitol Hill who say judges shouldn’t legislate from the bench will go after this judge for sticking to the current law.