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Tobin Sentenced

By TChris, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Thu May 18, 2006 at 07:24:31 AM EST
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by TChris

James Tobin, the Republican party official who orchestrated a plot to jam telephone lines set up by the Democratic party in New Hampshire on Election Day 2002, has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. That sentence doubles the 5 month sentence imposed on co-conspirator Allen Raymond, President of GOP Marketplace, LLC. Another co-conspirator, Charles "Chuck" McGee, the former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party, was sentenced to 7 months in federal prison.

The judge explained why this wasn't a simple case of prank calling:

"I'm not sure you recognize that the nature of this offense is extraordinary," Judge McAuliffe said Wednesday in imposing Tobin's sentence. "It was a direct assault on free and fair elections. ... Our democracy is fragile, it cannot afford assaults on the integrity of that process.

"It wasn't just about Shaheen and Sununu," he continued. "It was about an entire election. We'll never know if the wrong people are sitting in government. It had an impact. We just can't measure it."

As TalkLeft noted here, the RNC paid for Tobin's defense. The sentencing might not (and should not) put an end to the scandal; as TalkLeft reported here, Senate Judiciary Committee Minority Leader John Conyers is seeking the appointment of special counsel to pursue an investigation of the 22 calls that New Hampshire Republican officials made to Ken Mehlman, then the White House Political Director, during the two days leading up to the election.

< Another Internet Report of Karl Rove Indictment | Kennard Conviction Vacated >

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    • Tobin Sentenced | 18 comments (18 topical)
    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#1)
    by desertswine on Thu May 18, 2006 at 08:01:56 AM EST
    Ten months for "a direct assault on free and fair elections." Maybe a full fledged coup would've gotten him an entire year. Not enough.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 08:17:52 AM EST
    You must really be upset about the sentences these guys got

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#3)
    by Sailor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 08:43:08 AM EST
    there's a wee bit o' difference between vandalism and denying people the right to vote. He should have gotten 10 years and millions in fines. just like a wrongwinger to try to confuse the issue.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#4)
    by swingvote on Thu May 18, 2006 at 09:01:35 AM EST
    I don't know, Sailor. Do you think these guys did not intend to make it difficult for some people to vote, given that these vehicles were to be used to transport people? Would you be so blase about a little bit of vandalism had the vehicles been planned for use by the Democratic party? As for Tobin: I'm just glad he was convicted.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 09:06:28 AM EST
    Sailor, You've summed up why Dems have had problems. Impeding the rights of people being transported to vote is somehow less important than jamming phone lines, which has absolutely no effect on a person's ability to vote. In your world, getting to the polls is less important than being advertised to. Makes perfect sense! Dems have to fight right and wrong, and not right and left. Start doing that and you begin to win.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#6)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Thu May 18, 2006 at 09:16:37 AM EST
    bocajeff, Give that rant to Max Cleland or any other of the numerous victims of Republican smear campaigns over the ages, not to mention all those erroneously removed from Florida voter rolls in 2000. In other words, moral proselytizing from your side on this issue looks kinda ridiculous. Your guys invented, perfected, and practice on a large scale the undermining of democracy, without mercy and without shame.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#7)
    by Dadler on Thu May 18, 2006 at 09:33:16 AM EST
    Oh Lord, here we go. Both crimes were wrong. OBVIOUSLY. But phone lines assisting thousands of people seeking electoral assistance have a exponentially greater impact than a few slashed tires. That's just simple logic. Both groups were sentenced for their crimes. The tire-slashers acted like punks getting their anger out through vandalism; the phone jammer acted like a punk in a suit, attempting to channel his anger to impede as many people as he could.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#8)
    by TomStewart on Thu May 18, 2006 at 09:40:47 AM EST
    Bocajeff, I'm sorry, but it was a call line to for people to call and get rides, not just people calling and saying 'Hey, you. Go Vote!'. What the dems who slashed tires did was stupid and they should be punished for it, but other cars and vehicles could have been used. What the repubs did in this case was deny shutins and elderly the chance to get a pickup, how many, we'll nver know. This was a well funded operation, whose planning, and knowledge of that planning probably reached into the white house itself. Somehow I don't think John Kerry was telling dems it would be a good idea to slash tires. Oh, and please, I find repugs lecturing dems on 'how to win' by being more moral insulting in the extreme. When the repubs can clean their own skirts, they can then lecture dems about the dirt on theirs.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#9)
    by Sailor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 09:43:11 AM EST
    a couple of important differences: 25 vans out of 100 were damaged hours before the polls opened by low level staffers. And they received 6 months and restitution. The phone jamming was organized by the regional head of the RNC.
    "The Republican National Committee reportedly has paid Tobin's legal team $2.8 million since his indictment in December 2004"
    So one was an act of independant vandalism and the other was a mutistate RNC organized activity, and he only got 10 months.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 10:35:45 AM EST
    Bocajeff, First of all I'm a democrat. Second of all I live in Palm Beach County and "accidentally" voted for Buchanan in 2000 thanks to the butterfly ballot. Thirdly, this sh*t happens on both ends - Mr. Del Mundo likes to say that the Republicans invented this stuff: C'mon, anyone with any sense of history understands that the phrase "vote early and vote often" was from Chicago and the democratic machine. Not to mention what Kennedy did in the 1960 primary in West Virginia or the general election for that matter. Max Cleland - meet Barry Goldwater. LBJ said Goldwater was going to blow up the world. C'mon, grow a spine. The inference in the attacks against me is that what happened in Wisconsin wasn't a big deal compared to this post. Well, you know what, they are both equally wrong! Stop bellyaching and recognize the corruption on both sides.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 10:53:23 AM EST
    Ernesto.... Your guys invented, perfected, and practice on a large scale the undermining of democracy, without mercy and without shame. Welcome back...we missed you. As for your comment...I'm LOL. Amazing how you Dems turn a blind eye & deaf ear to your parties wrong doings isn't it? Please look up the 1960 elections and how Kennedy "carried" Illinois...& in particular Chicago...due to mass voting fraud! Tom Stewert... This was a well funded operation, whose planning, and knowledge of that planning probably reached into the white house itself Yeah...'probably'.... LMAO. And these other leftie "thugs" acted alone? Kerry is, was, & always has been squeaky clean? Hey, I have a bridge to sell you! Sailor... a couple of important differences: Yes...one was done by Dems ...& the other by Repubs. Two VERY important differences as far as you're concerned...yes?

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#12)
    by Dadler on Thu May 18, 2006 at 11:23:27 AM EST
    boca, Equally wrong would imply an equal number of people victimized, as well as, with property crime, the amount of damage done. They were, however, equal in that both were politically motivated. The debate about which impacted more voters, or which was part of a larger party policy to disenfranchise through tech sabotage, is not much of one to me, nor to you. We simply and across a wide canyon disagree. Peace.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#13)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Thu May 18, 2006 at 11:47:13 AM EST
    bocajeff and BB...Murray Chotiner was Dick Nixon's campaign that invented the modern era of campaign dirty tricks guy 60 years ago, which Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, etc. were to refine and perfect. Face it, if there were a Hall of Fame of underhanded campaign tricks, rightwingers would occupy virtually all of it.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu May 18, 2006 at 11:48:52 AM EST
    Sailor writes:
    there's a wee bit o' difference between vandalism and
    The tires slashed were on vehicles used to transport voters to the pools. Get your facts straight.
    This case had to be a public example of what can happen when you interfere with voters' rights," said Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Brennan, who rejected prosecutors' recommendation of probation for the four men. The state Republican Party had rented more than 100 vehicles to give rides to voters and poll monitors on Nov. 2, 2004. The cars were parked outside a GOP campaign office when the tires were punctured. The vandalism left the drivers scrambling for new vehicles.
    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#16)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Thu May 18, 2006 at 12:01:19 PM EST
    sorry for the typo in first sentence in my last post...should read: "Murray Chotiner was Dick Nixon's campaign guy that invented the modern era of campaign dirty tricks 60 years ago..."

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 12:15:35 PM EST
    jim, I had my facts straight.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu May 18, 2006 at 05:30:38 PM EST
    IS everyone here too partisan to stipulate that both parties have indulged in dirty tricks over the years? Nixon and LBJ? I t may make some Dems here feel superior to believe that their party is too pure to really engage in vote fraud and other crimes to alter the outcome of elections. Come to Cook County, IL, where Da Mayor's patronage chief is on trial now for hiring unqualified applicants who had clout and for creating a huge patronage army of precinct workers who certainly altered the outcome of elections they were dispatched to.

    Re: Tobin Sentenced (none / 0) (#18)
    by Dadler on Thu May 18, 2006 at 06:40:56 PM EST
    Fight for Justice, Party politics is corruption-laden, I don't think anyone here would argue that. One party in particular, however, has taken that corruption to the next level. Are there LIBERAL CEO's of voting machine companies bragging about delivering votes for THEIR candidates? Both parties pander to Big Money. The Republican Party simply panders and is under the thumb of BIGGER Money.

    Tobin Sentenced | 18 comments (18 topical)