Another Fixed Election
Happy Friday.
Bush's 2004 campaign chairman for New England has been indicted in federal court for conspiring to fix the results of the 2002 election for Senator from New Hampshire. As if the 2000 election fix weren't bad enough.
From The New Hampshire Union Leader:
RNC now admits paying lawyers
for alleged conspirator in NH case
WASHINGTON — Despite a zero-tolerance policy on tampering with voters, the Republican Party this week admitted that it has paid more than $700,000 to provide private defense lawyers for a former Bush campaign official charged with conspiring to keep Democrats from voting in New Hampshire.
James Tobin, the President’s 2004 campaign chairman for New England, is charged in New Hampshire federal court with four felonies accusing him of conspiring with a state GOP official and a GOP consultant in Virginia to jam Democratic and labor union get-out-the-vote phone banks in November 2002.
Republican Party officials said they don’t ordinarily discuss specifics of their legal work, but confirmed to The Associated Press they had agreed to underwrite Tobin’s defense because he was a longtime supporter and that he assured them he had committed no crimes.
“Jim is a longtime friend who has served as both an employee and an independent contractor for the RNC,” a spokeswoman for the RNC, Tracey Schmitt, said Wednesday. “This support is based on his assurance and our belief that Jim has not engaged in any wrongdoing.”
RNC HAD DUCKED QUESTION
Last month, RNC spokesman Aaron McLear refused to say whether the RNC was paying Tobin’s legal bills when the New Hampshire Union Leader presented evidence that it was and asked the same question.
The Union Leader had reported on July 21 that a document dated October 2003, which had been recently filed in federal court in Concord in the Tobin criminal case, shows that former RNC Deputy Counsel Charles Spies represented Tobin “in his capacity as an employee of the Republican National Committee.”
The Union Leader also reported that RNC financial disclosures filed in July of this year showed payments of more than $500,000 to the high-powered Washington law firm Williams and Connolly for “legal services.”
McLear, after checking with RNC lawyers, refused to answer any questions about Tobin.
A telephone firm was paid to make repeated hang-up phone calls to overwhelm the phone banks in New Hampshire and prevent them from getting Democratic voters to the polls on Election Day 2002, prosecutors allege. Republican John Sununu won a close race that day to be New Hampshire’s newest senator.
At the time, Tobin was the RNC’s New England regional director, before moving to President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign.
A top New Hampshire Party official and a GOP consultant already have pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors.
“The object of the conspiracy was to deprive inhabitants of New Hampshire and more particularly qualified voters ... of their federally secured right to vote,” states the latest indictment issued by a federal grand jury on May 18.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IN LEGAL DEFENSE
Since charges were first filed in December, the RNC has spent more than $722,000 to provide Tobin, who has pleaded innocent, a team of lawyers from Williams and Connolly. The firm’s other clients include Bill and Hillary Clinton and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros.
The GOP’s filings with the FEC list the payments to Williams and Connolly without specifying they were for Tobin’s defense. Political parties have wide latitude on how they spend their money, including on lawyers.
The Republican Party has repeatedly and pointedly disavowed any tactics aimed at keeping citizens from voting since allegations of voter suppression surfaced during the Florida recount in 2000 that tipped the presidential race to Bush.
Earlier this week, RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, the former White House political director, reiterated a “zero-tolerance policy” for any GOP official caught trying to block legitimate votes.
“The position of the Republican National Committee is simple: We will not tolerate fraud; we will not tolerate intimidation; we will not tolerate suppression. No employee, associate or any person representing the Republican Party who engages in these kinds of acts will remain in that position,” Mehlman wrote Monday to a group that studied voter suppression tactics.
Dennis Black and Dane Butswinkas, two Williams and Connolly lawyers for Tobin, did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment. Brian Tucker, a New Hampshire lawyer on the team, declined comment.
Tobin’s lawyers have attacked the prosecution, suggesting evidence was improperly introduced to the grand jury, that their client originally had been promised he wouldn’t be indicted and that he was improperly charged under one of the statutes.
Tobin stepped down from his Bush-Cheney post a couple of weeks before the November 2004 election after Democrats suggested he was involved in the phone bank scheme. He was charged a month after the election.
"HOW HIGH DOES THIS GO?"
Paul Twomey, a volunteer lawyer for New Hampshire Democrats who are pursuing a separate lawsuit involving the phone scheme, said he was surprised the RNC was willing to pay Tobin’s legal bills and that it suggested more people may be involved.
“It originally appeared to us that there were just certain rogue elements of the Republican Party who were willing to do anything to win control of the U.S. Senate, including depriving Americans of their ability to vote,” Twomey said.
“But now that the RNC actually is bankrolling Mr. Tobin’s defense, coupled with the fact that it has refused some discovery in the civil case, really raises the questions of who are they protecting, how high does this go and who was in on this,” Twomey said.
Federal prosecutors have secured testimony from the two convicted conspirators in the scheme directly implicating Tobin.
Charles McGee, the New Hampshire GOP official who pleaded guilty, told prosecutors he informed Tobin of the plan and asked for Tobin’s help in finding a vendor who could make the calls that would flood the phone banks.
Allen Raymond, a former colleague of Tobin who operated a Virginia-based telephone services firm, told prosecutors Tobin called him in October 2002, explained the telephone plan and asked Raymond’s company to help McGee implement it.
Raymond’s lawyer told the court that Tobin made the request for help in his official capacity as the top RNC official for New England and his client believed the RNC had sanctioned the activity.
———
The indictment in this is available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/tobinindictment.pdf
RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman’s recent letter on voter suppression is available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/rncletter.pdf
Bush's 2004 campaign chairman for New England has been indicted in federal court for conspiring to fix the results of the 2002 election for Senator from New Hampshire. As if the 2000 election fix weren't bad enough.
From The New Hampshire Union Leader:
RNC now admits paying lawyers
for alleged conspirator in NH case
WASHINGTON — Despite a zero-tolerance policy on tampering with voters, the Republican Party this week admitted that it has paid more than $700,000 to provide private defense lawyers for a former Bush campaign official charged with conspiring to keep Democrats from voting in New Hampshire.
James Tobin, the President’s 2004 campaign chairman for New England, is charged in New Hampshire federal court with four felonies accusing him of conspiring with a state GOP official and a GOP consultant in Virginia to jam Democratic and labor union get-out-the-vote phone banks in November 2002.
Republican Party officials said they don’t ordinarily discuss specifics of their legal work, but confirmed to The Associated Press they had agreed to underwrite Tobin’s defense because he was a longtime supporter and that he assured them he had committed no crimes.
“Jim is a longtime friend who has served as both an employee and an independent contractor for the RNC,” a spokeswoman for the RNC, Tracey Schmitt, said Wednesday. “This support is based on his assurance and our belief that Jim has not engaged in any wrongdoing.”
RNC HAD DUCKED QUESTION
Last month, RNC spokesman Aaron McLear refused to say whether the RNC was paying Tobin’s legal bills when the New Hampshire Union Leader presented evidence that it was and asked the same question.
The Union Leader had reported on July 21 that a document dated October 2003, which had been recently filed in federal court in Concord in the Tobin criminal case, shows that former RNC Deputy Counsel Charles Spies represented Tobin “in his capacity as an employee of the Republican National Committee.”
The Union Leader also reported that RNC financial disclosures filed in July of this year showed payments of more than $500,000 to the high-powered Washington law firm Williams and Connolly for “legal services.”
McLear, after checking with RNC lawyers, refused to answer any questions about Tobin.
A telephone firm was paid to make repeated hang-up phone calls to overwhelm the phone banks in New Hampshire and prevent them from getting Democratic voters to the polls on Election Day 2002, prosecutors allege. Republican John Sununu won a close race that day to be New Hampshire’s newest senator.
At the time, Tobin was the RNC’s New England regional director, before moving to President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign.
A top New Hampshire Party official and a GOP consultant already have pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors.
“The object of the conspiracy was to deprive inhabitants of New Hampshire and more particularly qualified voters ... of their federally secured right to vote,” states the latest indictment issued by a federal grand jury on May 18.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IN LEGAL DEFENSE
Since charges were first filed in December, the RNC has spent more than $722,000 to provide Tobin, who has pleaded innocent, a team of lawyers from Williams and Connolly. The firm’s other clients include Bill and Hillary Clinton and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros.
The GOP’s filings with the FEC list the payments to Williams and Connolly without specifying they were for Tobin’s defense. Political parties have wide latitude on how they spend their money, including on lawyers.
The Republican Party has repeatedly and pointedly disavowed any tactics aimed at keeping citizens from voting since allegations of voter suppression surfaced during the Florida recount in 2000 that tipped the presidential race to Bush.
Earlier this week, RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, the former White House political director, reiterated a “zero-tolerance policy” for any GOP official caught trying to block legitimate votes.
“The position of the Republican National Committee is simple: We will not tolerate fraud; we will not tolerate intimidation; we will not tolerate suppression. No employee, associate or any person representing the Republican Party who engages in these kinds of acts will remain in that position,” Mehlman wrote Monday to a group that studied voter suppression tactics.
Dennis Black and Dane Butswinkas, two Williams and Connolly lawyers for Tobin, did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment. Brian Tucker, a New Hampshire lawyer on the team, declined comment.
Tobin’s lawyers have attacked the prosecution, suggesting evidence was improperly introduced to the grand jury, that their client originally had been promised he wouldn’t be indicted and that he was improperly charged under one of the statutes.
Tobin stepped down from his Bush-Cheney post a couple of weeks before the November 2004 election after Democrats suggested he was involved in the phone bank scheme. He was charged a month after the election.
"HOW HIGH DOES THIS GO?"
Paul Twomey, a volunteer lawyer for New Hampshire Democrats who are pursuing a separate lawsuit involving the phone scheme, said he was surprised the RNC was willing to pay Tobin’s legal bills and that it suggested more people may be involved.
“It originally appeared to us that there were just certain rogue elements of the Republican Party who were willing to do anything to win control of the U.S. Senate, including depriving Americans of their ability to vote,” Twomey said.
“But now that the RNC actually is bankrolling Mr. Tobin’s defense, coupled with the fact that it has refused some discovery in the civil case, really raises the questions of who are they protecting, how high does this go and who was in on this,” Twomey said.
Federal prosecutors have secured testimony from the two convicted conspirators in the scheme directly implicating Tobin.
Charles McGee, the New Hampshire GOP official who pleaded guilty, told prosecutors he informed Tobin of the plan and asked for Tobin’s help in finding a vendor who could make the calls that would flood the phone banks.
Allen Raymond, a former colleague of Tobin who operated a Virginia-based telephone services firm, told prosecutors Tobin called him in October 2002, explained the telephone plan and asked Raymond’s company to help McGee implement it.
Raymond’s lawyer told the court that Tobin made the request for help in his official capacity as the top RNC official for New England and his client believed the RNC had sanctioned the activity.
———
The indictment in this is available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/tobinindictment.pdf
RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman’s recent letter on voter suppression is available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/rncletter.pdf
posted by Happy Friday | 6:20 AM
2 Comments:
President Bush goes to a primary school to talk about the war. After his talk, he offers question time. One little boy puts up his hand, and George asks him what his name is. "Bob," says the boy. "And what is your question, Bob?" "I have 3 questions. First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN? Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more votes? And third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?" Just then the bell rings for recess. George Bush informs the kiddies that they will continue after recess. When they resume, George says, "OK, where were we? Oh that's right --- question time. Who has a question?" A different little boy puts up his hand. George points him out and asks him what his name is. "Steve," says the boy. "And what is your question, Steve?" "I have 5 questions. First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN? Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more votes? Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden? Fourth, why did the recess bell go 20 minutes early? And fifth, where is Bob?
August 18, 2005
Ohio Governor Tells Court He Violated Ethics Law
By ALBERT SALVATO
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 18 - Visibly upset and fighting back tears, Gov. Bob Taft of Ohio admitted in court today that he had failed to report nearly $6,000 in gifts and apologized four times as a judge ordered him to pay $4,000 in fines and write a letter to the people of Ohio acknowledging his mistakes.
"I am here today to publicly apologize to the people of the State of Ohio for my failure to provide complete financial disclosure statements to the Ohio Ethics Commission as mandated by law," Mr. Taft told Judge Mark S. Froehlich of the Franklin County Municipal Court in a hearing on the charges. "I accept total responsibility for my mistake, and I'm sorry."
Mr. Taft did not contest the four charges of filing incomplete financial-disclosure statements from 1998 through 2004. The county prosecutor, Ron O'Brien, filed the charges on Wednesday against Mr. Taft, the 67th governor of Ohio and the first sitting governor in state history to ever face a criminal charge.
The governor's admissions drew quick responses from both Republicans and Democrats, with at least one Republican official in Mr. Taft's hometown of Cincinnati calling for him to resign.
Wearing a dark gray suit and a somber expression, the 63-year-old Republican governor arrived in the tiny courtroom less than five minutes before his 11 a.m. hearing and stood before Judge Froehlich, a longtime Democrat. He walked into court flanked by his wife, Hope, and his attorney, R. William Meeks. The governor entered and exited the courtroom holding hands with his wife.
Two hours before the hearing, the courtroom was crowded with dozens of reporters, scores of lawyers, some state lawmakers and others hoping to witness a chapter of Ohio history and another chapter in the political history of the Taft family. Mr. Taft, who is the great-grandson of President William Howard Taft, has served as Ohio governor since 1999 and formerly served as secretary of state for seven years.
During his two terms, Mr. Taft has repeatedly promised Ohioans that he would not tolerate violations of the state ethics laws by members of his administration and had vowed to punish those who did.
In court today, Judge Froehlich reminded the governor of the ethics laws and his repeated pledges, one of them less than three months ago, to uphold them.
"The message is simple and clear," the judge said. "No one is above the laws of Ohio, not even the governor."
Judge Froehlich also lectured the governor about the consequences outside the courtroom.
"The court of public opinion also will judge you," he said.
Mr. Taft admitted that he failed to disclose 52 gifts, including golf outings, meals and professional hockey tickets, dating to 1998 on his annual financial statements.
An investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission found that the governor failed to disclose $5,700 in gifts. Under Ohio law, unreimbursed gifts worth more than $75 must be reported.
The criminal conviction of Mr. Taft adds yet another blemish to an administration that has been reeling in recent months by continued poor showings in polls and also another scandal that tied a friend of Mr. Taft, Thomas Noe, a Republican fund-raiser and rare coin dealer, to mishandling and possibly stealing up to $50 million from the Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau. A lawsuit filed by the state attorney general against Mr. Noe asserts that he may have diverted up to $4 million of the investments for personal use.
Mr. Taft has acknowledged to state investigators that he failed to report free golf outings and other gifts, some of them given to him by Mr. Noe.
At a news conference after today's court hearing, Mr. Taft said that the coin scandal had prompted him to review his financial disclosure statements in May and that he had discovered the oversights.
"Upon becoming aware of my failure to disclose these activities, I promptly notified the Ohio Ethics Commission," Mr. Taft said.
He also acknowledged that he had violated his own pledge for all state employees to abide by ethics laws.
"I have personally failed to live up to those expectations as well as the expectations of the public, and I am disappointed in myself," Mr. Taft said.
One of Mr. Taft's most ardent supporters, Greg Hartmann, a Republican Party leader in Cincinnati, where Mr. Taft was born and had launched his political career, called for the governor to resign because of the conviction.
"He's the highest elected official in the state and should be held to a higher standard," Mr. Hartmann said. "He's had a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of thing."
Robert Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said he was disappointed in Mr. Taft but wanted him to complete his term that expires at the end of 2006.
"These are not offenses that lead to impeachment or resignation," Mr. Bennett said.
Mr. Taft brushed aside questions about a possible resignation, even if Republican leaders call for it.
"I want to remain as governor," he said. "I have many things to do between now and the election next year."
Top Democrats also stopped short of calling for Mr. Taft's resignation, rather saying that lawmakers must rid the state of a "culture of corruption that is much bigger than Bob Taft and his golfing habits."
"We now have a national reputation for corruption," said the Ohio House Democratic leader, Chris Redfern.
Judge Froehlich told Mr. Taft that he personally must acknowledge his mistakes to Ohioans and apologize to them in a letter to be written within a week.
"From the shores of Lake Erie to the banks of the Ohio River, the people of Ohio must hear your statement," the judge demanded.
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