GOP Jams Democracy: GOP Jams Democracy

GOP Jams Democracy
How high did the Republicans’ New Hampshire phone scheme reach?
By Paul Kiel inthesetimes.com

"All McGee needed was the machinery to carry out his scheme. Being a military man, he went up the chain of command, to James Tobin, the regional director for both the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Republican National Senatorial Committee. McGee reported what he needed; Tobin, without a word of caution, gave him the number of Allen Raymond, who ran GOP Marketplace, a political consulting firm. McGee dialed up Raymond, and they struck a deal. For $15,600, Raymond would arrange for repeated hang-up calls throughout Election Day to six numbers: five New Hampshire Democratic Party offices and a Manchester, N.H., firefighters union that was offering voters rides to the polls. The NHRSC footed the bill. Raymond in turn contracted the job out to an Idaho firm called Mylo Enterprises for $2,500.

Although it might have been construed as a dirty trick, McGee believed the jamming was an acceptable battle tactic, like a borderline defamatory attack ad. This was not a covert operation. It had been authorized. He’d spoken to Tobin, and he spoke about the scheme with NHRSC Chairman John Dowd on the eve of the election. On Election Day morning, everything was going according to plan.

It went downhill from there. Early that morning, Dowd consulted the NHRSC’s legal counsel and was told that the jamming was illegal. He called McGee, who in turn called Raymond’s partner to call it off. But Mylo’s machines had been at it since 7:45 a.m. By the time they stopped, at 9:10 a.m., they’d jammed the six numbers for 85 minutes.

The ensuing Justice Department investigation has netted all four of the players at the heart of the conspiracy. McGee and Raymond pled guilty—McGee has already served his seven months in prison, and Raymond is currently serving his three-month sentence—and Tobin and Shaun Hansen, founder of Mylo Enterprises, were indicted. Tobin was convicted last December, mostly on the testimony of McGee and Raymond, and immediately mounted a vigorous appeal. Hansen will stand trial in October."

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