No scandal too little for the Bush Crime Family

Phone Jammer's Election Day Calls to White HouseBy Paul Kiel - April 11, 2006, 1:12 AM James Tobin, the RNC big-wig who helped orchestrate the now-famous New Hampshire phone jamming of 2002, made a lot of calls the day of the crime - but three in particular indicate that his superiors at the White House's Office of Political Operations, then run by Ken Mehlman, may have known what he was up to. They show, in rapid succession on the morning of the jamming, Tobin checking his voice mail, then calling the New Hampshire Republican State Committee (NHRSC), and then calling the White House. What this means is that Tobin placed his first call to the White House on the day of the crime shortly after speaking with someone at the NHRSC. The NHRSC, you'll remember, was the seat of the conspiracy - Chuck McGee, the Executive Director, had hatched the plan and hired a firm to carry it out. This first conversation between Tobin and whoever he spoke with at NHRSC was very likely to have covered the topic of the jamming, since it had been aborted earlier that morning. And it was right after this conversation that Tobin called the White House. The analysis of Tobin's and key New Hampshire Republicans' phone records, based on evidence introduced at Tobin's trial, was done by the Senate Majority Project. The analysis will be used today as part of a voter fraud suit filed by Democrats; they'll be asking the judge to order GOP and White House officials to answer questions about the jamming. The AP's story on Tobin's calls to the White House yesterday was also based on their analysis. Let's revisit the morning of the crime. At 11:02 AM, Tobin checked his voice mail on his cell phone. An hour earlier, two calls had been placed to Tobin's cell from the NHRSC. The phone jamming had been called off at 9:15 AM, after the NHRSC's Chairman was told that it was illegal. At 11:12 AM, Tobin called the NHRSC. The conversation lasted a couple minutes. Shortly thereafter, at 11:20 AM, Tobin had a five minute conversation with someone at the White House's Office of Political Operations, his first of the day. There's even more in the records analysis to suggest possible White House knowledge - more on that later.