The Sleeper Hit of the Summer

How the Hades did this one slip under the radar?

As reported by the Associated Press yesterday:

"WASHINGTON - Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show."

It appears that a dirty Republican trickster by the name of James Tobin was recently convicted of jamming the phones of the New Hampshire Democratic GOTV operation. Interestingly, he placed a number of calls to the White House's political affairs unit - nearly two dozen of them made the day before and the day after the November election.

And, now for my favorite part (drumroll, please):

"While national Republican officials have said they deplore such operations, the
Republican National Committee said it paid for Tobin's defense because he is a longtime supporter and told officials he had committed no crime."

Kinda sucks when you get suckered into paying for a defense for someone who has "committed no crime".

Fortunately for them:

"Prosecutors did not need the White House calls to convict Tobin and negotiate the two guilty pleas.
Whatever the reason for not using the White House records, prosecutors "tried a very narrow case," said Paul Twomey, who represented the Democratic Party in the criminal and civil cases. The Justice Department did not say why the White House records were not used."

Sigh of relief! If the ostensibly impartial Justice Department of the United States of America won't bow to political pressure in order to save you and your flunkies from well-deserved political embarassment and possible conspiracy charges, then who, I beg you, who can you turn to?

GOP stalwart, Senator John Sununu, looks like he could have used all the help he could get in 2002, winning a mere 51% of the vote to Jeanne Shaheen's 46%. With an approval rating that has not exceeded 52% in nearly a year according to polls conducted by Survey USA, the last thing he's going to want to see is a disgraced, state Republican Party come 2008.

Keep in mind, New Hampshirites sure do love their incredibly popular governor, John Lynch, giving him a 64% approval rating. And don't forget, the Granite State, smack dab in the heart of Kerry Country, is pretty spittin' mad about the piss poor job they're doing up there in the White House, giving Bush a 63% disapproval rating. That puts him somewhere near the overall popularity of brussel sprouts, or maybe the Spice Girls.

With a decent candidate for president heading up the ballot in 2008, this is one we should be able to pick off with ease.