2002 GOP phone jamming in NH leads to new charges

A former Republican official accused of taking part in a plot to jam Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire on Election Day 2002 is facing new charges.

James Tobin was indicted by a federal grand jury in Portland on two counts of making false statements about the incident to an FBI agent. His earlier conviction on telephone harassment charges was overturned, but prosecutors are appealing.

Tobin, 48, of Bangor, was accused of helping to arrange more than 800 hang-up calls that jammed get-out-the-vote phone lines set up by the New Hampshire Democratic Party and a local firefighters' union on Election Day six years ago.

Republican Rep. John Sununu defeated then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, in a close Senate race that day. He is now running for re-election with Shaheen as his challenger, and the race is again close.

The new indictment, dated Oct. 9, alleges that Tobin lied to FBI investigators during an interview in Maine. Tobin told them another GOP official, Charles McGee, had the idea to contact an aggressive telemarketer, Allen Raymond, for help in the 2002 election. The indictment said using Raymond was really Tobin's idea.

McGee and Raymond both pleaded guilty in the phone-jamming scheme and testified against Tobin. The jamming also led to a lawsuit that was settled with Republicans paying the Democrats $135,000.

Tobin and his lawyers did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment Tuesday. The new charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Sununu, who has denied knowledge of the 2002 scheme, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment Tuesday.

At the time of the 2002 election, Tobin was a top regional official with the Republican National Committee.

Phone records introduced at Tobin's 2005 trial in federal court in New Hampshire show he made two dozen calls to the White House political office within three days around Election Day as the jamming operation was finalized, carried out and abruptly shut down.

Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in prison on charges of telephone harassment. But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled last year that the telephone harassment statute "is not a close fit" for what Tobin did. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court, which later threw out the conviction entirely. Prosecutors are appealing the ruling; a hearing is set for Nov. 3 in Boston.