Bangor man indicted in election scam Ex-GOP official says charges unmerited

CONCORD, N.H. – A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted James Tobin, President Bush’s former New England campaign chairman, on four counts related to the Republican jamming of get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002.

State Democrats, who have filed a lawsuit over the jamming, had accused Tobin in October of involvement in the conspiracy.

Tobin, 44, of Bangor, Maine, stepped down Oct. 15, but denied involvement at the time.

“I am saddened to learn that this action has been taken against me,” he said Wednesday in a statement issued by his attorney, Timothy Woodcock of Bangor. “I have great respect for the justice system and plan to fight back to clear my name. The acts and time will demonstrate that these charges are without merit, and I am confident I will prevail.”

The four-count indictment charges Tobin with conspiracy to commit telephone harassment and aiding and abetting telephone harassment. He is the highest-level Republican official to be implicated in the case and faces up to five years in prison if convicted on all counts.

The 2002 jamming consisted of computer-generated calls to get-out-the-vote phones run by state Democrats and the nonpartisan Manchester firefighters union. More than 800 hang-up calls tied up phones for about 11/2 hours.

The jamming’s intent was to “annoy and harass those called and disrupt those two organizations’ efforts to encourage and assist citizens in exercising their right to vote,” the Justice Department said in a news release. The department identified Tobin as one of several people who orchestrated the jamming.

Democrats praised the indictment, but said it was overdue.

“I think it’s unfortunate the Justice Department delayed, for whatever reasons that it did, until after the election,” state Democratic chairwoman Kathy Sullivan said. “I hope this was not delayed for political reasons. Here we are, four weeks after the election, and President Bush’s former New England campaign chairman is indicted.”

Tobin in 2002 was Northeast political director for the Republican Senatorial Committee, the party operation working to elect Republicans to the Senate. Among the races affected by the phone-jamming was the U.S. Senate contest between Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican U.S. Rep. John E. Sununu. It was considered a cliffhanger, though Sununu ended up winning by about 20,000 votes.

Chuck McGee, the former executive director of the state GOP, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a conspiracy charge in summer. He also admitted paying $15,600 to a telemarketing firm, GOP Marketplace of Alexandria, Va.

Prosecutors say GOP Marketplace then hired another business to make the calls. Republican consultant Allen Raymond, GOP Marketplace’s former president, also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in federal court in summer.

The men are scheduled to be sentenced in February and March. The indictment described Tobin as a go-between who put the men in touch with each other.

Sullivan said Democrats will continue to pursue their lawsuit and are determined to trace the funding behind the jamming.

“What I’m looking forward to is a complete and thorough uncovering of who knew about this and where the money came from,” she said.

Tobin worked in Maine and Washington for former U.S. Sen. William Cohen in the 1980s. He also worked on the election campaigns for U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.

In 1996, he ran the national presidential campaign of millionaire businessman Steve Forbes.

Earlier this year, he founded a communications and political consulting company in Bangor.

Bangor Daily News reporter Judy Harrison contributed to this report.