The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 11, 2006, Page 4, Image 4
Phone records in court show people in election phone jamming called White House
Larry (Dargasah
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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.
The records show that
Bush campaign operative
James Tobin, who recently
was convicted in the case,
made two dozen calls to
the White House within
a three-day period around
Election Day 2002 — as the
phone jamming operation
was finalized, carried out
and then abruptly shut
down.
The national Republican
Party, which paid millions
in legal bills to defend
Tobin, says the contacts
involved routine election
business and that it was
“preposterous” to suggest
the calls involved phone
jamming.
The Justice Department
has secured three
convictions in the case
but hasn’t accused any
White House or national
Republican officials of
wrongdoing, nor made any
allegations suggesting party
officials outside of New
Hampshire were involved.
The phone records of calls
to the White House were
exhibits in Tobin’s trial but
prdsecutors did not make
them part of their case.
Democrats plan to ask
a federal judge Tuesday
to order GOP and White
House officials to answer
questions about the phone
jamming in a civil lawsuit
alleging voter fraud.
Repeated hang-up calls
that jammed telephone lines
at a Democratic get-out
the-vote center occurred
in a Senate race in which
Republican John Sununu
defeated Democrat Jeanne
Shaheen, 51 percent to 46
percent, on Nov. 5, 2002.
Besides the conviction of
Tobin, the Republicans’ New
England regional director,
prosecutors negotiated
two plea bargains: one
with a New Hampshire
Republican Party official
and another with the owner
of a telemarketing firm
involved in the scheme. The
owner of the subcontractor
firm whose employees made
the hang-up calls is under
indictment.
The phone records
show that most calls to
the White House were
from Tobin, who became
President Bush’s presidential
campaign chairman for
the New England region
in 2004. Other calls from
New Hampshire senatorial
campaign offices to the
White House could have
been made by a number of
people.
A GOP campaign
consultant in 2002, Jayne
Millerick, made a 17
minute call to the White
House on Election Day,
but said in an interview she
did not recall the subject.
Millerick, who later became
the New Hampshire GOP
chairwoman, said in an
interview she did not learn
of the jamming until after
the election.
A Democratic analysis of
phone records introduced
at Tobin’s criminal trial
show he made 115 outgoing
calls — mostly to the same
number in the White House
political affairs office —
between Sept. 17 and Nov.
22, 2002.
Two dozen of the calls
were made from 9:28 a.m.
the day before the election
through 2:17 a.m. the night
after the voting.
author • conTinueuFRomi
None of the six volunteers
had a perfect GPA at the end
of the test, so Windmeyer
offered a bonus point.
“You can earn a bonus
point by doing a Z-snap,
but it will be based on how
loud the audience gets,”
Windmeyer said.
Windmeyer is the
founder of the Lambda 10
project and said the number'
represents an estimate
of the proportion of the
population that is gay.
“Some people say it’s
more than 10 percent,
some say it’s less. I don’t
really care,” Windmeyer
said. “Another number
that’s more important is the
number of straight allies
there are that have gay
loved ones.”
Windmeyer said gays are
often discriminated against
because of their sexual
orientation.
“We don’t live in
a world of ‘Will and
Grace,’” Windmeyer said.
“Remember when Ellen
came out? Her show got
canceled because it was no
longer funny.”
He said homophobia is
an issue hi the Southeast
and that abuse was an issue
at the university.
“I find that a lot in the
Southeast homophobia
is very much alive, but it
only creeps up in jokes
or language,” Windmeyer
said. “People say things like
‘that’s so gay’ without even
stopping to think if there is
someone gay around them,
or someone who has gay
loved ones. Hate happens
on this campus just as much
as any other campus. It may
go unnoticed, unspoken,
or unreported, but it does
happen.”
Windmeyer cited his own
marriage as testimony to
the discrimination against
gays.
“Gay people aren’t
extended the same rights;
they are second-class
citizens in many states,”
Windmeyer said. “In North
Carolina gay marriage is not
recognized, but we decided
to get married anyway, even
though we didn’t get the
1,100-plus rights given to
married straight people.”
Windmeyer said a 1995
study showed gay men
and women join Greek
organizations for the same
reasons straight men and
women do. Eighty percent
of the gay men and women
polled were the president,
vice president, social chair,
or rush chair of their
organization.
Windmeyer said he
had a positive experience
coming out to his fraternity
brothers.
“I came out at a meeting,
and I told them I heard a
rumor going around that I
was gay,” Windmeyer said.
“I said it was true and then
continued with my vice
president notes. Then a
275-pound guy got up and
came straight at me, put his
arm around me and said, ‘If
anyone has a problem with
Shane they can take it up
with me.’”
Windmeyer said
although his experience was
positive, it is important for
fraternities not to turn their
heads and believe there are
no gay members of their
chapter.
“You can look back at
the history of fraternities
and find gay men who
were deeply closeted,”
Windmeyer said.
“To create acceptance
among the Greek
community, the first step
is to educate them on
brotherhood.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu ^B
ORGfln • CORTIRUEDFROfRI
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Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu
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