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Associated Press: The former head of a Republican
consulting group has pleaded guilty to jamming
Democratic telephone lines in several New Hampshire
cities during the 2002 general election.
Allen Raymond, former president of the Alexandria,
Va.-based GOP Marketplace LLC, waived indictment and
pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Concord on
Wednesday. Judge Joseph A. DiClerico Jr. released
Raymond on his own recognizance pending sentencing in
November.
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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/183/region/Former_head_of_GOP_consulting_:.shtml
Former head of GOP consulting group pleads guilty to jamming Democratic phone lines
By Associated Press, 7/1/2004 08:43
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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) The former head of a Republican
consulting group has pleaded guilty to jamming
Democratic telephone lines in several New Hampshire
cities during the 2002 general election.
Allen Raymond, former president of the Alexandria,
Va.-based GOP Marketplace LLC, waived indictment and
pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Concord on
Wednesday. Judge Joseph A. DiClerico Jr. released
Raymond on his own recognizance pending sentencing in
November.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department, which prosecuted
the case, said an investigation into the telephone
jamming continues.
According to court papers, Raymond plotted with
unidentified co-conspirators to jam Democratic Party
telephone lines established so voters could call for
rides to the polls in Manchester, Nashua, Rochester
and Claremont. Manchester firefighters' union phone
lines also were affected.
The jamming involved more than 800 calls and lasted
for about 1½ hours on Nov. 5, 2002, the day New
Hampshire voters decided many state and federal races,
including the U.S. Senate race between outgoing Gov.
Jeanne Shaheen and then-Congressman John Sununu.
Sununu, a Republican, won the race.
The complaint said Raymond paid a ''vendor
co-conspirator'' $2,500 to make the actual calls.
State Democratic Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan had noted
that some of the local races were close and that
phone-jamming could have affected the outcome, but
there was no way to know.
Democrats had pushed for an investigation for two
years.
''There is, short of murder, not much that is more
horrific in America than purposely trying to stop
people from voting,'' said Raymond Buckley, vice
chairman of the state Democratic Party. He said the
jamming was obviously an organized effort, taking
place across the state.
He expects to see more charges.
''Somebody hired them, somebody paid them to do this
crime,'' Buckley said. ''I do not believe this
investigation should stop until every single person
who had knowledge of this and paid for this is
prosecuted.''
In early 2003, state Republicans acknowledged they
hired GOP Marketplace for telemarketing services in
the 2002 election. But Republican Party Chairman Jayne
Millerick has maintained the company was paid $15,600
for telemarketing services to encourage people to vote
Republican, not to jam lines.
Chuck McGee, who was executive director of the state
Republican Party at the time, resigned his post after
news broke of the matter.
''The New Hampshire Republican State Committee was
pleased to cooperate fully with the Department of
Justice investigation,'' Millerick said in a statement
released Wednesday. ''These allegations have been
extremely troubling and we are happy that it appears
they are coming to a just conclusion.''