$3,000 per year in political donations–that was all James Tobin and his wife Ellen gave in 2002, and again in 2003, according to official FEC records.
So $2,000 in a single day is a large donation. But that’s how much Tobin gave to Texas Congressman Tom DeLay on June 30, 2004.
June 30, 2004 was also the day that Allen Raymond turned state’s evidence in the NH phone-jamming scandal.
June 30, 2004 was also the day that Federal Prosecutor Todd Hinnen first gave public details of the role played by an unnamed “official in a national political organization.” That unnamed official was, we now know, James Tobin.
Tom DeLay was not the only person to profit from a huge surge in Tobin’s donations* during 2004. Aside from $3,000 to Maine Republican candidates and that $2,000 to DeLay, Tobin made some quite interesting donations:
- $1,000* to Nevada Senator John Eric Ensign (who also got money both from Tom Delay’s ARMPAC and from Abramoff associate David Safavian)
- $500 to Senator Bob Beauprez (who got another $30,000 from DeLay’s ARMPAC.)
- $500 to Missouri Senator Kit Bond (who also got $12,500 from Abramoff)
- $500 to Texas Congressman Ted Poe (who also got $5,000 from Tom DeLay’s ARMPAC).
- $500 to Sandhills PAC, the PAC of Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel (who ran into ethics problems over undisclosed ties to the voting machines that gave him a landslide victory.)
- $1,000 to Iowa Priorities, the PAC of Iowa Senator Jim Nussle (Nussle himself got $15,020 fromTom Delay’s ARMPAC)
So, if you were wondering why the RNC shoulders the public embarrassment of paying Tobin’s legal bills, maybe his ties to the dark side of the party have the potential to embarrass them even more.
* In addition to his own donations, James Tobin was also busy in 2004 “bundling” $200,000 in other people’s contributions to Bush-Cheney 2004.
* * Tobin gave Ensign two $500 donations, the first giving his Maine address and describing him as self-employed, the other 20 days later giving a DC address and calling him an employee of DCI Group, LLC.