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Item: Sunday’s Washington Post breaks the story that Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R-R.I.) sent $386,000 in payments for “consulting services” to convicted felon James Tobin’s address in Maine.
So is Chafee hiring James Tobin? Of course not–all services were provided by James Tobin’s wife Ellen (whose career has involved paper mills rather than politics) and to a political consultant named Kathleen Summers–no connection to James Tobin at all. (The story is archived here, if that other link breaks.) |
Item: Kathleen Summers–that name rings a bell, because she showed up at the trial of James Tobin as a surprise witness for the defense, testifying that she (and not phone-jamming) was the reason for a phone call logged between Tobin and already-convicted phone jammer Allen Raymond on October 18, 2002.
In December, 2005, she was able to give testimony under oath about exactly what she and James Tobin discussed in October, 2002. What a memory she must have! No wonder she’s worth so much to Lincoln Chafee! Summers also wrote feelingly in praise of Jim Tobin’s character for his sentencing hearing.
Item: In related news, the NH GOP, which swore it would no longer do business with Chuck McGee’s company Spectrum Printing, just got outed Thursday by John DiStaso for doing business with GOP Print and Mail, a new company just created in the same building as Spectrum Printing (where convicted phone-jammer Chuck McGee is vice president of political and corporate communications) and doing exactly the same kind of work–but of course no affiliation with Mr. McGee.
Same building, same work, but no connection of course to the actual convicted felons who in the same building who specialize in the exact same kind of work.
You have to wonder if these guys could find their ethics using both hands, GPS, and several bloodhounds.
Update: Checking out quarterly FEC filings for NH GOP officials. “Bass for Victory” paid $2160.75 to Spectrum Monthly as recently as 3/28/2006.