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On Monday, December 4, Democrats and Republicans were set to battle once more about NH’s phone-jamming scandal–but on Friday, December 1, NH Democrats ended their lawsuit in exchange for an undisclosed settlement. |
How much did the Democrats get? In between (it’s a wide range) $4,974 and $4.1 million (John DiStaso, November 30). Even the higher figure wouldn’t seem like too much for a list of defendants that included (among many others) the Republican National Committee, which spent millions already on James Tobin’s defense.
NH Democratic State Chair Kathy Sullivan, who told the AP she would issue a statement Saturday, has insisted the Democrats’ civil suit had been filed to obtain answers, not money.
Even so, as the case dragged on, year after year, its burden on NH Democrats and their lawyers has been heavy. Republican lawyers filed motion after motion, seeking to dismiss or delay the lawsuit. Even when Judge Mangones finally let Democrats question some of the DC higher-ups who might be implicated, stonewalling just moved to a higher level.
From John DiStaso’s November 2 “Granite Status” column:
Darrell Henry, a former energy industry lobbyist,.. refused to answer any of about two dozen questions related to the phone-jamming operation.
McGee had testified at the trial of convicted conspirator James Tobin that when the phone-jam was called off early on election day, Henry offered to contact associates in Washington to continue it.
When Sandler asked about what he told McGee, Henry said, “I assert my privilege.”
Henry, on advice of counsel, gave that answer to just about everything, even when he was asked to describe his educational background and employment history.
Maybe now that Democrats have broken the Republican stranglehold on House and Senate, an independent prosecutor may be able to get answers to questions that NH’s Bush-appointed US Attorney never chased down.
Today, NH Democrats gave up on trying.
Update: Kathy Sullivan’s statement, at least as it was reported by the AP, was not informative.
Update: The cash-strapped NH Republican State Committee will pay NH Democrats $125,000 over five years. The RNC and NRSC, with better lawyers, pay only $5,000 each.