Remember
James Tobin? He was the guy who ran Phone Jammergate: disruptive multiple calls made to New Hampshire's Democratic Party calling center, preventing them from calling likely voters on election day.
Turns out Tobin, who has gotten plenty of help with his legal bills from the Republican National Party, wasn't the only one hit by this. Tobin hired Shaun Hansen to make the actual jamming calls. Shaun Hansen. But Hansen isn't getting his legal bills paid by anyone except himself, so he's doing some entreprenurial advancement. That is, he's finding someone else to blame, and his finger's pointing at the White House.
I'm pointing over at extended. Follow me there for more.
Hansen's role was akin to that of the hired hit man - it was his machines that actually did the jamming. But he clearly thinks that he's getting screwed for being a loyal soldier, so he'll point fingers up the chain of command when the time comes to defend himself.
According to a list of possible defenses that he'll use at trial, Hansen might finger Allen Raymond, the national GOP consultant who apparently assured Hansen that everything was above board (Raymond's already served his time for his role). But he might point higher.
Haley Barbour is mentioned, as he's part owner of GOP Marketplace, which hired Hansen through Tobin. Barbour is the governor of Mississippi. And let's not forget the phone records showing Tobin's numerous calls to the White House Office of Political Affairs.
This article from Senate Majority Project lists some of the places Hansen is pointing the finger.
Apparently, Hansen's defense strategy is not going to focus on whether or not he jammed Democratic phone lines on Election Day in 2002. Rather, his defense strategy will be to persuade a jury that he may have been persuaded not just that the phone jamming was legal, but that he would be carrying out the scheme on behalf of the United States government.
(Far fetched? Maybe not. GOP Marketplace, the firm which brought Hansen into the phone jamming scheme, was owned in part by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. In addition, phone records show hundreds of phone calls from the NH Republican party and convicted phone jammer James Tobin to the White House Office of Political Affairs during the time the scheme was being planned, carried out, and covered up.)
Hansen's court filing mentions these approaches it may take in defending himself:
- Entrapment: The government made me do it!
- Derivative Entrapment: The government made me do it thru that guy!
- Entrapment by Estoppel: The government made me do it AND they told me it was legal!
- Good Faith: Really! They told me it was legal!
- Reliance Upon Advice of Counsel: That government lawyer SAID it was legal!
- Public Authority: Well the government sure made me THINK it was legal!
If you'd prefer a more legalistic explanation of the above defense strategies, read Hansen's court filing, Notice of Affirmative Defenses.