Official Denies Link to Phone Plot
A former White House political director denied Tuesday that he or anyone on his staff spoke with New England Republicans about a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002.
Ken Mehlman, now chairman of the Republican National Committee, acknowledged that local GOP officials had called a White House operative in the days surrounding the election. But he said none of the talks involved the phone-jamming incident.
“My staff and I regularly communicated with competitive congressional campaigns and Republican Party organizations,” Mehlman said.
On Nov. 5, 2002, repeated hang-up calls jammed telephone lines at a Democratic get-out-the-vote center during a New Hampshire Senate race in which Republican John E. Sununu defeated Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, 51% to 46%.
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