OK, so James Tobin came away with 10 months in prison. That’s the longest sentence given to any of the players in the phone jamming – Chuck McGee got seven months and Allen Raymond got five – but there are a number of unhappy TPMm readers out there, who’ve followed this case for over three years. They wanted more than just 10 months.
Of course, so did prosecutors, who asked for two years. And the judge, if he chose, could have departed from the sentencing guidelines and given Tobin the maximum sentence of seven years.
But perhaps there’s some solace in this: the judge denied Tobin’s appeals and took the unusual step of denying his bail pending appeal. That means that Tobin is heading straight to prison – he’s due to enter June 23rd. In most cases, he would have been allowed to stay out until his further appeals ran their course. Appeals can last months, even years. Apparently the judge doesn’t think that his appeals have much merit.
So where does this leave the phone jamming case?
The Democrats are continuing their lawsuit against New Hampshire Republicans and are still awaiting a judge’s ruling as to whether they can question GOP higher-ups in the White House about whether they spoke to anyone about the jamming. Yesterday added another detail to make Dems suspicious that those in the White House knew more than they’ve let on. According to yesterday’s Washington Post, the White House was “informed” about former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie’s decision to cover Tobin’s legal bills. Gillespie was careful to say that this wasn’t “formal approval,” but clearly he got the go-ahead from someone there. Democrats will want to know who.
