Hillary in "The Hill"

Clinton cries foul in Texas; Obama lawyer hijacks call
By Sam Youngman
Posted: 03/04/08 09:10 PM [ET]

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign charged rival Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign with breaking several rules in the Texas caucuses.

The Clinton campaign called an “emergency” conference call with reporters that was interrupted by Obama’s chief counsel Bob Bauer, who called in and said the Clinton campaign only criticized the caucus process when it was losing.

With Clinton facing what many consider must-win scenarios in both Ohio and Texas and both races too-close-to-call, the Clinton campaign charged that the Obama campaign had shut the doors on Clinton supporters at some of the caucuses, among other things.

The campaign also said the Obama camp had hijacked some of the caucus packets at certain precincts, adding that in others Obama supporters were calling in caucus results before the polls had closed.

Ace Smith, Clinton’s Texas campaign director, said the state party’s election hotline was jammed, and the Clinton campaign was receiving “hundreds of complaints.”
“This is just truly outrageous behavior,” Smith said. “It’s really disturbing, and it’s really undemocratic what’s going on.”

Clinton’s attorney said on the call that “all options are open at this point” when asked about the possibility of seeking a legal remedy to the campaign’s concerns.Bauer’s presence on the call came as a surprise as he and Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s communications director, went round and round. Wolfson repeatedly asked Bauer and the Obama campaign to ensure that all votes in Texas are counted as Bauer impugned the Clinton campaign’s “attacking the caucus process.”