Remember James O’Keefe, the conservative “filmmaker” who dressed as a cartoon pimp to do an undercover sting of ACORN, in the process turning himself into a darling of the Faux News Network?
Well, apparently he’s back, and he’s got a great idea: illegally tapping tampering with the phones of a United States Senator:
The FBI said in an affidavit that James O’Keefe was among the four men who were arrested Monday. Special Agent Steven Rayes said O’Keefe was helping two others, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan, who were dressed as employees of a telephone company and attempted to interfere with the office’s telephone system.
Flanagan is the son of William J. Flanagan, the acting U.S. attorney for western Louisiana. William Flanagan’s office confirmed his son was among those arrested, but declined further comment.
This sounds like something straight out of an episode of Law and Order.
Reminds me of the 1970s.
Sounds like something Michael Moore would do.
If you find a liberal who phone taps others, let me know.
Sounds more like the Bush Administration misusing the Patriot Act.
And yet, it’s not Michael Moore who did it; it’s four conservatives.
I heard the men weren’t charged with wiretapping (yet?)…so who knows what was going on. It should be interesting to see how this turns out though.
24 year old Robert Flanagan, son of the acting US Attorney for Western LA, William Flanagan (Senator Vitter Held Up Acting U.S. Attorney Flanagan’s Replacement) will more than likely get a plea deal and turn on The other three, too bad.
You might want to issue a retraction and an apology.
by James O’Keefe
The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: no one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetuated by ACORN. For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. The sole intent of our investigation was to determine whether or not Senator Landrieu was purposely trying to avoid constituents who were calling to register their views to her as their Senator. We video taped the entire visit, the government has those tapes, and I’m eager for them to be released because they refute the false claims being repeated by much of the mainstream media.It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story. MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent “gag order.” The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I “broke in” to an office which is open to the public. The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me. And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting. The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.
As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetrated by ACORN. For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.
I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.
On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. The sole intent of our investigation was to determine whether or not Senator Landrieu was purposely trying to avoid constituents who were calling to register their views to her as their Senator. We video taped the entire visit, the government has those tapes, and I’m eager for them to be released because they refute the false claims being repeated by much of the mainstream media.
It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story. MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent “gag order.” The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I “broke in” to an office which is open to the public. The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me. And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting. The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.
Retract and apologize based on what this punk says? Puh-leeze.
This idiot is no more a journalist than I am a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering.
Investigative journalists do not begin an investigation with a result in mind. All this idiot was doing was trying to gather video to confirm his biased objective. Just like with the ACORN hoax, grab some video, a little creative editing and voila! Expose! Pablum to the sheeples! Fox was taken for a ride so deeply that they have no choice to support this bozo lest confess to the obvious and take a ratings hit. It really is pathetic.
I suppose I could just delete the entire post, like Fred does anytime he gets caught posting something that doesn’t quite pass muster, but unlike Fred, I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. I’ve edited the post to reflect how things have evolved, but that’s all I’ll be doing.
If he was not trying to tap her phones then yes Rich, that is exactly what needs to happen here.
Oooooo you really went out of your way Zach. Way to line out but still leave the lingering doubt.
You should probably wait in the future MSNBC is a bit biased.
Fred, I suppose I could have taken a play out of your playbook and taken the easy route and deleted the entry, but I’m better than that.
Yeah, showing both the before and after has more of the “journalistic integrity” of a profession neither myself nor Zach has ever claimed to have, even as a hobby, yet still seem to possess more than the self proclaimed “investigative journalist.”
Also, these guys are in trouble legally, no doubt about it.
Fred’s not concerned about integrity; he just thought he’d try and play “holier than thou,” but clearly he failed miserably.
Whew! It is a good thing that the ACORN exposer of fraudulent practices, while using a fraudulent identity, was not tapping the phones of a senator to seek evidence of fraudulent comments while he was using a second fraudulent identity.
It is also good to know that we should believe a man who fraudulently enters a federal building seeking access to the telephone hardware to prove that one comment was fraudulent. I had almost lost my confidence in my ability to sort out the good guys from the bad guys.
Thanks for clearing this up.
Not in the least Zach, just pointing out what a hypocrite you are.
Thanks for proving the point.
I’m no hypocrite Fred, but why don’t you tell everyone here what you’d do if you were in my situation.
Actually, let me tell everyone. If it had been pointed out to Fred that he’d made a mistake like this, he’d have deleted the entry, or perhaps he’d have blamed it on painkillers he was taking.
Did that once Zach, didn’t deny it. I’ve corrected other posts.
And you didn’t correct anything you just put up a strikethrough.
Fact you just refuse to admit your own behavior.
I’ve admitted when I’ve been wrong. You won’t, you still have the insuation posted. You truly are pathetic.
Fred, you’re in no position to start passing judgment on anyone. Take your indignation and shove it.