Originally Posted By mawnck This was too good to bury in another topic. So, as first brought up by Dr. Hans Reinhardt in the Speechless topic, here's the scoop. >>A conservative activist who posed as a pimp to target the community-organizing group ACORN and the son of a federal prosecutor were among four people arrested by the FBI and accused of trying to interfere with phones at Sen. Mary Landrieu's office. Activist James O'Keefe, 25, was already in Landrieu's New Orleans office Monday when Robert Flanagan and Joseph Basel, both 24, showed up claiming to be telephone repairmen, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office said Tuesday. Letten says O'Keefe recorded the two with his cell phone. Flanagan, the son of acting U.S. Attorney Bill Flanagan in Shreveport, and Basel asked for access to a phone at the reception desk. Then they asked for access to a phone closet so they could work on the phone system. The men were directed to another office in the building, where they again said they were telephone repairmen. They were arrested later by the U.S. Marshal's Service. Details of the arrest were not available. A fourth man, Stan Dai, 24, was also arrested, but Letten's office said only that he assisted the others in planning, coordinating and preparing the operation.<< <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/james-okeefe-arrested-in-_n_437506.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...506.html</a> Guess the genius figured if he could get away with doctoring "documentary" videos, he could get away with other crap as long as it was for "a good cause." Developing.
Originally Posted By Mr X Surely you're not trying to imply that some two-bit burglary bugled by lackeys could have ramifications all the way up through the Republican Party?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Gee... David Vitter continues to block the US Attorney nominee, so Bill Flanagan remains as acting US Attorney. Flanagan's son gets caught inside Dem Senate office of Landrieu, pretending to be a telephone technician, asking for access to the phone closet. Doesn't take a genius to connect the wiretapping dots here. Landrieu supports the nomination of Brian Jackson to the US Attorney position which Flanagan is temporarily serving. Vitter refuses to support Jackson until the US Attorney based in New Orleans, Jim Letten (who served in the Bush administration), is renominated by Obama. Confirmation hearings for Jackson cannot move forward until both Landrieu and Vitter support him. I should also mention that Brian Jackson is a former Assistant US Attorney, and he's African-American. Do I believe these yahoos acted on their own, without input or encouragement from someone inside the GOP political machine? As much as I believe Vitter can remain monogamous to his wife.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt >>O'Keefe said only "veritas," Latin for truth, as he left jail Tuesday with suspects Stan Dai and Joseph Basel, both 24. All declined to comment.<< As he got into a cab outside the jail, O'Keefe said, "The truth shall set me free." The irony is that his methods are built on lies and deceit. So my question is if these brilliant thinkers are so interested in "truth" why are they only targeting progressive organizations and Democratic Party politicians?
Originally Posted By Mr X Interesting point I read on another site regarding the four "pranksters" in question... One has ties to the CIA. One has ties to a federal prosecutor. One has ties to David Vitter. One, O'Keeffe is the darling of the right wing media. I guess that's all just a coincidence.
Originally Posted By mawnck biggovernment.com has recovered from the initial shock and returned to form: >>Wait until the facts are in. Mainstream Media, ACORN, Media Matters (all the supposed defenders of due process and journalistic ethics) are jumping to conclusions over the arrest today of James O’Keefe, with the clear intention to smear and, if possible, convict O’Keefe and his alleged co-conspirators in the court of public opinion in order to taint the “jury of their peers.” The ACORN story was a huge black eye for the organized left and their allies and cohorts in the mainstream media. So they are relishing every minute of this breaking story, making it their top story – while they ignored the initial ACORN story until they no longer could. MSNBC and other “news organizations” are even billing this developing story as “Watergate”. What do Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow know? And when did they know it? I’m sure they would like to believe O’Keefe is stupid enough to try to “wiretap” a sitting U.S. senator in broad daylight during office hours, while recording the entire sequence of events on his cell phone camera. And they’d like you to believe it, too.<< <a href="http://biggovernment.com/2010/01/26/wait-until-the-facts-are-in/" target="_blank">http://biggovernment.com/2010/...-are-in/</a> (OK, he has a point.)
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << while they ignored the initial ACORN story until they no longer could. >> If I recall correctly, the YouTube ACORN videos were pretty much aired on every major news outlet as soon as they hit the web. Is that the definition of being "ignored?"
Originally Posted By mawnck Stop waiting. The facts are in. >>An official close to the investigation said one of the four was arrested with a listening device in a car blocks from the senator's offices. He spoke on condition of anonymity because that information was not included in official arresting documents. According to the FBI affidavit, Flanagan and Basel entered the federal building at 500 Poydras Street on Monday about 11 a.m., dressed as telephone company employees, wearing jeans, fluorescent green vests, tool belts and hard hats. When they arrived at Landrieu's 10th-floor office, O'Keefe was already in the office and had told a staffer he was waiting for someone to arrive. When Flanagan and Basel entered the office, they told the staffer they were there to fix phone problems. At that time, the staffer, referred to only as Witness 1 in the affidavit, observed O'Keefe positioning his cell phone in his hand to videotape the operation. O'Keefe later admitted to agents that he recorded the event. After being asked, the staffer gave Basel access to the main phone at the reception desk. The staffer told investigators that Basel manipulated the handset. He also tried to call the main office phone using his cell phone, and said the main line wasn't working. Flanagan did the same. They then told the staffer they needed to perform repair work on the main phone system and asked where the telephone closet was located. The staffer showed the men to the main General Services Administration office on the 10th floor, and Flanagan and Basel went in. There, a GSA employee asked for the men's credentials. They said they left them in their vehicle. The U.S. Marshal's Service apprehended all four men shortly thereafter.<< >>Robert Flanagan's attorney, J. Garrison Jordan, said he believes his client works for the Pelican Institute. Asked the motivation for the alleged wiretap plot, he said: "I think it was poor judgment. I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime."<< <a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/01/acorn_gotcha_man_arrested_for.html" target="_blank">http://www.nola.com/politics/i...for.html</a>
Originally Posted By mele <<"I think it was poor judgment. I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime."<< Sure! Maybe it was just a harmless prank. Those funny guys. I bet their first idea was to send a dozen pizzas to the office. Silly fellas.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Oh yeah, no intent or motive to commit a crime? As X posted: "One has ties to the CIA. One has ties to a federal prosecutor. One has ties to David Vitter. One, O'Keeffe is the darling of the right wing media." Four dudes with close ties to the GOP. Sen Landrieu is a Democrat. Give me an iffn break!!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Oh yeah, no intent or motive to commit a crime?<< The reason I included that bit was because that's one of the lamest public defenses I've ever heard a lawyer give. It screams "we don't have a leg to stand on."
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< The reason I included that bit was because that's one of the lamest public defenses I've ever heard a lawyer give. It screams "we don't have a leg to stand on." >>> I don't know about the specific allegations involved here, but in general, some crimes are "general intent" and others are "specific intent" crimes. With a general intent crime, all the prosecution has to prove is that you did the elements of the crime (and possibly that you intended to do so). With a specific intent crime, they also have to prove that you knew it was illegal and intended to break the law. So, for a lawyer to say "there was no intent" can be a very valid defense against conviction, if the crime involved is of the specific intent variety. Of course, it's a much weaker defense than one of saying "My guy is innocent because he didn't do it."
Originally Posted By mawnck And that's why my Judge Judy honorary lawyer certificate isn't what it was cracked up to be.
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> With a specific intent crime, they also have to prove that you knew it was illegal and intended to break the law. << There was quite a bit of premeditation for this crime, including the "costumes" with hard hats and tool belts. There was also conspiracy in that four (at least) individuals conspired to commit this crime. Finally, what they will eventually be accused of is a federal offense - probably several of them - in what was essentially an attack on a sitting US senator.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>It appears that conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe is continuing to comment on his case despite the gag order of the court. Raw Story and other sites are reporting that O’Keefe tweeted shortly around midnight last night that “Govt official concedes no attempt to wiretap.” It is certainly an important development if true, but O’Keefe may be accused of violating the court order. In the meantime, it appears that the stunt in New Orleans may have been an effort to cut off the telephones as opposed to wiretapping calls.<< >>MSNBC is reporting that officials say that the men did want to interfere with the phones by shutting them off (one of the possibilities that I discussed below). In a remarkably dumb prank, they “wanted to see how her local office staff would respond if the phones were inoperative.” This was connected to their opposition to Sen. Landrieu’s position on health care. I will not try to bridge that logical gap.<< <a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2010/01/28/filmmaker-okeefe-tweets-on-pending-charges-despite-gag-order/" target="_blank">http://jonathanturley.org/2010...g-order/</a>
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> “wanted to see how her local office staff would respond if the phones were inoperative.” << But that still makes no sense. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were there to do another one of their "stings" where they create a film document of ineptitude. But if the phones "went out", the office staff was already aware that people are in the office working on the phone system. So it wouldn't be a big surprise were not working, and it wouldn't be because of anything done by the office staff. So what's the point? Additionally, one report I heard stated that even if the only charge brought against these four is "criminal trespass', it's still a felony because the trespass was into an area (the phone closet) operated by the federal government. One more thing, because one of the two main defendants is the son of the current LA attorney general, it's unlikely that they'll be given soft treatment. If anything, their sentence is likely to be more harsh. Good!
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy ^^ It also doesn't match up with the evidence of listening devices that they found in a vehicle down the street that belonged to these clowns. "We were just going to make fun of them when the phones didn't work!" Yeah, right.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***But that still makes no sense. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were there to do another one of their "stings" where they create a film document of ineptitude. But if the phones "went out", the office staff was already aware that people are in the office working on the phone system. So it wouldn't be a big surprise were not working, and it wouldn't be because of anything done by the office staff. So what's the point?*** Supposedly it had something to do with some issue of constituents complaining that the offices could not be reached. Supposedly they wanted to film whether or not the office staff "cared" or "were concerned" that the phones were out and their constituents couldn't reach them at all. I don't buy it. Sounds like a conveniently trumped up "motive" they came up with to avoid looking like a second Watergate crew.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Supposedly they wanted to film whether or not the office staff "cared" or "were concerned" that the phones were out and their constituents couldn't reach them at all.<< Intern (stuffing envelopes): Can I help you gentlemen? Dubbed-in voice: We're here in these clever telephone repairmen disguises to pick up those underage prostitutes you've hidden in your back office! Intern: How long will they be out? Dubbed-in voice: Until Democrat Senator and majority leader Harry Reid is damn well done with them, that's when. Here's a check for $1200 to give to Senator Landrieu, made out to ACORN as she requested. Intern: I'll go tell the Senator. Glenn Beck: I weep for my country. See? I'm weeping!
