ACORN gotcha man among four arrested for attempting to bug Mary Landrieu's office

The Times-Picayune ^ | January 26, 2010 | David Hammer

[Cheap_Hessian]

The FBI, alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in downtown New Orleans, arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility.

FBI Special Agent Steven Rayes alleges that O'Keefe aided and abetted two others, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan, who dressed up as employees of a telephone company and attempted to interfere with the office's telephone system.

A fourth person, Stan Dai, was accused of aiding and abetting Basel and Flanagan. All four were charged with entering fedral property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

A witness from Landrieu's staff said O'Keefe was present in the office and claimed to be "waiting for someone to arrive."

[ReyTurner]

Oh come on. It was a prank!! loosen up.

[af_vet_rr]

Oh come on. It was a prank!! loosen up.

Screwing around with security when we are at war is not a prank.

Even he publicly admitted it was a stupid thing to do. He's facing jailtime and is pleading his case to the court of public opinion.

[airborne]

Screwing around with security when we are at war is not a prank.

It was a dumb idea.

Also dumb was letting them all inside and into Landrieu's waiting room "when we are at war".

Also dumb was letting them in without checking their credentials "when we are at war".

Also dumb was letting them use the phone at the receptionist's desk, and then showing them where the access to the phone lines was "when we are at war".

Not quite as dumb as Attorney General Holder stopping the FBI from interrogating the "underwear bomber" after he tried to bring down a jet liner full of people (when we are at war", but there have been a lot of dumb things happening lately.

Funny how this is getting more coverage from the media than the Ft. Hood cover up. I wonder why that is, "when we are a t war".

[af_vet_rr]

It was a dumb idea.

Dumb doesn't begin to describe it. These were all men old enough to know better and old enough to know that pretending to be somebody they aren't around a federal building could get them in a lot of trouble. Fortunately for them they are connected.

Since you probably still feel that it was a prank, but that if they were Muslim they would be terrorists, how would you feel if they were Democrats doing this to a Republican Senator?

As for O'Keefe's and his fellow idiots, if Basel and Flanagan want to dress up and do something for their country, they could put on a uniform and serve in the military. That's becoming a rare thing among young Republicans these days. Then again, if their connections fall through and they end up with a felony on their record, they won't have that opportunity.

[Lower55]

“falsifying their identities in order to gain access to federal buildings”

Who owns the federal buildings?

[airborne]

Since you probably still feel that it was a prank,...

Not sure why you would think that. I only wonder if some of the facts have been twisted by a media with an agenda.

As for the "prank" comment, it stopped being a prank as soon as the FBI arrested them.

[af_vet_rr]

Sorry, my comment should have been addressed to somebody else who felt it was a bunch of kids pulling a prank.