Posted on 01/26/2010 1:02:28 PM PST by BuckeyeTexan
Developing ... James O'Keefe, of ACORN sting video fame, and three other suspects have been arrested by the FBI for interfering with LA Senator Landrieu's phone system on federal property.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Surely you’re not suggesting that O’Keefe knew there would be an affidavit to be disputed? He was obviously recording Flanagan and Basel for some reason, but why is a mystery at this point.
...and maybe they did.
I will go a little further into tin foil hat territory, they may have even stumbled into an ongoing Fed investigation and are in semi-crap because of it.
This would explain some oddities about about the chain of events and timing of arrest.
The following comment was posted at BigGovernment regarding this story.
macaoidh - January 27th, 2010 at 5:51 am
If what I have been told by a source not far removed from this situation is true, then before it’s over this thing will make the ACORN tapes look like a Swedish massage.
I agree with the: "let them go crazy over it and be discredited"(although they always manage to ignore or downplay stories that turn out to discredit them) part of your post.
I watched the "intro portion" to all the PMSLSD shows and EVERY ONE led off with this story. They were ORGASMIC !!
I was pissed at first, but then realized: "How is their kool-aid drinking loyal audience going to be excited about this subject, when they have NOTHING TO REFERENCE IT TO!!!"
Not only do they now HAVE to report on something they refused to cover when it initially happened, to get their audience "up to speed" and join them in THEIR "orgasma-thon" over this, but it exposes their total bias in NOT covering the NATIONAL ACORN Tapes Scandal in the first place.
As far as any RICO charges, if the dems overplay this by charging O'Keefe, try to discredit him and his work and then ignoring all the possible RICO charges on the ACORN tapes, IMHO, by the time the Nov 2010 election results are counted, losing Teddy the Swimmer's seat to a Repub will forever be thought of by the over-reaching marxist progressives as "the good ol' days".
“As far as any RICO charges, if the dems overplay this by charging O’Keefe...”
Mr. O’Keef’s fate is in the hands of a Republican prosecutor and a jury of his peers in New Orleans.
Not to mention the other three people who were arrested with O’Keefe who may be enticed by that Republican prosecutor to testify against Mr. O’Keefe.
If O'Keefe does time and ACORN is let off scott free, it won't matter who did the prosecuting.
Breitbart Discusses O’Keefe Arrest with Hugh Hewitt
http://hughhewitt.com/blog/print.aspx?guid=3c0f68ec-ee51-42ae-b9ce-a170d352c202
Thanks for the link!
While I wish we could, we cannot put ACORN in prison however, we can put in prison those who are convicted of attempted to bug the telephone of a federal elected official.
And I and the law do not give a damn about the party affiliation of the perpetrator or the victim and neither does Jim Letten.
Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 8:03 PM
I interviewed Andrew Breitbart about the arrest of James O'Keefe:
HH: Joined now by Andrew Breitbart of www.biggovernment.com and www.bigjournalism.com, who’s name will be in big, big print in many newspapers tomorrow as the man whose videos he published at Big Government is under arrest in Louisiana. Andrew, what is going on?
AB: Well, your guess is as good as mine. We’re reading the same Associated Press copy out there. The first I heard of it was an e-mail early this afternoon from the Times-Picayune asking for my comment on it. I have not heard from anyone. I’ve issued a statement that I could read to you that in essence says I had no prior knowledge of any of this stuff, and I know nothing, quite frankly about this, and I’m going to wait until I hear from someone with information here. There’s obviously an attempt to use this for political purposes right now, and I see that Media Matters is referring to this group of gentlemen who were arrested as “Breitbart’s Crew.” I’ve looked at all four of the names…[# More #]
HH: That’s slanderous, by the way.
AB: It is, and I’ve never met any of the three other gentlemen.
HH: You see, I want to pause here. The attribution of criminal conduct is per se’ slanderous.
AB: Yes, and that’s what they’re trying to do here, because you know, with the ACORN internal investigation that Scott Harshbarger did at the behest of John Podesta and Andy Stern, was an investigation into James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles trying to find that Richard Mellon Scaife connection to the vast right wing conspiracy, when what they did was an independent film investigation. James O’Keefe is an independent film director.
(FULL TRANSCRIPT AT LINK)
- - - -
FOXNews.com
The independent filmmaker who brought ACORN to its knees last year with an undercover expose was arrested this week along with three others, including the son of a federal prosecutor, and accused of trying to interfere with the phones at Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office.
I wonder also if the interrogation lasted longer than 50 minutes ...
It sure helps Americans sleep well at night knowing that squeaky-clean
Senators are being kept safe from citizen journalists ...
I trust that the FBI agents who made the arrest did in-fact read Mr. O’Keefe his Miranda Rights.
And yes, we are well served if the FBI prevents the phones of federal officials from being tapped.
Yep, BETexan, sure did. Went back and read it again.
1. The ‘physically and verbally represented’ themselves part is the conclusion of the agent and basis for arrest- not what necessarily occurred nor necessarily a crime.
2. Item 5 indicates they ‘represented’ themselves to the employee as phone repairers. Nothing defines ‘representation’ other than their wardrobe. Is dressing like a Village Person a crime?
3. Item six states they requested access to a phone and manipulated it. Well, if they touched it, they manipulated it. I’ve asked for use of a phone in various places. Is that illegal? It continues to go on that he tried to call the number with his cell. So?
4. Item seven states they indicated they needed to do repair work. What exactly did they say? Was it a ‘must access’ or ‘could we access’ or merely ‘there is repair work to be done’ [he might need to repair his truck] followed by a query to the phone room location. Asking where a room is isn’t illegal.
5. The conclusion states that they admitted to entering a Fed property under false pretenses. Goodness. Many folks sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution and do just the opposite have misrepresented themselves...and they swore something. Where are their arrest warrants?
6. Reading the final summary, it appears that entering under false pretenses isn’t the crime; it is the horrid offense of ‘attempting to manipulate’ a phone. When is it against the law to touch a phone?
While I may sound like an ACLU partisan, it seems to me that this case is not well fleshed out and they were held on the most tenuous claims.
In fact, if they were found guilty, would it be illegal to enter a Federal building if you disagreed with a policy, but lied in fact or by omission so you could get in to speak to a Senator? ‘I wanted to thank Sen. Reed for all of his great work...’ then ‘Sen. Reid, you sir, are a despicable louse and unworthy of your Senatorial seat!’ That certainly would be a false pretense.
If you manipulated or touched a piece of office equipment or fixtures in a Federal office, should you be arrested? So nuch for using the toilet!
There was NO information that ANYTHING was destroyed, maliciously tampered with, made inoperable or operable in a manner different from it’s prior function. So what is the crime of ‘manipulation’?
If someone goes into a Federal office for benefits and leads someone to think they are ‘qualified’ but don’t actually lie nor sign a form swearing they are representing the truth, should they be carted off to jail? To me the person doing the screening would be the guilty party as they would or should have some sort of fiduciary accountability as part of their job description if they can determine benefits eligibility or lead others to do so. If not, the agency or NGO which receives tax-payer funds and hands them out willie-nillie is likely operating outside of their charter or their charter needs a revision pronto-quick.
I realize this may seem way off base from the original complaint, but I find it a perfect nexus from a legal standpoint. [But I’m no lawyer and do not play one on TV. Although I’m finding an urge to go to law school, lol]
So what are your thoughts on the above? Any merit in the outline and conclusions?
| What are the chances the Obama/Holder Justice Department would ask a Federal judge for a wiretap order between those "federal officials," especially if one of those "federal officials" is a critical vote for the president’s key piece of legislation? Have you been paying attention to the decisions being made by the Justice Department lately? If so, your faith in their priorities and forthrightness is ill-placed. |
Hmmmm....put federal official phone tapper (Jim McDermitt like, huh) in prison...
..Don't prosecute ACORN workers offering to set up financing for MULTIPLE illegal alien under age minor children for a sex slave brothel.
I understand your vision of "justice" now.
Thanks for clarifing.
Perhaps that is possible, but it has nothing to do with the case at hand which has to do with private citizens allegedly attempting to wiretap telephone owned by the federal government.
Yes, the ACORN workers in question should be prosecuted.
And O’Keefe and his crew should also be prosecuted for their alleged shenanigans in New Orleans.
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