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To: OldDeckHand
Your typical wire room in a federal building is an antiquated sort of thing USUALLY LEFT UNLOCKED.

With modern PBX systems gaining access to the wire room will ordinarily not yield anything of use (unless you're stealing CAT 5 wire or something).

As I noted earlier the FBI has experts who can be called to testify regarding the security of any federal phone system in any particular location. They did so in the Patriot Act hearings. They will testify that nothing these gentlemen had available to them would have "interfered".

You can prove intent, but you need to have a crime as well ~ not success of a crime ~ but a crime, and "interfering" with something that's not "interferable" probably doesn't rise the level a jury will comprehend.

The FBI has a genius at work right now figuring out how these guys can do a plea that lets them completely off the hook but makes sure they don't try it again.

Demonstrators in DC regularly pay a $15 peacebond for ducking into an otherwise "closed" federal building.

122 posted on 01/26/2010 2:02:12 PM PST by muawiyah ("Git Out The Way")
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To: muawiyah

Sounds like maybe a “Candid Camera” stunt gone awry....


127 posted on 01/26/2010 2:11:31 PM PST by Beaten Valve
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To: muawiyah
Your typical wire room in a federal building is an antiquated sort of thing USUALLY LEFT UNLOCKED.

Correct. I've seen enough of them in my time.

You can prove intent, but you need to have a crime as well ~ not success of a crime ~ but a crime, and "interfering" with something that's not "interferable" probably doesn't rise the level a jury will comprehend.

Correct again. Yes, unless O'Keefe freely admits to intent to do so or something comes out to contradict. As you can see from the article they were sent elsewhere:

Article: The men were directed to another office in the building where they're accused of again misrepresenting themselves as telephone repairmen.

The plausible inference here is that O'Keefe wanted access to catch Senator Landrieu for an off the cuff interview.

The FBI has a genius at work right now figuring out how these guys can do a plea that lets them completely off the hook but makes sure they don't try it again.

Yes, and at the very least give him some jazz since he has politically wounded the Obama administration.

163 posted on 01/26/2010 2:44:42 PM PST by Red Steel
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