MSM Leaping to Conclusions - while Big Government waits for the facts

BigGovernment.com ^ | 1/26/2010 | Andrew Breitbart

[SeattleBruce]

**snip**

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.

But there is absolutely no allegation in the criminal complaint that “wiretapping” or “bugging” is any part of this case, just the charge that O’Keefe and the others entered Sen. Landrieu’s office in New Orleans “for the purpose of interfering with the office’s telephone system.”

And yet Carol Leonnig, in a story in Wednesday’s Washington Post writes in her lede:

"The conservative young filmmaker whose undercover sting damaged a liberal activist group last year faces federal criminal charges in an alleged plot to bug the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu"

In other words, speculation is rampant, but facts are few. And basic logic suggests that there’s much more to this story since there is so little information.

Leonnig, as you may remember, is the reporter who was forced to retract the false and libelous accusation that O’Keefe was motivated by racism in his ACORN sting.

Will Leonnig and the Washington Post be compelled to retract again?

[BP2]

> “I am a journalist. The truth shall set me free.”
> about 5 hours ago from web

There's probably A LOT more here than meets the eye, as we shall see as this story unfolds. If you look at the four-page affidavit, there are no direct allegations of actual wiretapping.

I will not condemn them for what they did, knowing the corruption of most Congressmen. Neither the Justice Department nor the MSM would be willing investigate one of the precious 60 votes needed for ObamaCare. Obviously, that's where this citizen journalist "sting" was going.

Congress has been stalled on a federal Media Shield Law for several years now. That's ironic when you consider the First Amendment protections already afforded the Press in our Constitution. Although it could be argued that the ends doesn't justify the means ... sometimes it does.

Silence Dogood, too, broke the law regularly in exposing the corruption and fraud via editorial & leaflet in his government. He later helped to overthrow his government with the help of the French. Both violations were certainly punishable by imprisonment; the Crown's punishment for the latter was death.

Luckily for us, Alice Addertongue (as Ben was also known) was compelled by a stronger inner sense of morality than the laws protecting the corruption within his government could provide.

[Bobalu]

Nice illustration of Franklin...what an amazing polymath he was!!! There are some really great biographies of Franklin...I think I have read/seen them all. I recommend them to all lovers of freedom and science.

[BP2]

Yes, and as moral as Franklin was, he still defied the Crown and the laws of the land, much like these four chaps in Louisiana who tried to expose their government's corruption ... and follow their conscience.

[Rummyfan]

The whole scenario reeks of a set-up.

[ArmstedFragg]

I’m guessing here, but what the heck, we’re all guessing at the moment. I can picture a story pursuing the inability to get anybody to answer the phone in Landreu’s office. They then go to the office for the purpose of showing there’s nothing wrong with their phones.

That’s consistent with the description of the guy announcing he’s able to call out, and the other guy announcing he’s unable to call in. I think this is more about finding a cinematic way to make a point than it is about wiretapping. Nevertheless, it wasn’t well thought out.

The fact that the left believes as you cited, and thinks the public is ignorant enough to buy it says more about them and their audience than anything else.

[Enchante]

at first I thought that O’Keefe had gone off the deep end, but now I think it’s much more likely that this is some elaborate stunt to expose the extreme biases of the MSM and the Democrats

we really don’t know that any crime has been committed -— it may well turn out that there’s no real “tampering” with a phone system at all

Not clear that anyone really knows yet that there were any functioning “bugs” or “listening devices” present, and certainly nothing that was actually implanted

O’Keefe was said to be filming with his cell phone — that does not sound like the behavior of someone who believes he is participating in any crime

I am wondering if any “listening devices” or “bugs” will turn out to be totally non-functional, maybe part of a stunt to show how easily the MSM leaps to conclusions and trumpets their hasty “conclusions” when a conservative figure is involved..... while of course ignoring the ACORN stories (and so many others) for as long as they could, and then almost every media outlet trivialized it

Maybe O’Keefe is setting a lot of libs up for big-time embarrassment..... at least I hope so! we have to wait for some actual facts and details about what was going on

[tsomer]

Now that they are defendants, don’t they have rights to ask questions pursuant to their defense?

As soon as he’s hauled in, he’s out on 10K bail. Didn’t seem to take very long.

If this goes to trial, some interesting things could come to light.

I doubt it will.

[anymouse]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

O’Keefe’s playing very close to the edge if this turns out to be a “wild weasel” operation to draw out the Feds and Media into an embarrassing sting.

I sure hope he has a good lawyer advising him, as conspiracy and RICO can be pretty loosely prosecuted, especially by Holder.

[chilltherats]

Hell no, the FBI can’t be trusted. They’re part of Holder’s shop. And do the words “Waco”, “Ruby Ridge”, “Ramos and Compean”, “Scooter Libby” jar anything in your memory about the FBI? ;)

O’Keefe should not say a word to them. If they can’t get him on whatever this incident is about, they’ll try to nail him for lying to federal agents just like they did with Scooter Libby.

[Candor7]

O Keeefe will soon fill us in once he gets clear of his lawyers.

Fascists will target their detratcors and frame them, and if that doesn’t work the Obama Junta will kill him.He needs to be very careful.

People have forgotten how to fight fascists , who are ruthless. One needs above all, the light of day. That light is not being allowed at this point on Okeefe.That needs to change.

And thats why Free Republic is here.

LIGHT THIS UP EVERYONE! Get the Okeefe information and put it ALL over the internet. Okeefe is likely being framed by an intel sting.

Landrieu is dirty and Okeefe had the goods on her.

Okeefe is a freedom fighter, Ver. 1.0 in this new era.He needs our help.

[Prole]

The entire Landrieu family is absolute sleazy.

They will all rot in hell in the end.

Bank on it.

[Prole]

Hell no, the FBI can’t be trusted. They’re part of Holder’s shop. And do the words “Waco”, “Ruby Ridge”, “Ramos and Compean”, “Scooter Libby” jar anything in your memory about the FBI? ;)

Damn right.

The FBI hierarchy leaked information to Obama before they launched a raid into the offices Vivek Kundra and Yusuf Acar.

Heaven only knows how much incriminating evidence was destroyed before the damn idiot drones arrived for their so-called "raid."

[Prole]

You think you should be able to trust the FBI, but can you?

The FBI is nothing more than a tool of the Obamanistas.

Anyone who trusts them should get his head examined.

[RonDog]

Here's MORE "informed speculation" -- from the comments posted at bigjournalism.com:

Patriot Act · 1 hour ago

I have a theory.

First, if they didn't have any bugging equipment, then they obviously weren't setting out to bug the phones. O'Keefe is not an idiot, so obviously he was up to something.

Perhaps they have a controversial recording of a phone call and they know the number from which the call was made, but they don't know the exact physical location of the phone. So they go to where they suspect it came from and start making phone calls from various phones, while their confederate answers and records the caller IDs. They record video of the calls to help prove the link between where they called from. The confederate might be recording the call and the caller ID on video on the other end.

I think we're going to be hearing some big news about Mary Lamdrieu or someone in her office in the not-too-distant future.

Patriot Act · 1 hour ago

Now that I think about it, the confederate was probably O'Keefe himself. He was using his phone to make a video, audio, and caller ID record all in one neat little package.

Concerned · 18 minutes ago

A. Openly recording activity in Ms. Landrieu's office, he avoids the claim of making a secret recording.
B. Recording on cell phone, file can be transferred to remote location for preservation.
C. Based upon info made public so far, no evidence that James claimed to be phone tech or anyone else.
D. Based upon FBI affidavit no indication of any wire tap equipment carried inside office.
E. What appears to not have been told is where did James go or remain while the other two went to the other office containing the telephone equipment.
F. Were other recordings made and was he alone at any time in Ms Landrieu's office?
G. Regarding receiving equipment found in nearby car, absent a transmitter, hard to monitor telephone calls.
H. Absent any evidence to the contrary, predict all charges dropped to misdemeanor if not dropped completely.

[Waco]

Meanwhile, ACORN is free(encouraged) to keep the Saterday nite pimps and their girls going, the FBI don’t mind,,really they don’t.

[napscoordinator]

I would agree with you if those guys did not go to the Senator offices. I think they were caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

[mazda77]

The backside of this incident, and previous expose’ pieces by O’Keefe is the obvious over-reaction by the entire LSM, is they attach the signifigance of his notoriety to a story they never gave any signifigance to.

Now they have reported about a story that most dumbos in this country knew nothing or very little about and they will be curious enough to find out what the ACORN videos were all about. “Enquiring minds want to know” as they say in the tabloid business.

As one who has called my Senator’s office many, many times, and all one ever gets is a recording, I can see the possibility of them making a sting to prove the phones actually worked knowing full well they would be nabbed because some dimwhit in the office wasn’t able to understand they were there to make fun of them, not to do anything illegal.

So the paranoia trumps logic and they call their friends in the media and voila, the media is unwhittingly reporting the affair as BIG news and now the pimp tapes begin to roll again because they need background to explain who he is and why this is important. Right before Breitbart orchestrates another expose’.

[Hardastarboard]

I’m a little inarticulate this AM, but that is such a solid, true comment.

[TornadoAlley3]

um, this is Louisiana, New Orleans, home of the Landrieus, no matter if he is innocent, he is going down.

[Yardstick]

they could rope him for conspiracy since his site was the likely destination for the illegal tap tapes

You have committed the error of "accepting the premise".

Nothing in the complaint says anything about wire taps. As Breitbart points out, that was embellishment by a writer at the WaPo, a writer who has an axe to grind against O'Keefe.