Jimmie Higgins
28th January 2010, 18:45
This news made my day. Remember the smarmy young preppy who became the right-wing's "new-media" celebrity when he took a pimp costume (left over from a racist white-fratboy "pimp and ho" party no doubt) and asked for housing assistance at ACORN while mascaraing as a white yuppie's racist stereotype of a "black pimp"? Yeah, I don't think being an undercover reporter should involve ridiculous black-face. Well anyway, ACORN was smeared, the right-wingers got to act shocked and talk about lack of morals among the urban black poor and liberal charity organizations, and a couple of African American ACRON volunteers/workers who tried to do their job and help people with home ownership advice (and didn't believe his cartoonish "pimp" act) got fired.
Well, he got caught breaking into a Senator's office.:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
4 suspected in 'Louisiana Watergate' had written on conservative ideology
12:00 AM CST on Thursday, January 28, 2010
Michael Kunzelman, Brett J. Blackledge, The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS – Four men accused of trying to tamper with Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phones shared a common experience as young ideologues writing for conservative publications.
Federal authorities said two of the men posed as telephone workers with hard hats, tool belts and fluorescent vests, and walked into Landrieu's office in a New Orleans federal building Monday. A federal law enforcement official said Wednesday that one of the hard hats was rigged with a tiny camera. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The best-known suspect is James O'Keefe, 25, who posed as a pimp for a hidden-camera exposé that damaged the reputation of the liberal community-organizing group ACORN (http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/ACORN) and made him a conservative darling.
O'Keefe and suspect Joseph Basel, 24, formed their own conservative publications on their college campuses, Rutgers and the University of Minnesota-Morris.
A third suspect, Stan Dai, 24, was editor of his university's conservative paper and directed a program aimed at interesting college students in the intelligence field after 9/11. He attended Trinity Washington University (http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/Washington_University_in_St._Louis).
The fourth suspect, Robert Flanagan, 24, son of the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, wrote for the conservative Pelican Institute in New Orleans.
O'Keefe was a speaker at a Pelican Institute luncheon days before his arrest.
It's not yet clear whether the plan was a prank intended to be captured on camera or a more serious attempt at political espionage, as claimed by state Democrats (http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/U.S._Democratic_Party), who dubbed it "Louisiana Watergate."
A witness told authorities O'Keefe was sitting in the waiting area of Landrieu's office and appeared to record Basel and Flanagan on his cellphone when they arrived posing as phone workers. Landrieu, in Washington at the time, said in a statement that the plot was "unsettling" for her and her staff.
The federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity said one of the suspects was picked up in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device that could pick up transmissions. Another official said Dai was the suspect arrested outside.
All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
"It was poor judgment," Flanagan's lawyer, Garrison Jordan, said. "I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime."
O'Keefe, Basel and Dai returned to the courthouse Wednesday for appointments with the department that handles arrangements with defendants before trial.
Flanagan, who was not with them, is the only suspect who lives in Louisiana. Basel is from Minnesota; O'Keefe, New Jersey; and Dai, the D.C.-Virginia area.
Michael Kunzelman,
Brett J. Blackledge,
The Associated Press
Well, he got caught breaking into a Senator's office.:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
4 suspected in 'Louisiana Watergate' had written on conservative ideology
12:00 AM CST on Thursday, January 28, 2010
Michael Kunzelman, Brett J. Blackledge, The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS – Four men accused of trying to tamper with Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phones shared a common experience as young ideologues writing for conservative publications.
Federal authorities said two of the men posed as telephone workers with hard hats, tool belts and fluorescent vests, and walked into Landrieu's office in a New Orleans federal building Monday. A federal law enforcement official said Wednesday that one of the hard hats was rigged with a tiny camera. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The best-known suspect is James O'Keefe, 25, who posed as a pimp for a hidden-camera exposé that damaged the reputation of the liberal community-organizing group ACORN (http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/ACORN) and made him a conservative darling.
O'Keefe and suspect Joseph Basel, 24, formed their own conservative publications on their college campuses, Rutgers and the University of Minnesota-Morris.
A third suspect, Stan Dai, 24, was editor of his university's conservative paper and directed a program aimed at interesting college students in the intelligence field after 9/11. He attended Trinity Washington University (http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/Washington_University_in_St._Louis).
The fourth suspect, Robert Flanagan, 24, son of the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, wrote for the conservative Pelican Institute in New Orleans.
O'Keefe was a speaker at a Pelican Institute luncheon days before his arrest.
It's not yet clear whether the plan was a prank intended to be captured on camera or a more serious attempt at political espionage, as claimed by state Democrats (http://topics.dallasnews.com/topic/U.S._Democratic_Party), who dubbed it "Louisiana Watergate."
A witness told authorities O'Keefe was sitting in the waiting area of Landrieu's office and appeared to record Basel and Flanagan on his cellphone when they arrived posing as phone workers. Landrieu, in Washington at the time, said in a statement that the plot was "unsettling" for her and her staff.
The federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity said one of the suspects was picked up in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device that could pick up transmissions. Another official said Dai was the suspect arrested outside.
All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
"It was poor judgment," Flanagan's lawyer, Garrison Jordan, said. "I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime."
O'Keefe, Basel and Dai returned to the courthouse Wednesday for appointments with the department that handles arrangements with defendants before trial.
Flanagan, who was not with them, is the only suspect who lives in Louisiana. Basel is from Minnesota; O'Keefe, New Jersey; and Dai, the D.C.-Virginia area.
Michael Kunzelman,
Brett J. Blackledge,
The Associated Press