Fox News Devastated Over Arrest Of ACORN Pimp

[romantico]

Posted: 1/26/10 at 5:02pm

Fox News has been one of the biggest supporters of James OKeefe, who is infamous for dressing up as a pimp and videotaping ACORN staffers offering to help the supposed pimp and his prostitutes secure funding for a brothel. The network constantly replayed coverage from his operation. In September, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace named OKeefe his Power Player of the Week, calling him an undercover reporter and a fascinating character.

Today, the FBI arrested OKeefe and three others charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony saying that they were plotting to wiretap Sen. Mary Landrieus office (D-LA). One of the other men, Robert Flanagan, is the son of William Flanagan, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana. Two of the men dressed as telephone company employees and showed up to Landrieus New Orleans office, saying they had to fix phone problems. OKeefe was already there and was positioning his cell phone in his hand to videotape the operation:

After being asked, the staffer gave Basel access to the main phone at the reception desk. The staffer told investigators that Basel manipulated the handset. He also tried to call the main office phone using his cell phone, and said the main line wasn't working. Flanagan did the same.

They then told the staffer they needed to perform repair work on the main phone system and asked where the telephone closet was located. The staffer showed the men to the main General Services Administration office on the 10th floor, and both went in. There, a GSA employee asked for the men's credentials, after which they stated they left them in their vehicle. The U.S. Marshal's Service apprehended all four men shortly thereafter.

Fox News aired a report about the arrests shortly after the news broke. However, reporter Tim Vaughn tried to downplay the news:

VAUGHN: very weird story that probably needs a lot of context and a lot of looking into, which is what we're going to do here. I just wanted to get it on the record with it right now.

SHEP SMITH: So, they're saying basically, they're in there It sounds as if what they're saying is, they're looking for some ACORN hanky panky and they try to tap into Mary Landrieu's telephone to get it.

VAUGHN: That could be one way of looking at it, yes.


http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/26/fox-okeefe/

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/26/10 at 5:51pm

Those wacky vigilantes!

[romantico]

Posted: 1/26/10 at 9:30pm

Department of Justice Press Release:

If convicted, FLANAGAN, BASEL, O KEEFE, and DAI each face a maximum term of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.

http://neworleans.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/no012610.htm

Its being reported that Listening device picked up in a car a few blocks away. They were laughing at their court hearing.

Updated On: 1/26/10 at 09:30 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/26/10 at 9:49pm

From The Times-Picayune website:




James O'Keefe, left, and Stan Dai walk out of the St. Bernard Parish jail in Chalmette on Tuesday. O'Keefe, a conservative activist who last year posed as a pimp to target the community-organizing group ACORN, is one of four people arrested by the FBI and accused of trying to interfere with phones at Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/26/10 at 9:50pm

Michelle Malkin washes her hands of him:
About face: Conservative Malkin disowns ‘ACORN pimp’ after wiretap bust

[romantico]

Posted: 1/27/10 at 7:53am

Will Fox News cover this story the way they covered Acorn?

Rachel did a great job on this story last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsyjHA0yHBQ

Updated On: 1/27/10 at 07:53 AM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 1/27/10 at 11:12am

I weep not for Michelle Malkin ever. She is right up there with Maggie Gallagher and the other hatemongers.

Poor baby probably thinks Watergate was a set-up. Now she is upset that one of her pets got caught.

Go away, Michelle Malkin, and get a real job.

Go away Fox. The First Amendment was not thought up to protect professional liars.

[romantico]

Posted: 1/27/10 at 12:17pm

WOW! There is more and more coming out about this story.

Breitbart: I Pay A Salary To Alleged Landrieu Plotter O'Keefe
Justin Elliott | January 27, 2010, 9:03AM

Conservative new media figure Andrew Breitbart revealed last night on Hugh Hewitt's radio show that he pays a salary to James O'Keefe, the filmmaker who was charged yesterday in an alleged attempt to tamper with the phones of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).

But Breitbart, who runs the Big Government site where O'Keefe's now-famous ACORN sting videos were posted, is maintaining that he had no "connection to" the incident at Landrieu's New Orleans office.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/breitbart_i_pay_a_salary_to_alleged_landrieu_plott.php?ref=tn

ACORN worker files suit against filmmakers on taping

An ACORN Housing Corp. employee has launched a suit against a pair of independent filmmakers who secretly recorded a meeting with her while they posed as a pimp and prostitute.

Katherine Conway-Russell, office manager at ACORN's Philadelphia branch, claimed that James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles attempted to entrap her into giving "inappropriate counseling" while violating Pennsylvania wiretapping laws.

...

According to the suit, O'Keefe first tried to make an appointment for advice about running an election campaign. When he was rebuffed, O'Keefe then asked for help on a mortgage issue. Again, he was refused an appointment.

Minutes later, the suit says, O'Keefe and Giles arrived asking for housing and mortgage advice.

Conway-Russell saw them in her office and told them "she could only provide information regarding mortgage possibilities and could not assist them in any other matters."

The suit does not go into detail about the conversation. But it states that Conway-Russell did not know their conversation was being recorded and never gave her permission to be recorded. In Pennsylvania, when a conversation or telephone call is recorded, all parties must consent.

As the meeting came to a close, Conway-Russell became "concerned about statements made during the interview," and asked a colleague to call police. Another ACORN employee filed a complaint accusing O'Keefe of making an oral disturbance.

The suit is the first to be filed against the filmmakers by an individual ACORN employee.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20100123_ACORN_worker_files_suit_against_filmmakers_on_taping.html

[romantico]

Posted: 1/27/10 at 12:19pm

James O'Keefe contacted Planned Parenthood wanting to make a donation to help "abort black babies.

After relating that O Keefe had gone from producing videos as pranks to targeting Planned Parenthood in what Schiavocampo referred to as "more outrageous political fare like calling Planned Parenthood to see if they would accept donations to abort black babies," a clip of one such phone call was played:

AUDIO CLIP OF O KEEFE SPEAKING TO A PLANNED PARENTHOOD EMPLOYEE BY PHONE: There's too many black people in Ohio, so I'm just trying to do my part.

AUDIO CLIP OF UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE EMPLOYEE OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Okay, whatever.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2009/09/24/nbc-profiles-okeefe-acorn-sting-mentions-planned-parenthood-racist-ph

Updated On: 1/27/10 at 12:19 PM

[strummergirl]

Posted: 1/27/10 at 1:45pm

Have any of y'all seen his twitter account? It is just too precious:
http://twitter.com/JamesOkeefeIII

Last tweet:
I am a journalist. The truth shall set me free.

Gawker has been invaluable during this whole shebang:
http://gawker.com/5457611/what-we-know-about-the-young-republican-gang-that-couldnt-shoot-straight

http://gawker.com/5458240/teabuggers-day-2-lets-not-jump-to-conclusions-about-james-okeefes-own-admissions

[romantico]

Posted: 1/28/10 at 5:17pm

This is a MUST see!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJSquVg-5vY