# ACORN "pimp" arrested for illegally accessing Senate office; tampering with phone system **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586 "2010-01-26T23:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/101 "2010-01-31T19:10:08Z")
Hey, _I_ was born in Idaho, and still live there to this day. Don’t be hatin’ on the Gem State! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/102 "2010-01-31T20:56:37Z")
You mean, there really is such a place? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/103 "2010-02-01T01:21:29Z")
Yeah, right. Like that “Delaware” people keep claiming is somewhere on the eastern seaboard. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/104 "2010-02-01T02:45:03Z")
The lunatic fringe has [cranked up the conspiracy engine to eleven](http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/01/30/senate-burglary-cia-domestic-black-op-team-arrested/): > [@](#): > > **SENATE BURGLARY: CIA DOMESTIC BLACK-OP TEAM ARRESTED** > > Last week’s breakin at Senator Mary Landrieu’s office in the New Orleans Federal Building was more than it seemed, much more. All of the 4 arrested had been trained by the CIA and, possibly, Israel. One arrested, Stan Dai, is listed as an Operations Officer of the Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Program and a known expert and lecturer on, not only surveillance but explosives training, assassinations and “false flag operations.” If you wanted a plane to crash, an enemy to get sick and die or a building to blow up, Dai would be the man to know how to make it happen. Problem is, his skills were being used as part of a criminal conspiracy inside the United States against members of our own government. > > Original reports on the “break-in” were also wrong. One of those arrested was found blocks away with a covert receiver, managing the office bugs. The man in the car is identified as [Stan Dai, Operations Officer for the Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Program](http://rawstory.com/2010/01/men-charged-attempting-bug-landrieus-office-intelligence-links/)… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/105 "2010-02-01T03:25:32Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The lunatic fringe has [cranked up the conspiracy engine to eleven](http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/01/30/senate-burglary-cia-domestic-black-op-team-arrested/): Don’t neglect the Denial over at Politico: [Man charged in NOLA-gate scheme did not work for intelligence community](http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/0110/Man_charged_in_NOLAgate_scheme_did_not_work_for_intelligence_community.html) > [@](#): > > Dai never worked for the ODNI or CIA, the intelligence agencies tell POLITICO. However: > [@](#): > > he served as the “operations officer of a Pentagon irregular warfare fellowship,” before becoming the deputy administrator of the Trinity Washington University intelligence center program in 2008. There’s room for a little suspicion of his motives here. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/106 "2010-02-01T03:49:08Z")
Sounds to me like the accomplices were simply spy “wanna-bes” who took courses in spy-ology at a 2nd rate institution. They were amateurs. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/107 "2010-02-01T04:24:29Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > spy “wanna-bes” who took courses in spy-ology at a 2nd rate institution. They were amateurs. There was a little more to it than that. [From the Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence at Trinity Washington:](http://www.trinitydc.edu/programs/intel_center/tanjier.html) > [@](#): > > “My trip to Paris, France allowed me to gain the cultural experiences abroad that everyone deserves.” \*\* JUNKETS!!!\*\* [Still](http://www.trinitydc.edu/programs/intel_center/index.html), the school is in DC, and there does seem to be a legit tie to the intelligence community, insofar as anything set up on the side during the Bush years had any legitimacy: > [@](#): > > The Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence was established at Trinity in Fall 2004 with a one-year, $250,000 renewable grant from the U.S. Intelligence Community. The pilot program is designed to increase the pool of eligible applicants for positions in the intelligence community with an emphasis on women, persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities, with diverse cultural backgrounds, language proficiency, geographical expertise and related competencies. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/108 "2010-02-01T04:28:17Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Sounds to me like the accomplices were simply spy “wanna-bes” who took courses in spy-ology at a 2nd rate institution. They were amateurs. Amateurs indeed. Going inside the building and the office to tap the phones. You could do that just as easily from the utility room in the basement of the building, or a phone company pad outside the building in the back alley. And those places would be far less likely to be observed or questioned by anyone. So their own stupidity got them caught. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/109 "2010-02-01T04:35:54Z")
Well, yeah, one would think so. On the other hand, the Bushiviks did their darndest to staff the Justice Dept. with ideologically correct graduates of Dollar Store University, so who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/110 "2010-02-01T13:46:30Z")
I’m just tickled that from here on out, James O’Keefe, by his own doing, is now almost universally known as “ACORN Pimp.” I call it Teabagger Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/111 "2010-02-01T14:55:10Z")
Amateur or not, we should all be glad they didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/112 "2010-02-01T15:05:00Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Amateurs indeed. > Going inside the building and the office to tap the phones. You could do that just as easily from the utility room in the basement of the building, or a phone company pad outside the building in the back alley. And those places would be far less likely to be observed or questioned by anyone. So their own stupidity got them caught. I would have assumed that federal buildings don’t have easily accessible phone company pads in back alleys outside. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/113 "2010-02-01T17:14:07Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Sounds to me like the accomplices were simply spy “wanna-bes” who took courses in spy-ology at a 2nd rate institution. They were amateurs. I’d like to think CIA operatives would have fake credentials or be able to come up with an excuse better than “dude, we left 'em in the car”, though I wouldn’t swear to it. If _I_ were a rogue CIA operative I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t buy a reflective vest and walk into the building in front of witnesses but just break in at 2 a.m. when you can take all the time you need and the only person you have to worry about is the $10 per hour security guard. So I’m not even sure these guys watch _Burn Notice_, let alone took courses. ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/114 "2010-02-01T18:40:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I would have assumed that federal buildings don’t have easily accessible phone company pads in back alleys outside. In my very short time working as a FTTP\* designer, **[t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net)** really wasn’t too far from the truth. If the building wasn’t built as a federal building in the first place, they usually didn’t bother to move everything inside/underground but there would be cameras aimed at the important stuff like junction boxes and penetration points. I never tested to see if someone was watching the cameras but I had no problem wandering around the parking lot and grass areas with a vest and badge flapping around. \*Fiber (optic cable) To The Premises ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/115 "2010-02-01T18:46:33Z")
My hunch is they wanted videotape of the phones ringing off the hooks while the secretaries smacked bubble gum, buffed their nails, and ignored the phones. You can’t get that at 2 am. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/116 "2010-02-02T01:28:06Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Palin was born in Idaho. I wanted to let the punnage and general merriment peter out before thanking you for the correction. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/117 "2010-02-03T07:45:41Z")
[Article and clips of his Hannity appearance.](http://www.examiner.com/x-21777-Las-Vegas-Democrat-Examiner~y2010m2d2-James-OKeefe-wiggles-and-squirms-in-Hannity-interview) He’s lying his ass off, and that’s just when he calls himself an investigative journalist, and his comment about how “we were trying to figure out what had happened with her phone system” IS THE SAME AS SAYING “we were there to tamper with her phone system”; any information on repair to her office phone system would probably be available under FOIA anyway. (Godamighty, can you imagine Hannity if the guest had been a Youth For Obama Democrat who had been arrested for breaking into Orrin Hatch’s office?) ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/118 "2010-02-03T18:00:16Z")
Did they have any equipment with them that could actually be used to monitor a phone line and either record it or transmit it to a remote location? I’d never seen a pic of him before the link in **Sampiro’s** post? Someone actually believed that piece of pale white bread was a pimp? The pimps I’ve known would have him turning tricks in about two minutes. Not that I’ve known a lot of pimps. Just sayin. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/119 "2010-02-03T18:15:11Z")
I’m guessing here, but I think the point of the exercise was to confront the staff with someone who might repair malfunctioning phones so that the staff would say “No, our phones are working fine, no need for you here.” A pre-emptive strike, so to speak. So that when Jimmy offers his positive proof that Sen Landrieu’s staff were deliberately ignoring the huge wave of anti-HRC phone calls, they couldn’t fall back on “the phones weren’t working” for an excuse. Or, even better, if they did he could bring out his video of them refusing any assistance. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/120 "2010-02-04T06:01:29Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’d never seen a pic of him before the link in **Sampiro’s** post? Someone actually believed that piece of pale white bread was a pimp? The pimps I’ve known would have him turning tricks in about two minutes. > > Not that I’ve known a lot of pimps. Just sayin. He did not dress up like that for the actual visits to the ACORN offices. That outfit was edited into the videos later. Some other things were edited in also, like voiced, but we don’t know exactly what was changed or why, because they will not release the original tapes. Also, he did not present himself as a pimp apparently. He was there as the boyfriend of the the hooker, at least that is how the stories I have read have reported it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586.md?page=7)