James O'Keefe: veritas scelestus

[Snowboarder_Bo]

Well, conservatives, how do you feel about your poster boy now?

A conservative activist who posed as a pimp to target the community-organizing group ACORN and the son of a federal prosecutor were among four men arrested and accused of trying to tamper with phones at Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office.

According to the FBI affidavit, Flanagan and Basel showed up at Landrieu’s office Monday morning carrying white hard hats and dressed in jeans, blue work shirts, fluorescent green vests and toolbelts. They told an employee they were there to fix problems with the phone system. O’Keefe told an employee he was there waiting for someone.

The affidavit says Basel asked for access to a phone at the reception desk, then manipulated the handset and tried to call the phone with his cell phone, but said he could not get through. Flanagan tried to call as well, according to the affidavit.

They said they needed to work on the main system and asked where the telephone closet was. They were directed to another office in the building, where they again said they were telephone repairmen and an employee asked for their credentials. They said they had left them in their vehicle.

They were arrested later by U.S. marshals.

A federal law enforcement official 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.

And in the “yeah, right” department:

“It was poor judgment,” Robert Flanagan’s lawyer, Garrison Jordan, said in a brief interview outside the courthouse. “I don’t think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime.”

Sure. It’s just a hobby of theirs they were engaged in. Uh huh.

Does this stuff trickle down from the top of the conservative totem pole, or does it creep up like kudzu? I mean, tapping phones, trying to subvert democracy, lying to the press and the public… hell, Nixon couldn’t get away with it, and I know he was smarter than Mr. O’Keefe will ever be. I hope they get the maximum; I know that’s what all conservatives want for lawbreakers too, right? Right?

[E-Sabbath]

I just really, really want to know what they thought they were up to.
I also want to know how the FBI discovered this was going down.
Annnnd if they managed to bug anyone else.

[El_Kabong]

“It was poor judgment,” Robert Flanagan’s lawyer, Garrison Jordan, said in a brief interview outside the courthouse. “I don’t think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime.”

OK, I’m no big-city lawyer or anything, but I am under the impression that if a particular act is illegal and one decides to carry out that act, one does indeed intend to commit a crime. Obviously I’m missing a nuance or two somewhere and will be corrected in due course.

[River_Hippie]

The best attorneys available will get these pesky kids off without so much as a blot on thier records.

[El_Kabong]

@River_Hippie

The best attorneys available will get these pesky kids off without so much as a blot on thier records.

You could very well be right. Hell, Flanagan’s father apparently is a US attorney himself.

[asterion]

And is currently a US attorney only because David “Diaper” Vitter placed a hold on Obama’s nominee.

[River_Hippie]

Soon the conservative press will have turned the three into victims.

[needscoffee]

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

I just went to see what the Freepers are saying. They think it’s all a big “setup.” Somebody forced them to disgusise themselves and try to pass themselves off as telephone repairmen, then forced them to try to tamper with the phones, I guess. I believe this would also require the US Marshalls to be in on it, since they made the arrest and filed the charges.

But, yeah, it’s “payback” for ACORN, which they, for some reason, still think has some kind of connection to Obama.

[gonzomax]

He was doing gods work. Jesus will forgive him. He is a conservative so the rules do not apply.

[tomndebb]

Rants belong in the Pit.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

There’s already a Pit thread on this topic. Maybe they should be merged.

[BrainGlutton]

@River_Hippie

Soon the conservative press will have turned the three into victims.

I would gladly take that responsibility off the conservative press’s hands.

[Kobal2]

@El_Kabong

OK, I’m no big-city lawyer or anything, but I am under the impression that if a particular act is illegal and one decides to carry out that act, one does indeed intend to commit a crime. Obviously I’m missing a nuance or two somewhere and will be corrected in due course.

Your Honor, what my client did is not a crime. The PATRIOT act of 2001 gave permission to the Government to wiretap anyone. The Government is merely a waves hand an idea, a concept, a construct to represent We, The People. Are you saying my client is not part of that ?! He’s an AMERICAN CITIZEN pound table. And as such entitled to wiretap suspects of terrorism, in accordance with the LAW pound some more. And I believe we can all agree the Senator is question is suspected of terrorism. If she wasn’t, my client wouldn’t have tried to wiretap her, or it would NOT make SENSE. Look at the silly monkey !