Fox News Devastated Over Arrest Of ACORN Pimp, Says

[cal04]

The Story Probably Needs ‘A Lot Of Context’
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/26/fox-okeefe/

Fox News has been one of the biggest supporters of James O’Keefe, 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 O’Keefe his “Power Player of the Week,” calling him an “undercover reporter” and a “fascinating character.”

Today, the FBI arrested O’Keefe 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 Landrieu’s 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 Landrieu’s New Orleans office, saying they had to “fix phone problems.” O’Keefe 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.

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

Ironically, at the end of the Power Player segment in September, Wallace said, “O’Keefe says he wants to do more undercover films, and he has some targets in mind. He says his friends always tell him the next sting will never work.” “I disagree with them,” replied O’Keefe. “I think that I’ll come up with a new strategy and I’ll get them to say yes.” Looks like O’Keefe’s friends were right.

UPDATE Andrew Breitbart's site Big Government, which helped make O'Keefe a star, claims that it had no knowledge of what the four individuals were up to.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. I've got your "context", you morans

Pathetic.

[CatWoman]

20. ROFL!!

:rofl:

[DissedByBush]

39. Where is the real news these days?

Fox has gone fetal and Olbermann is creaming his pants.

There's no unbiased news left, is there?

[RayStar]

46. YIPPEE

Keith O. had a field day with this and so did Ed. I hope the law does not let them get away with this.

[fasttense]

50. My suspicion is that Fox fake News funded this little escaped.

One of Murdoch's rags pulled a similar stunt in England. I bet if they followed the money, like in Watergate, they may even bring down Vitter.

[crikkett]

89. 'escapade'

:hi:

Hm. Could be!
Since Dai (dude in getaway car) seems to be a Jr. CIA recruiter, investigations may uncover some sort of ongoing Mockingbird-type operation.

It could also be that the stupid kids were play-acting "Burn Notice"

[The_Commonist]

59. When was there ever unbiased news?

That's a serious question...

[DissedByBush]

90. Hearst planted the roots

with agenda-driven news.

Making the news organizations have to make a profit at the networks sealed the fate of decent news.

[RaleighNCDUer]

77. Keith is commentary - he doesn't pretend to be news.

Fox, OTOH, is commentary that pretends to be news.

[dem629]

79. Olbermann calls it a newscast.

He's a lot like Limbaugh, in that he refuses to face guests who disagree with him. Why are Limbaugh and Olbermann so afraid of debate?

[SpiralHawk]

44. 'Moral relativism' is a republicon family value from Way Back

To wit: it sucks when other do it - it's cool when republicons do it.

Republicon moral relativism = republicon hypocrisy.

As usual.

[Autonomy]

68. The party of values has a broken moral compass.

Tragically ironic.

[Canuckistanian]

2. Ha!

I'm sure he can do a prison documentary now.

[malaise]

6. No thye'll take away

his cell phone - no more video. :rofl:

[me b zola]

13. Except in prison I doubt he will be playing the role of pimp. n/t

[Arkana]

17. I hope he enjoys

eating jelly out of Thunderdick's buttcrack.

[Dude_CalmDown]

52. HA! Just the laugh I needed to start my day - thanks! n/t

[Jim__]

3. Yup! Needs lots of context.

Asshole arrested breaking the law.

[ck4829]

4. Context? They want context? The same people who edited these ACORN videos now want a little context?

[lame54]

5. did they confiscate his video phone and is there video of the crime on it?

[tridim]

7. WATERGATE is the context.

Does Faux even admit watergate happened?

[AlbertCat]

21. Does Faux even admit watergate happened?

Laura Ingraham: "Nixon, who wasn't that bad after all, inherited Watergate."

[tridim]

23. OMG, I wasn't really being serious, but there it is!

:rofl:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

34. Can you source that quote? I would love to use it as gasoline. n/t

[barbtries]

80. no! she didn't really say that did she?

i am so thankful that i never watch cable news.

[robertpaulsen]

26. Bingo. Ratfucking: The Next Generation.

Building on the great work started by Donald Segretti and his USC Mafia protege Karl Rove.

Not only would it not surprise me, but I thoroughly expect to see this creep show up in the employ of a future Rethuglican administration. You can take that to the bank.

[Enthusiast]

54. This is the tip of the iceberg.

But those icebergs have melted.

[robertpaulsen]

27. Bingo. Ratfucking: The Next Generation.

Building on the great work started by Donald Segretti and his USC Mafia protege Karl Rove.

Not only would it not surprise me, but I thoroughly expect to see this creep show up in the employ of a future Rethuglican administration. You can take that to the bank.

[sharesunited]

8. Now let's get that Breitbart sonuvabitch.

[JBoy]

9. Republicans don't fucking DO context.

[arcadian]

10. I'll bet the charges are dropped

One of the others is the son of the DA for Western Louisiana. They will say it was an innocent prank.

[tridim]

11. And Watergate was just a innocent "third rate burglary".

Until we found out later it was MUCH more than that.

[Incitatus]

45. I doubt it.

The other two might get slaps on the wrist for testifying against O'Keefe, the mastermind of the brilliantly thought out stunt. I don't see O'Keefe walking.

[ThisThreadIsSatire]

12. Does this O'Keefe guy think it's 1972??

First, he goes 'undercover' dressed like a pimp from a Richard Roundtree movie -- now, he emulates the 'Plumbers from CREEP' (Nixon's 'Committee to RE-Elect the President')...

[alfredo]

16. Well, he will have a new wardrobe. I hope he like prison orange.

[CLANG]

41. What ever happened to the stylish black and white striped attire?

[alfredo]

42. I hope they didn't get rid of them they could come back in style.

[Jackpine Radical]

63. It was too easy for escapees to hide in zebra herds.

The orange shows up a lot better.

[blondeatlast]

73. I think I love you.

:rofl:

[Jackpine Radical]

83. I need all the love I can get.

[sabrina 1]

14. He was looking for information about ACORN and Mary Landrieu

He's being sued by ACORN for his last bumbling stunt. If he was trying to get information for his own case, isn't that a whole other crime?

I hope the FBI interviews these four separately. Wingnuts are no known for their bravery so they should be able to get some information out of the other three.

[Caretha]

31. Waterboard the domestic terrorists....

I didn't really say that. :)

[sabrina 1]

33. Lol, well, I think that is something they support, for other people!

[Scurrilous]

15. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Winterblues]

18. How is this not a case of Spying on a US Senator that sits on several committees

that are inundated with classified information..This is a major felony and if it gets dismissed I will know for a fact that Republican criminals get special treatment..

[Wizard777]

47. Including the Homeland Security sub-committee. Janet Nepolitano needs to look into this.

There may be other charges she feels are appropriate.

[barbtries]

81. considering

that bush, cheney, rove, rice, rumsfeld, etc, are not in prison by now, i think you can be sure it's the case.

[underpants]

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

Fox "News" IS merely "one way to look at it"

[Marr]

29. Now THAT would be an excellent slogan for Fox.

"Fox News Channel: One Way to Look at It"

[blondeatlast]

74. DUzy. This thread is full of 'em, actually. nt

[Rabrrrrrr]

22. OMG, I'm almost pissing my pants! NOW they care about 'context'?!

Bwuhahahaha!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[fishwax]

36. lol -- next thing you know they'll appeal to nuance

:rofl:

[muntrv]

24. Let's put it into context, clusterfox: Your boy is gonna get pimped in prison!

[Maru Kitteh]

25. Oh yes please. Lots and lots of context. The more the better. With cheese on top.

[Thornleylv]

72. You want context?

Spying on a U.S. senator during war time is treason and should be treated that way. Maybe GITMO would be more appropriate or a firing squad? The sad part is he is a victim of Fuax News who egged him on and encourage a young man with a hugh ego to commit more crimes! And I am just half kidding about a firing squad.


:kick::dunce:

[spanone]

28. is the video out yet? they ran the acorn video of the pimp non-stop 24/7

[Turbineguy]

30. What can we learn from this?

Get Fox news to pay you to keep you from doing something stupid and illegal. OK, they're fine with the stupid part.

[StreetKnowledge]

32. Context?

Hello, Fox morons, the man tried to bug the offices of a sitting US Senator. Federal and state charges, and a pile of them, are the result here. Not to mention now ACORN is gonna have the crap tossed at it by Congress overturned, because the 'evidence' came exclusively from this retard, who is now looking at lots of jail time - and you haven't got a Republican president to pardon him this time, either.

Have fun in the slammer, James.

[KingFlorez]

35. I wonder how many at Fox News collapsed in a heap after hearing this?

LOL

[The_Casual_Observer]

37. The way those fox bastards reflexively spin shit is astounding.

It's easy to see how corrosive those bastards can be when they have a little more time to work out the details.

[Enthusiast]

55. They are nearly good enough

to fill in for Rush Limbaugh. Nearly.

[cal04]

38. some updates

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

UPDATE Andrew Breitbart's site Big Government, which helped make O'Keefe a star and pays him to be a contributor, claims that it had no knowledge of what the four individuals were up to. Michelle Malkin writes, "They are, of course, presumed innocent until proven guilty. But for now, let it be a lesson to aspiring young conservatives interested in investigative journalism: 'Know your limits. Know the law. Don’t get carried away. And don’t become what you are targeting.'" Hot Air blogger Ed Morrissey said, "Journalists don't tap phones, and if that's what he tried, he's an idiot."

UPDATE The AP reports that a magistrate "set bond at $10,000 each after they made their initial court appearances wearing red prison jumpsuits. None of the defendants commented on the allegations in court. '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.'"

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-senators-office-arrests,0,4899537.story

[The_Casual_Observer]

40. 'I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime.'"

Ok, so all they did was commit a crime they didn't intend to commit. It's a easy as that.

[annabanana]

58. Repugs don't think there ARE any laws to break. .

At least none that pertain to them.

[Wizard777]

49. 10,000 bond is stupid. O'Keefe is a flight risk. He's all over the place. He'll leave NOLA.

If he's caught outside of NOLA he can be on a real TV Show. A&E has a show about US Marshall's tracking down fugitives.

:rofl:

[The_Commonist]

61. Yep, it looks like...

...they're gonna try the "boys will be boys" defense.

[sce56]

43. From LA Times

Anti-ACORN activist arrested in incident at Sen. Landrieu's office
<Snip>
Flanagan and Basel admitted they were not phone repairmen and had entered Landrieu's office under false pretenses, Rayes said.

The agent added that O'Keefe and a fourth man, Stan Dai, also 24, admitted they had helped in the "planning, coordination and preparation of the operation." O'Keefe "further admitted to recording Flanagan and Basel inside Landrieu's office," according to the affidavit. All four were arrested, Rayes said.

The men were released Tuesday on unsecured bonds of $10,000 each. If convicted, each faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

In October, after the ACORN videos aired, Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) introduced a resolution praising O'Keefe and Giles for "their diligent investigative journalism." More than 30 Republican members of Congress co-sponsored the resolution.

Although O'Keefe and Giles were heralded as heroes on conservative websites and talk shows, they have been mired in lawsuits since the videos aired.

Last fall, ACORN sued O'Keefe and Giles in Baltimore, saying the audio portion of their video shot in ACORN's office there was obtained illegally. And on Thursday, O'Keefe and Giles were sued in federal court in Philadelphia by an ACORN employee featured in one of the films.

O'Keefe occasionally blogs for the conservative website BigGovernment.com. In a post several months ago, he pledged to continue to attack liberal organizations.

"It is time," he wrote, for conservative activists to "create chaos for glory."

[Wizard777]

48. The worst part is this time attacked another Conservative. Mary is a Conservative Democrat.

[fasttense]

51. A Government employee caught them.

"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."

See our government does work.

[Ikonoklast]

85. After the OK city domestic terror bombing, trying to get into a Federal building without a valid ID

will get the immediate attention of many people with badges and guns.

O'Keefe is not only a liar, he is a moron if he thought his bullshit would work in a Federal building.


I had to show ID three times last time I was in a Federal building, just to get to the IRS office.

[Ganja Ninja]

53. Yeah they were looking for some hanky panky and decided to commit a felony

:headbang: :fistbump: :rofl: :spray: :party: :toast:

[mockmonkey]

56. I was expecting Faux to

spin it this way. What is Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu hiding that she won't allow her office phones to be bugged?

It could still happen. :crazy:

[Blacksheep214]

57. Domestic Terrorism

Isn't there a government office in that building which would make this a homeland security issue. An FBI branch maybe?

Send these douchebags to Gitmo and torture the info out of them. Tell us Rupert or Beck sent ya!

[BenjaminFranklin]

60. Fox Noise can eat that

I can't wait to see their coordinated defense of O'Keefe starting this morning. Fox Noise reality t.v. at its finest.

[Javaman]

62. two wanna be morons. o'keefe wanted to be rove and dai wanted to be liddy.

yes, two paragons in moralities and ethics.

aka two colossal fucktards.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

64. "a GSA employee asked for the men’s credentials,"

Probably a GS-5, maybe a GS-7? Whoever he was, he was doing his job. He deserves a bonus and the thanks of everyone for looking out for federal -- that would be your -- property.

Well done.

[Jefferson23]

65. So I guess this is the new CREEP.

[kpominville]

66. "No Crime"??? Its Called FRAUD!

I know why Fox won't call it what it is, but WTF is wrong with the rest of the media.

Their M.O. is CLEARLY Fraud. They pretend to be people they are not and then film them illegally without their permission.

[newtothegame]

67. Actually I get the impression they could care less. In fact...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/27/fox-most-trusted-name-in-_n_438296.html

[abelenkpe]

69. I don't understand why

this guy wasn't arrested the first time with the whole ACORN video?

I also don't understand why the people who 'hacked' and stole emails from climate change scientists haven't been arrested. Isn't that a crime?

[azureblue]

70. the bottom line- espionage

when these clowns got arrested, one of them was in a car with the receiver. So there is no way to sugar coat or spin this: This group is guilty of attempted espionage- spying on a federal legislator- caught red handed. The penalty for this, plain out and out spying, is severe. Will they be charged with espionage?

To add- since Brietbart is paying this crew, he is also guilty. He could have his accounts frozen, just like many Muslims' were, when they were found to have ties, however nebulous, with terrorist groups. Brietbart is guilty of supporting espionage.

[TacoD]

71. Watergate comparisons are interesting. Who were O'Keefe & friends working for? (nt)

[defendandprotect]

75. LOVE this story . . .

[SemperEadem]

76. Hey Vaughn, it was the ONLY way to look at it

It needs no more context than what has been given. Their intent was premeditative; their execution was amateurish in the extreme and they both need to be under a federal prison for the next 35 years.

okeefe is a waste of space.

[Turbineguy]

78. There's only one thing for it

they'll have to hang themselves.

[caseymoz]

82. I knew by how he dressed as the pimp, his undercover career would be short.

And tragic. It might have ended far worse. He might have impersonated an al-Qaeda terrorist.

[Gregorian]

84. Oh no! All of the propaganda and king's men can't put the conservative humpty together again.

They hate being exposed for the shit they are.

[Kerrytravelers]

86. No reputable news organization would be devestated by such a thing, as they should have no horse

in the race. This is exactly why they are a propaganda machine and not a news organization.

Not that I need to convince anyone here, just making the obvious point.

[GreenTea]

87. Fucking all of them republicans!!!

[Optimistic]

88. 1972 again?

You know that Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Rielly and Sarh Palin planned and financed this Criminal act, You know they will be going to jail, But they will still be on TV and Radio all you have to see is that other traitor G Boring Liddy is on the Radio and TV all the time.