Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Yeah, about that whole ACORN thing ...


Whoopsie:

James O'Keefe charged in alleged plot to bug Senator Mary Landrieu's office

The conservative young filmmaker whose undercover sting damaged a liberal activist group last year faces federal criminal charges in an alleged plot to bug the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

James O'Keefe was among four men who created a ruse to enter the lawmaker's downtown office, saying they needed to repair her telephones, according to court records unsealed Tuesday. O'Keefe used his cellphone to take pictures of two men, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan, who are accused in an FBI agent's sworn affidavit of impersonating telephone company workers. Stanley Dai is accused of aiding the Jan. 25 plot.

All four were taken to a suburban New Orleans jail and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony. If convicted, each man faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

And this is kind of embarrassing, too:

Flanagan, 24, is the son of William J. Flanagan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, based in Shreveport. William Flanagan declined to comment through an office assistant.

"Hey, Bill, how you doing? What's that kid of yours up to these days?"
"Fuck off."

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's going to go down kinda like that.

AFTERSNARK: As JJ points out, the defense for one of those little weasels is getting all revved up:

“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.”

"And, sure," continued Jordan, "my client held up a liquor store at gunpoint. But it's not like he meant to use that gun or anything. Kids will be kids, ya know? What's everybody getting all bent out of shape for? Geez, you'd think he broke the law or something."

5 comments:

Ti-Guy said...

They're all like this. When you've got a RepubliConservative around you, you have to watch them like a hawk. Their approach to ethics and lawfulness is that's all OK if you don't get caught.

The Seer said...

1. You don't make money in Louisiana knocking over liquor stores; you make money in Louisiana by getting a state job that either handles state contracts or regulates business.

2. This was a US Government building. The USG is worried about intrusions by CSIS. That building has security designed to prevent as successful CSIS attack. These guys may be CPOC quality, but they are not CSIS quality. Praise God.

Mike said...

“I don’t think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime.”

Hilarious.

KEvron said...

"“I don’t think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime.”

that may sway the court of public opinion, but claiming absence of knowledge of the law wont fly in a proper court (especially federal court, which gives the least leeway), as jordan well knows.

KEvron

Cosmic Navel Lint said...

Speaking of Republicans, I thought you'd enjoy this piece - turns out being a conservative has known traits and side-effects (not all of which are attractive) which are well documented, as this study shows:

The Full Measure of Republican Neuroses

Enjoy!