Everybody's down on James O'Keefe and his band of brothers for running into trouble with the law. But what were they doing? And who was the victim?
Tampering at Landrieu Office Called a ‘Stunt’
The lawyer for one of the four men arrested Monday on charges of interfering with the phones in Senator Mary L. Landrieu’s office in New Orleans said the episode was a prank based on what conservative activists have said was a problem getting through to the senator’s office during the health care debates.
“I think it was an allegation or a rumor about Ms. Landrieu’s office not dealing with phone calls about health reform,” said J. Garrison Jordan, the lawyer for Robert Flanagan, the only one of the four men from Louisiana.
James O’Keefe III, a conservative activist and filmmaker who was one of the men arrested, used a cellphone to record either audio or video in Ms. Landrieu’s offices, witnesses have said. The men’s intentions are not clear, but it is possible they were trying to show the office staff’s reaction if the phone system were disconnected, or to show that the phones were actually working and calls were going through.
“Mr. O’Keefe has a history of trying to embarrass agencies or political entities on camera,” Mr. Jordan added. “I think it was just an ill-designed stunt with no intent to commit a crime.”
The four men were charged by federal authorities with fraudulently entering a federal building for the purpose of “interfering” with Ms. Landrieu’s phone system, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Dwight Hudson, a member of the Baton Rouge Tea Party, said he sent out alerts to fellow members, urging them to call their senators to urge them to vote against the health care legislation. But, Mr. Hudson said, many complained that their calls to Ms. Landrieu’s office would go to a voice-mail box that was already full. The march, he said, was partly inspired by that.
“A lot of people were saying that they couldn’t get through so they had to get their voice heard somewhere,” he said.
Ms. Landrieu said at the time that her office had received a high volume of calls.
“Our lines have been jammed for weeks, and I apologize,” she said in interview with The Advocate in December. In an interview on Thursday, Ms. Landrieu said she knew of no recent issues with her phone system or her staff’s response to callers, either in Louisiana or in Washington.
“Our phone rings off the hook all day long, and we answer it and pick it up,” she said. “Like every Senate office I’m imagining does.”
So James O'Keefe and his boys were simply trying to expose criminal Sen. Mary Landrieu's poor treatment of her constituents. But since they entered a Washington Overlord's Sacred Temple wearing repairman costumes, they now face up to 10 years in the Federal Gulag ... all for a victimless crime.
Conservatives, libertarians ... Support these fine young men.
Free O'Keefe!
Free the Landrieu Four!
UPDATE:
