Videos from Daily Show and Matt Osborne

The high-tech lynching of ACORN deconstructed in this video.

"Coming Out Of The Gun Closet" story covered by Jon Stewart on Daily Show.

Feds reduce charges against ACORN pimp James O'Keefe

Booking photo provided by the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Salon.com
Mar 26, 2010 13:40 EDT
Feds reduce charges against ACORN pimp James O'Keefe
Four who were arrested after entering office of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., now facing misdemeanor charges
By Alex Koppelman

James O'Keefe and the three other men arrested with him after they tried one of the video stunts O'Keefe has become famous for at the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., were hit with federal felony charges after their arrest. Now, the charges have been reduced, down to a single misdemeanor each.

The four men initially faced penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Now, the maximum punishment they can receive is six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

As the Associated Press notes, the way these charges were reduced seems to indicate that a plea deal is on its way, and a lawyer for one of the men essentially confirmed that to the AP.

Acorn Workers Cleared in Prostitute Video

MARCH 1, 2010
Acorn Workers Cleared in Prostitute Video
Associated Press

A New York prosecutor's office says it has found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of three Acorn employees caught on video advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office said Monday that its five-month inquiry is over and that no criminal activity was found.

The videos were made by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe, who used a hidden camera on visits to offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Since then, Mr. O'Keefe has been arrested after visiting Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans. He denies trying to tamper with the Democrat's phones.

The Brooklyn video caught Acorn workers apparently advising the pair to bolster their housing application by lying about Ms. Giles's "profession'' and laundering her earnings.

Conservatives back away from James O'Keefe now that he's trying to do his illegal recording on federal property

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press. The New Orleans federal building where four were arrested in Senator Mary Landrieu's office.

See all all James O'Keefe/Hannah Giles and ACORN stories in CVESD Reporter blog.

ACORN foe tweeted about planned sting of Sen. Landrieu's office
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 28, 2010

...Michelle Malkin, a conservative pundit and syndicated columnist, wrote late Tuesday that exposing wrongdoing is not an excuse to break the law and that O'Keefe's alleged actions should be taken seriously.

"Let it be a lesson to aspiring young conservatives interested in investigative journalism: Know your limits. Know the law," she wrote. "Don't get carried away. And don't become what you are targeting."

Rick Moran, a blog talk-radio host, called O'Keefe "a glory hound." ...

Anti-ACORN "pimp" James O'Keefe arrested in attempted bugging of senator's office

Hannah Giles' boyfriend/pretend pimp James O'Keefe has been arrested and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

See all all James O'Keefe/Hannah Giles and ACORN stories in CVESD Reporter blog.


Anti-ACORN "pimp" O'Keefe arrested in attempted bugging of senator's office
Majikthise
By Lindsay Beyerstein
James O'Keefe, the conservative filmmaker who dressed as a pimp to sting the activist group ACORN, has been arrested for allegedly assisting in the attempted wiretapping of the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu:

The FBI, alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in downtown New Orleans, arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility.

FBI Special Agent Steven Rayes alleges that O'Keefe aided and abetted two others, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan, who dressed up as employees of a telephone company and attempted to interfere with the office's telephone system. [Times-Picayune]



ACORN gotcha man among four arrested for attempting to bug Mary Landrieu's office
By David Hammer, The Times-Picayune
January 26, 2010, 1:53PM

O'Keefe was arrested Monday after attempting to wiretap U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phones in New Orleans.Alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans, the FBI arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility.

Also arrested were Joseph Basel, Stan Dai and Robert Flanagan, all 24. Flanagan is the son of William Flanagan, who is the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, the office confirmed. All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

According to the FBI affidavit, Flanagan and Basel entered the federal building at 500 Poydras Street about 11 a.m. Monday, dressed as telephone company employees, wearing jeans, fluorescent green vests, tool belts, and hard hats. When they arrived at Landrieu's 10th floor office, O'Keefe was already in the office and had told a staffer he was waiting for someone to arrive.

When Flanagan and Basel entered the office, they told the staffer they were there to fix phone problems. At that time, the staffer, referred to only as Witness 1 in the affadavit, observed O'Keefe positioning his cell phone in his hand to videotape the operation. O'Keefe later admitted to agents that he recorded the event.

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.

Matt Osborne analyzes the San Diego ACORN videos

The following article includes videos of Juan Carlos Vera, Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe

ACORN San Diego: Mucha Dificultad Sobre Nada
by Matt Osborne
September 24, 2009

Today, I finally got around to watching the San Diego videos, and once again there's a Faux Edit™ going on. Apparently, that's a habit with filmmaker James O'Keefe, the "pimp" in these videos. The first minute is going to make you squirm, but then the video will start at the beginning and you'll get a completely different sense of context...