No Bugs, No Wiretapping Devices: Media’s LA Exposé of James O’Keefe Mired in Speculations & False Reporting (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 28, 2010
One law enforcer has stated that no bugging or wiretapping devices were found in the James O'Keefe's arrest in LA, and that wasn't the intent of entering Sen. Landrieu's office
The ACORN exposé last fall was ignored by the fringe media for days, and even when some deigned to mention it in broadcasts or print, proceeded with matronly caution. But activist filmmaker and journalist James O’Keefe’s arrest in Louisiana this week has the judge-and-jury media racing at overdrive speeds.
And with that knee-jerk zeal on both sides of the partisan fence, willy-nilly speculations and inaccurate tale-spinning have overflowed that should never occur in network news reporting. Unless making up elements of the news when reporting is now the primary thrust, and the reporting of facts and evidence are a bothersome afterthought.
No one knows the whole story on this, but more should be forthcoming soon… corrections and retractions from news sources that reported incorrect/false information should also be forthcoming, too, but likely won’t.
From Patterico’s Pontifications, CBS News and the L.A. Times Owe O’Keefe Corrections and Clarifications:
As I noted last night, the Washington Post yesterday retracted its claim that the feds are charging James O’Keefe with an attempt to bug Mary Landrieu’s phones:
Earlier versions of this story incorrectly reported that James O’Keefe faced charges in an alleged plot to bug the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu. The charges were related to an alleged plot to tamper with a phone system. The headline incorrectly referred to a plot to bug the phone and a caption incorrectly referred to an alleged wiretap scheme.
There is more at Patterico’s blog in a number of posts, including several screenshots of erroneous news stories.
From NBC’s Pete Williams, Why tamper with Landrieu’s phones?:
A law enforcement official says the four men arrested for attempting to tamper with the phones in the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) were not trying to intercept or wiretap the calls.
Instead, the official says, the men, led by conservative videomaker James O’Keefe, wanted to see how her local office staff would respond if the phones were inoperative. They were apparently motivated, the official says, by criticism that when Sen. Landrieu became a big player in the health care debate, people in Louisiana were having a hard time getting through on the phones to register their views.
That is, the official says, what led the four men to pull this stunt — to see how the local staffers would react if the phones went out. Would the staff just laugh it off, or would they express great concern that local folks couldn’t get through?
FOX News: James O’Keefe Uncovered ACORN Spent Night in Jail
From USA Today: Attorney says O’Keefe didn’t bug Landrieu’s phones:
NEW ORLEANS — The attorney for an independent filmmaker accused of entering a U.S. senator’s office under false pretense and “interfering” with the phone system said Wednesday that his client did not bug any telephones or engage in other illegal activity.
“There was no wire-tapping, bugging or interfering with the phone system,” said Michael Madigan, attorney for James O’Keefe, 25.
O’Keefe gained prominence last year by posing as a pimp and recording videos that showed alleged improprieties by employees of ACORN, a community-activist group. The videos led to efforts in Congress to cut off federal funding of ACORN.
On Wednesday, some of O’Keefe’s backers distanced themselves from him.
“Citizens have an important role in helping to expose waste and/or fraud … but it must be done in a lawful manner,” said Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, who had introduced a resolution to honor O’Keefe for exposing ACORN.
From Hot Air:
As you’ll see, an AP reporter who turned up on Matthews’s show this afternoon was apparently on the right track. According to a law enforcement source who talked to NBC, the point wasn’t to wiretap Landrieu’s phones. It was to figure out why so many people had trouble getting through to the office when they called to complain about the ObamaCare “Louisiana Purchase.”
From Doctor Bullgod & Ronin: Libtards Eat Crow in O’Keefe Arrest:
Sorry to harsh your mellow, Libtards, but it appears that James O’Keefe wasn’t trying to spy on Senator Landrieu after all…
From DBKP: James O’Keefe Arrest: Writing a Story With Few Facts:
O’Keefe was not arrested for “wire-tapping”–which was reported on both sides of the blogosphere. NPR had the story of O’Keefe’s arrest posted on its website news blog within minutes of the news coming out.
That same NPR in September was accused of ignoring the ACORN tapes. Basically, their ombudsman wrote that the story was ignored only for a while. Then it was buried.
Not like the O’Keefe story, which not only promptly made the NPR blog, but was updated within minutes of going up.
Don’t let anyone say NPR doesn’t keep an ear to the news ground!
Readers may find out that O’Keefe suddenly woke up yesterday morning and went mental, but that’s not the take from here.
We’re waiting until all of the facts come out. That’s when we’ll write this story.
In the meantime, we’ll enjoy the many different versions presently being written–mostly with one meme: James O’Keefe was arrested after suddenly waking up yesterday morning and going mental.
From Gateway Pundit: ACORN’s Bertha Lewis on James O’Keefe: “Finally People Get To See- He Is No Hero- He Is a Criminal” (Video) …Update: O’Keefe Responds to Charges:
The Obama supporting ACORN organization was caught in several lies last year when James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles released tapes exposing ACORN employees promoting child prostitution of illegal aliens.
O’Keefe has not been convicted of any crimes but was arrested yesterday in New Orleans with three other associates after visiting Senator Mary Landrieu’s office.
From FOX News, ACORN ‘Pimp’ Touted ‘Project’ Before Phone Tampering Charges:
NEW ORLEANS — Four days before James O’Keefe was charged in a plot to tamper with the office phones of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, the conservative activist promised his audience at a luncheon they would be hearing about a project he was working on in New Orleans.
O’Keefe wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of his plans, according to people who heard his speech at the luncheon held by the conservative Pelican Institute last Thursday in New Orleans.
“He just sort of alluded to the fact that we would all find out real soon. And we did,” said Audra Shay, a Mandeville resident and chairwoman of the Young Republican National Federation.
Related reading:
Andrew Breitbart, Big Government: MSM Leaping to Conclusions — While Big Government Waits for Facts
Hannah Giles, Big Government: Once Again, James O’Keefe Strips Away the MSM’s Mask of Neutrality, Revealing the Bias Below
Hugh Hewitt: An Interview With Andrew Breitbart About The O’Keefe Arrest
Big Hollywood: James O’Keefe Arrested in New Orleans
Publius, Big Government: James O’Keefe Arrested in New Orleans
Gateway Pundit: James O’Keefe Tells His Side of the Story to Hannity (Video) and Breaking: James O’Keefe Arrested In New Orleans Phone Scheme and Breitbart Warns Eric Holder & Dems: We’ve Got More Tapes & We’ll Release Them Before the Election (Video) and Far Left Mouthpiece Marc Lamont Hill Smears O’Keefe & Giles on O’Reilly… Big Government Responds
The American Pundit: Busted Again: L.A. ACORN Office Exposed Trying to Further Underage Prostitution
Michelle Malkin: Ugh: ACORN-buster busted at Sen. Landrieu’s office in alleged bugging plot; affidavit link added and A tale of two protection rackets: ACORN’s — and the media’s
The Powers That Be: Guy Who Busted ACORN Arrested In Landrieu’s Office
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Breaking… Journalist James O’Keefe Arrested in Louisiana on Wiretapping Charges (updated) and ACORN Child Prostitution Story Hits National FOX News: Breitbart’s New Political Site ‘Big Government’ Creating Big Waves (video) and Yet Another ACORN Problem: Cease and Desist Orders in Pennsylvania… Order Dated 2007 and ACORN: “We’ll Help You Get Away with Stuff” — Jay Leno, Bill O’Reilly, & Dennis Miller Weigh In (video)
No Runny Eggs: Pure Speculation – Ain’t I Smart Edition
GayPatriot: Was James O’Keefe Victimized By Tyrannical Government Police? and NYTimes fails to report memo detailing ACORN’s trouble in wake of the left-wing organization’s latest scandals
And so it goes in Shreveport: No Love for O’Keefe in NOLA
Ace of Spades HQ: James O’Keefe Arrested for Attempting to Bug Senator Mary Landrieu’s Offices?
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: Wow! James O’Keefe arrested in alleged wiretap plot at Mary Landrieu’s office
Mayrant&Rave: Breitbart’s O’Keefe Arrested
Nice Deb: Video: Andrew Breitbart On MSM: These Decandent Bast**ds Are Going Down! and Source Close To O’Keefe Tells Fox News: “They Were Not Attempting To Wiretap Phones” and ACORN Still In The News..Not Going Down Easy and Philly Acorn Sting Video (UPDATED – Video Back Up) and Video: Breitbart’s ACORN Unveiled Press Conference and Bill O’Reilly To MN Gov. Pawlenty: Take Another Look At ACORN’s 43,000 Votes For Al Franken
UrbanGrounds: ACORN: Here’s the Best Way to Smuggle Underaged Sex Slaves into the Country
Mcnorman’s Weblog: ACORN Sting Team Releases New Video From Philadelphia Office
Ace of Spades HQ: More LA ACORN: Hey, I Totally Want to Help You Set Up This International Underage Sex-Trick Business Any Way I Can
Stop The ACLU: Congresscritters to Investigate ACORN — And Those Who Exposed It and And Yet Another ACORN Scandal
Michael McCray, Big Government: ACORN Layoffs are Taxpayer Rip-offs
James O’Keefe, Big Government: Unsolved Mysteries and Irreconcilable Difference for Mr. Scott Harshbarger
Big Government: ACORN Empire Strikes Back and Developing: California to Open Investigation Into ACORN?
Maura Flynn, Big Government: ACORN Founder Wade Rathke: “There Is a Different Culture”
Billy Hollowell, Big Government: The Media’s Complicity: Analysis of ACORN Coverage
Capitol Confidential, Big Government: Los Angeles Robocall Proves ACORN ‘Internal Review’ Is a Scam
Kyle Olson, Big Government: ACORN ‘Advisory’ Committee Has Huge Stake in Success of Group
Publius, Big Government: Slate: Two Cheers for Andrew Breitbart and ACORN Scandal Hits London Media and Reps. Bono Mack, Ehlers Co-Sponsor House Resolution to Investigate ACORN and WaPo: Duo Release Another Video of Their Meeting with ACORN Worker and Bertha Lewis: Help ACORN, Vote Obama!
Patterico’s Pontifications: James O’Keefe Arrested and L.A. Times Issues Months-Overdue Correction on Quote from Anti-ACORN Activist James O’Keefe and James Rainey Digs Himself an Even Deeper Hole and Breitbart to Release Videos on Acorn in L.A. and James Rainey: Regurgitating One-Sided Claims Is Bad Journalism . . . Except When I Do It!
RightWingSparkle: Please Let This Be The End of ACORN
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[...] Ever? Obama Attacks SCOTUS, Makes More Empty Promises… His Approval Index Is at Minus 17 and No Bugs, No Wiretapping Devices: Media’s LA Exposé of James O’Keefe Mired in Speculations &… and Oprah Winfrey Named Most Popular Celebrity on TV… Did MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Forget She Is [...]