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.).
Federal investigators charged that 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. O'Keefe used his cellphone to take pictures of two men involved in the Jan. 25 plot, according to court records unsealed Tuesday.
Those men, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan, are accused in an FBI agent's sworn affidavit of impersonating telephone company workers, while O'Keefe and another man, Stan Dai, are accused of aiding the 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. More at WaPo
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Conservative Hero Charged With Bugging Plot of Democrat's Office
Hailed as a hero by Glenn Beck and conservatives around the nation for the now infamous videotape of an ACORN office assisting a prostitute and pimp, James O'Keefe was charged in a plot to bug Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's office. O'Keefe, who describes himself in his Twitter bio as a investigative journalist tweets: "I am a journalist. The truth shall set me free."