Will the silly Retardicans never learn. They are not the equal of the Democrats. Rarely will they ever rise to the occasion. They should simply give up and concentrate on small issues, like counting dots on the ceiling.
New 'Watergate'? Republican activist arrested in plot to have fake repairmen tap phones in Democratic senator's office
By David Gardner
28th January 2010
Daily Mail
The FBI has foiled a Watergate-style plot to bug phones in a U.S. Democrat Senator's office.
Four conservative activists, including Republican activist James O'Keefe, face up to ten years in jail after being arrested in connection with a break in at Senator Mary Landrieu's office on Monday.
Two of the suspects posed as repairmen, wearing denim work suits, fluorescent vests, tool belts and hard hats, to tamper with the telephones in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The failed plot was being compared in Washington last night with the infamous Watergate break-in at the Democratic Party's national headquarters that triggered Richard Nixon’s historic ousting from the White House.
The disgraced president was drummed out of office in 1974 after he was exposed for trying to cover up the politically-motivated burglary.
It was unclear whether the New Orleans plan was a prank intended to be captured on camera or a more serious attempt at political espionage.
While O'Keefe filmed, Robert Flanagan and Joseph Basel 'manipulated the telephone system' in the reception area of Landrieu's office on Monday, the FBI said.
The men were held by U.S. Marshals after Flanagan and Basel, tried to gain access to telephone equipment in the U.S. General Services Administration office in the same building.
The two later admitted that they were not telephone repairmen, according to the affidavit.
A fourth man, Stan Dai, was arrested for having helped the three men in 'planning, coordination and preparation of the operation,' the FBI said in a statement.
O'Keefe, from New Jersey, said only 'veritas,' Latin for truth, as he left jail today with suspects Dai, from Virginia, and Basel, from Minnesota, both 24.
As he got into a cab outside the prison, O'Keefe said: 'The truth shall set me free.'
The fourth suspect, Flanagan, 24, from Louisiana, was released earlier yesterday.
His father, Bill, the acting U.S. Attorney based in Shreveport, Louisiana, said: 'That would not be something that I can even imagine him doing.
'I think this is going to be blown out of proportion.'
All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a £155,000.
'It was poor judgment,' Flanagan's lawyer, Garrison Jordan, said in a brief interview outside the courtroom.
'I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime.'
Flanagan recently criticised Landrieu for her vote for the Senate health care bill after negotiating an increase estimated in value at up to £226million for her state's funds for Medicaid, the government's health care programme for the poor.
Conservatives accused Landrieu of selling her vote but she insisted no 'special deals' were made.
[Not true - As soon as the vote had occured, she walked out and told the world, publicly, that it was not a $100 million dollar deal, it was $300 million.]
'Do not be fooled into believing Landrieu is helping the state of Louisiana,' Flanagan wrote on November 25 in a post on the website for the Pelican Institute, a Louisiana think tank that promotes the free market and limited government.
O'Keefe's arrest drew the ire of the Democrats, who blasted Republicans for supporting him and for a House of Representatives resolution signed by 31 Republicans honouring the filmmaker for his attempt to root out corruption and the abuse of tax dollars.
Hari Sevugan, Democratic National Committee spokesman, said in a statement: 'The last time Mr O'Keefe was in the news, Republicans broke land speed records to praise him as an American hero and fell all over themselves to outdo one another in expressing disgust, outrage and indignation at what he brought to light.
'The silence by Republicans in the face of these criminal acts by one of their own speaks louder than then their wails of outrage ever did.'
A spokesman for Landrieu declined to comment on the arrests.
Dai, who authorities said was arrested outside the building, is a former assistant director of a programme at Trinity Washington University that taught students about careers in intelligence, university president Patricia McGuire said.
He was also active in the conservative newspaper and other organisations at George Washington University.
O'Keefe, 25, became a darling of America's right-wing during the presidential campaign in 2008 when he exposed a liberal group with ties to Barack Obama.
Using a hidden camera on that occasion, Mr O’Keefe posed as a pimp and brought a young woman posing as a prostitute to the offices of ACORN, a liberal advocacy group that Mr Obama worked with when he was a community organiser in Chicago.
During the secretly taped visit, ACORN staff appeared to offer illegal tax advice and to support the misuse of public funds and child trafficking. [Correction - they did not just APPEAR to offer illegal advice, they did.]
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