Sunday, January 31, 2010

O'Keefe Pleads His Innocence, Spins His Case

James O'Keefe had decided to respond to recent news of his arrest by the FBI on January 29th, choosing to do so on the website he made his debut on, Big Government.  As can be expected, O'Keefe has already started putting a twist on things:
The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.

As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetrated by ACORN. For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.

I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.

On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. The sole intent of our investigation was to determine whether or not Senator Landrieu was purposely trying to avoid constituents who were calling to register their views to her as their Senator. We video taped the entire visit, the government has those tapes, and I’m eager for them to be released because they refute the false claims being repeated by much of the mainstream media.

It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story. MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent “gag order.” The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I “broke in” to an office which is open to the public. The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me. And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting. The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.
I am starting to believe that O'Keefe and his fellow conservative activists are the ones leaking incorrect information to the media in an attempt to discredit them, such as the fake "gag order," but more importantly, I think it is interesting that he claims that they were there to only see if the phones were broken, yet they stated to both witnesses that their intent was to repair the phones. Granted, that was to one of their pawns in their video, the problem with what they did was according to accounts that they gave FBI agents, there was probable cause that they were there to maliciously interfere with the telephone systems. I question who they are lying to... the FBI or the regular, everyday conservative who looks up him and his cohorts as some sort of hero. Why didn't they tell the FBI that they were only there to look at the phones to see if they were broken and not touch them? While I obviously don't have some of the story, things just don't add up when listening to O'Keefe's accounts, and O'Keefe is playing off the fact that nobody other then the FBI and his buddies have the full story, and so he is completely spinning this story to make him out to be the victim, just wanting to find out why Senator Landreiu reportedly never answered her phones.

What are some of the responses on Big Government to O'Keefe's sob story? Entropygirl431 wrote "Keep on Keepin' on Mr. O'keefe. Without journalists like you, we would be lost to all the corruption going on," while Skeeter J. wrote "Way to go, James." The majority of comments are positive, either attacking socialized medicine, Obama, ACORN, Eric Holder, or SEIU. While some of the negative comments were deleted by the administrator, there are some that remain, such as this little pearl by Patriot Czar (great name), who wrote "Why didn't you try calling her office and see if you could get through? You could have documented your calls - geez." What were some of the responses? Spliff Menendez wrote back "Did you notice in the affidavit that two of the people tried calling the office standing right there IN the office? They got no answer." There were numerous responses echoing Spliff, but they all seem to fail to grasp the concept that O'Keefe and his pals were acting when they were calling the phone in the office to gain access to the telephone closet.

I'm still waiting from the full story, but not from O'Keefe. I like how the others, like the U.S. Attorney's son, haven't really come forward with a public statement... only the pimp without his prostitute.

What is also funny is that he is proclaiming innocence through the tapes apprehended by the FBI, attempting to put the burden of proof on the government to release the videos, and that no release equals no crime. Maybe They should make an exchange for the full unedited ACORN videos. O'Keefe is also playing a very hypocritical card. He is claiming he did nothing wrong, only entering an office to ask some questions. Since he did not get to accomplish his plans to disrupt federal telecommunications, he is claiming he did nothing wrong, yet when the shoe is on the other foot, and he is the accuser, one's actions are not relevant as to whether they are guilty or not. Take into account ACORN, which had done nothing illegal and was charged with no criminal activity, where O'Keefe still insists they committed some sort of crime. Go figure...

2 comments:

  1. Hogwash! (O'Keefe, not you, Kevin) If O'Keefe had no intent to disable the phones then why were two of his operatives sent to where the circuitry is? If memory serves, one of the defendents' lawyers said that the intent was to disable the phones and film the reaction.

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  2. What makes me laugh are the people who fall this garbage. They are on record saying one thing, but then try to turn it around saying another thing so blatantly contradictory! Like I wrote, if they were only go up to look, then the FBI wouldn't have made the arrest stating there was probable cause for malicious mischief...

    What I find particularly funny is that the FBI have an office in that very same building! He couldn't have planned it any better!

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