4 Phone Plotters Tied to Conservative Campus Groups

All launched or wrote for right-wing publications

By professortech, Newser User

Posted Jan 27, 2010 11:27 AM CST | Promoted on Newser Jan 27, 2010 11:27 AM CST

(User Submitted) – The men accused of trying to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's phones share a common experience—writing for conservative publications. Federal authorities said the men posed as telephone workers when they walked into the senator’s office inside a federal building in New Orleans. James O'Keefe, already known for his sting operations at ACORN offices, and Joseph Basel both launched their own conservative publications in college.

A third suspect, Stan Dai, edited a conservative paper on campus, and once directed a program aimed at college students interested in the intelligence field. The fourth suspect, Robert Flanagan, wrote for the conservative Pelican Institute and is son of Bill Flanagan, the acting US attorney based in Shreveport, who had been No. 2 to a Bush appointee who stepped down this month. O'Keefe is 25, and all the others 24.

(AP)

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Showing 3 of 54 comments

dax

Jan 28, 2010 12:50 PM CST

brutaltruth - Naive, ill conceived, arrogant, yes. "Frat-boy prank"? Hardly. 'O Keefe went gunning for Obama, Liberals and Acorn last fall and received resounding plaudits from the Right for the damage he unleashed. Now it appears he set his sights on doing damage to a seated Congressional official. ----- He's not a teenager; O'Keefe is a 25 year old man who could face a 10 year sentence. ----- Breitbart, has publicly distanced himself from O'Keefe who received monetary compensation for his writings on Breitbart's potstirring website. ----- It will be interesting to see who else distances themselves from the O'Keefe 'krew' as this develops, and who else is implicated. ----- Pat Buchanan was spinning like a top last night, continually passing over the arrest and repeatedly insinuating that there must be something of troubling significance to uncover in the Landrieu office. (Hmmm. Could Buchanan have had prior knowledge ?) ----- No, political espionage is no frat-boy prank. If there is malfeasance, let the FBI to investigate.

Count-Spatula

Jan 28, 2010 11:23 AM CST

Hard to look at O'Keefe without wincing. He looks like his breath smells and has B.O.

Carpediem4U

Jan 28, 2010 7:24 AM CST

That poor boy has probably not sniffed any good lady parts let alone touched them! I wonder if he and DLY are related?

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4 Phone Plotters Tied to Conservative Campus Groups

All launched or wrote for right-wing publications

Mary Landrieu • James O'Keefe • Robert Flanagan • Stan Dai • Joseph Basel

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All launched or wrote for right-wing publications

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Mary Landrieu • James O'Keefe • Robert Flanagan • Stan Dai • Joseph Basel

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They wanted to test Landrieu's out-of-touch reputation

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