James O'Keefe

O'Keefe And The Gang: The Young Conservatives Who Tried To Punk CNN

Rachel Slajda | September 29, 2010, 4:58PM

James O'Keefe

When CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau flew to Maryland to meet with James O'Keefe, she thought she was meeting him in his office to talk about a documentary she was working on about young conservatives. Instead, she found herself at his house, where his organization's executive director was near tears as she warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was trying to lure her onto his boat in order to seduce her in front of hidden cameras in order to "punk" CNN.

Boudreau left, and CNN ran the story today. We already know plenty about the main character: O'Keefe is the Andrew Breitbart protege who secretly filmed meetings between himself, posing as a pimp, and ACORN employees. The videos were a big part of what caused ACORN's demise as a national organization that helped low- and middle-income families find housing and register to vote. He also pleaded guilty earlier this year with three friends to charges of entering government property under false pretenses, after the four posed as telephone repairmen and videotaped themselves fiddling with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office.

But who were his alleged co-conspirators, who CNN says O'Keefe emailed with about the plan?

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Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal

Before Caper, O'Keefe And Co. Crashed At House Of Activist 'Mentor'

Justin Elliott | February 1, 2010, 11:12AM

From left to right: Joseph Basel, Stan Dai, Robert Flanagan, and James O'Keefe

A 28-year-old Loyola law school student and conservative activist named Ben Wetmore has emerged as the Fifth Beatle of the Landrieu phone-tampering case.

Wetmore, who hired alleged phone tamperer James O'Keefe at the Leadership Institute a few years back to help launch conservative media outlets on college campuses, this month offered up his New Orleans house as a crash pad for O'Keefe and co-defendants Joseph Basel and Stan Dai, the New York Times reports.

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