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

O'Keefe Pleads Guilty In Landrieu Phone-Tampering Case, Gets Three Years Probation

Justin Elliott | May 26, 2010, 12:29PM

James O'Keefe

Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe and three compatriots today pleaded guilty to entering real property belonging to the United States under false pretenses for the January incident in which they entered Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office and claimed to be from the telephone company, the Times-Picayune reports.

O'Keefe was sentenced to three years of probation, a fine of $1,500 and 100 hours of community service. The others -- Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, and Robert Flanagan -- got the same fine, two years of probation, and 75 hours of community service.

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Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal

Out On Bond, Phone-Tamper Defendant Surfaces As Journo At Tea Party Convention

Justin Elliott | February 5, 2010, 2:01PM

Joseph Basel

Landrieu phone-tampering defendant Joseph Basel isn't letting a little thing like felony charges hang over his head and prevent him from achieving professional goals.

With a week until he's due in federal court in New Orleans for a Feb. 12 hearing, Basel has been spotted at the national tea party convention in Nashville by the Washington Independent's Dave Weigel.

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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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James O'Keefe

The Landrieu Phone Case: Not A Bugging After All?

Justin Elliott | January 27, 2010, 5:38PM

James O'Keefe

While initial media reports (including on TPM) described the episode at Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office as an attempted bugging, that term does not appear in the affidavit and the lawyer for one of the charged men tells TPMmuckraker, "the complaint is not about a wiretap."

It's still a mystery what exactly filmmaker James O'Keefe and his companions intended to do when they allegedly arrived at Landrieu's office. But the accurate way to describe what allegedly happened would be attempted phone tampering.

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Leadership Institute

The Leadership Institute: The Group That Helped Launch The Conservative Careers Of Two Alleged Phone Tamperers

Ben Frumin | January 27, 2010, 2:15PM

James O'Keefe

We know that at least two of the young men charged in connection with attempts to tamper with Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phones led conservative college newspapers that received seed money from The Leadership Institute. But what's the Leadership Institute?

On its website, the nonprofit boasts that it "prepares conservatives for success in politics, government and the news media." It's trained more than 79,000 students over the years, and employs 58 people. The group is led by longtime Republican player Morton Blackwell, who was elected to the RNC's executive committee in 2004.

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James O'Keefe

Alleged Landrieu Phone Tamper Crew Emerged From World Of Conservative Campus Journalism

Justin Elliott | January 26, 2010, 8:33PM

James O'Keefe

Three of the four young men charged in the alleged phone tampering attempt at Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office Monday were involved in the well-funded, opportunity-rich world of conservative campus journalism in recent years, a link that provides potential clues about how the men knew each other and why they came to hatch the alleged plot.

James O'Keefe, Joseph Basel, and Stan Dai each founded or led the alternative conservative newspapers on their respective college campuses.

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James O'Keefe

Filmmaker Behind ACORN Stings Arrested For Attempted Phone Tampering At Landrieu's Office

Justin Elliott | January 26, 2010, 3:38PM

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe, the young conservative filmmaker who was behind the undercover operations that led to the ACORN scandal last year, was arrested with three others for allegedly trying to tamper with the phones at the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) yesterday.

The FBI announced today the foursome have been charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony.

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