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« February 2010

Ryan Sorba

Gay-Bashing CPACer Has Checkered Legal History

Justin Elliott | February 23, 2010, 11:52AM


Ryan Sorba at CPAC 2010

The man who cited natural law in an off-script anti-gay rant at CPAC has had two run-ins with the real law in the past decade, including a restraining order for domestic violence, according to court records in California.

Ryan Sorba of California Young Americans for Freedom, who is a longtime anti-gay activist, in 2001 had a restraining order brought against him by a woman in a San Bernardino County domestic violence case, according to case records.

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Topics: CPAC, California Young Americans for Freedom, FreedomWorks, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, James O'Keefe, Leadership Institute, Mary Paulson, Michael Sorba, Ryan Sorba, The Born Gay Hoax

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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Topics: Joseph Basel, Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal, Leadership Institute, Tea Parties, Tea Party Patriots, University of Minnesota-Morris

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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Topics: American University, Ben Wetmore, James O'Keefe, Joseph Basel, Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal, Leadership Institute, Loyola University law school, Lucky Charms, Stan Dai

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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Topics: David Fenner, James O'Keefe, Joseph Basel, Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal, Leadership Institute, Morton Blackwell, Robert Flanagan, Stan Dai

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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PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)
Topics: CampusReform.org, GW Patriot, James O'Keefe, Joseph Basel, Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal, Leadership Institute, Mary Landrieu, Stan Dai, The Centurion, The Counterweight

« February 2010

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