Mystery of Landrieu’s phones—what does it mean?

Commentary by Kay B. Day

Politics can read stranger than a novel, and that appears to be the case in an incident involving Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) telephone system. Four young men accused of interfering with the senator’s system in her New Orleans office on Tuesday are described by media as “conservative activists.”

It’s a mystery.

JUST THE FACTS
An affidavit linked to by Fox News stated there was probable cause to believe two of the actors—Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan—“by false and fraudulent pretense attempted to enter, and did in fact enter, real property belonging to the United States for the purpose of willfully and maliciously interfering with a telephone system operated and controlled by the United States of America.”

The affidavit further states the affiant “further believes that Flanagan and Basel were aided and abetted by [James] O’Keefe and [Stan] Dai.”

THE BACKSTORY, AND THE FRONT
James O’Keefe is the indie filmmaker who caught ACORN employees in highly questionable behavior. O’Keefe’s undercover videos were aired by Andrew Breitbart who propelled them to the top of the political debate. The government held an investigation and ACORN had an internal investigation and everyone came away happy. The so-called investigations found no wrongdoing by ACORN over the LAST 5 YEARS. Brevity in accounting records is a blessing to a troubled organizational soul.

In September The Chicago Tribune noted what amounts to a big umbrella for ACORN: "Published reports show that ACORN and its subsidiaries received some $800,000 from the Obama campaign to get out the vote. Second, ACORN is intimately tied to the Service Employees International Union, one of President Barack Obama’s most powerful and vocal supporters."

CAST OF CHARACTERS

The actors in the Landrieu incident would make great characters in a whodunit.

For starters, Steven Rayes, Special Agent with the FBI, signed the affidavit. Rayes stated that he is “currently assigned to the Violent Crime Squad” and his duties include “the investigation of federal crimes such as bank robberies and flight from prosecution (‘fugitives’).

As for the young activists, what were they after? What did they hope to accomplish? Why were they there? What do they know?

Landrieu raised eyebrows when she voted for the Senate healthcare bill, not so much because she voted for it but for what she gained. The right became outraged because of some alleged special perks Louisiana would end up with--$300 million in recovery money for instance. “I can’t be bought,” said Landrieu.

BREITBART RESPONDS
New media guru Andrew Breitbart did an interview with conservative columnist Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday. Breitbart had aired O’Keefe’s ACORN videos and O’Keefe is, according to Breitbart, now associated with his enterprise. But he didn’t say O’Keefe is an employee. Perhaps the filmmaker is paid as an indie contractor much like a freelance writer. Breitbart said he knew nothing about the phone situation and hasn’t talked to O’Keefe in weeks.

Hewitt described the aftermath of the telephone incident, asking if leftwing sites were slandering Breitbart. Breitbart said one website called the telephone group ‘Breitbart’s Crew,’ even though Breitbart has only met one of the four—O’Keefe, who was working independently.

Breitbart read from an Associated Press story: “O’Keefe said, ‘Veritas,’ Latin for truth, as he left a suburban jail Tuesday with suspect Stan Dai and Joseph Basel, both 24."

Later O’Keefe said, “The truth shall set me free.”

What we know is in the affidavit, nothing more and nothing less.

But what those ‘activists’ were after—what made them do what they apparently felt compelled to do—therein lies the real mystery.

Update on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 8:55AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

Andrew Breitbart has posted commentary about the Landrieu situation at Big Government. He said the Washington Post called the telephone incident an "alleged plot to bug" Landrieu's offices. As we pointed out in our column, there is no indication of that in the affidavit from the FBI agent. The only description of the action is "interfering with a telephone system."

Update on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:31AM by Kay B. Day, Editor

O'Keefe's attorney said client didn't bug Landrieu phones. Story at USA Today.