NEW ORLEANS - A hero of conservatives who bruised the liberal group ACORN by posing as a pimp on hidden camera is now accused of orchestrating an attempt to tamper with phone lines at Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office inside a federal building.
It's not clear what James O'Keefe, 25, and three other suspects were trying to accomplish Monday at the New Orleans office of Landrieu, who has been criticized for securing more Medicaid benefits for her state in exchange for her support of health-care legislation.
It sounded like a Watergate-style operation, but federal officials have not yet said why the men wanted to interfere with Landrieu's phones, whether they were successful, or even if the goal was political espionage. All four have been involved in conservative politics in the past.
A staff member in the office told the FBI that two of the suspects, including the son of an acting U.S. attorney, wore white hard hats, tool belts and fluorescent vests and said they needed to fix a problem with the phone system.
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According to an FBI affidavit, O'Keefe already was sitting in the waiting area and recorded the men on his cell phone when they walked in.
O'Keefe said "veritas," Latin for truth, as he left jail Tuesday with suspects Stan Dai and Joseph Basel, both 24. None would comment.
"There will be a time for that," Dai said.
As he got into a cab outside the jail, O'Keefe said, "The truth shall set me free."
His biography on a Web site where he blogs says he works at VeritasVisuals.com, though that Web site does not currently work.
The fourth suspect, Robert Flanagan, the son of Shreveport-based acting U.S. Attorney Bill Flanagan, was released earlier Tuesday. His father's office would not comment.
All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Only Flanagan lives in Louisiana. Basel is from Minnesota; O'Keefe is from New Jersey; and Dai lives in the D.C.-Virginia area.
"It was poor judgment," Flanagan's lawyer, Garrison Jordan, said in a brief interview outside the courtroom. "I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime."
The allegations quickly inspired allegations of a "Louisiana Watergate" from state Democrats and claims of vindication at ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. It lost its affiliation with the U.S. Census Bureau and federal funding after the uproar over O'Keefe's videos.
Landrieu, who was in Washington at the time, said in a statement Tuesday that the plot was "unsettling" for her and her staff. She said she looked forward to the investigation to learn the motives.
O'Keefe's arrest "is further evidence of his disregard for the law in pursuit of his extremist agenda," ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said in a statement. ACORN said on Twitter: "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving soul."
