Convicted federal criminal and Rightwing dirty-trickster James O’Keefe appears to have flagrantly run afoul of the rule of law yet again. This time, he appears to have violated and/or conspired to violate Maryland’s Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act. It would not be the first instance of him having done so.
The apparent violation(s) of state felony laws, revealed today as part of what is being reported as O’Keefe’s “botched” attempt to “punk CNN”, comes on the heels of O’Keefe’s previous apparent violations of the very same laws in MD, though law enforcement officials have yet to hold him accountable, to date, for those previous offenses.
Documents and other material produced by CNN today suggest that O’Keefe secretly, and illegally, taped phone calls he had with CNN’s investigative journalist Abbie Boudreau, and conspired to secretly video tape her in a compromising situation, also in violation of MD law.
O’Keefe, who is currently on probation after pleading guilty to a federal misdemeanor following another botched scheme in Louisiana earlier this year, seems to have broken similar laws last year in a number of states, including Maryland, where he secretly video taped employees at the offices of the community organization ACORN in Baltimore. Despite requests to MD law enforcement by a non-profit watchdog organization for a criminal investigation into the previous apparent violations of the state’s felony wiretap laws — and despite recognition of the “possible” violation of those laws in a number of law enforcement investigations elsewhere — no action has been taken to date by state officials…
The ‘Botched’ CNN Scam
According to a report today by Scott Zamost of CNN’s Special Investigations Unit, O’Keefe and his newly formed under-cover operations organization calling itself Project Veritas, had attempted a scheme to secretly videotape CNN’s investigative journalist Abbie Boudreau in a ploy to “burden her career with this video” and damage the reputation of CNN in the bargain.
Documentation produced by CNN reveals a bizarre plan involving an attempt by O’Keefe to lure Boudreau onto a boat in MD that was to be decked out as a “pleasure palace”, replete with adult sex toys, in order to video his attempts to seduce her on hidden camera. Boudreau had been attempting to interview O’Keefe as part of an upcoming documentary, Right on the Edge, covering activities of young, Rightwing activists like O’Keefe and his crew. (CNN’s preview of the documentary is embedded at the end of this article.)
The scheme reportedly blew up after Boudreau was tipped off to it, just prior to the purported boat meeting with O’Keefe, by Project Veritas Executive Director Izzy Santa who, says Boudreau, decided the scheme was a very bad idea. Santa has reportedly been removed from her position with the organization today.
The CNN journalist also reports that she was sent internal emails from the Project Veritas group, which included audio attachments of a phone call with Boudreau that was taped by O’Keefe. If O’Keefe made the call from Maryland at the time, and if Boudreau was not aware she was being recorded, that would be a criminal violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402 requiring two-party consent for audio recordings.
In addition to unlawful recording of a conversation without permission of all parties, recording, with or without consent, with criminal or tortuous purpose, is itself illegal under state law. Documents released by CNN, along with snippets of internal email from O’Keefe and others, reveal a clear intent to harm both Boudreau and CNN, to “burden her career” and “hurt [CNN’s] credibility”.
If, in fact, O’Keefe had planned to carry out the seduction scheme on the boat, which included hidden cameras, as discussed in the documents with his colleagues, that would involve a conspiracy to violate the wiretap laws as well.
Late today, in an interview Boudreau, Media Matter’s Joe Strupp reports the CNN journalist tells him that O’Keefe “was dressed up” in a way that suggested the scheme described in the Project Veritas documents was, indeed, under way in MD until it was interrupted by Santa.
“It had an effect on me wondering how far a person like him is willing to go,” Boudreau told Strupp. “There are few rules and really no boundaries,” she said.
O’Keefe’s past behavior demonstrates that even the law does not serve as a boundary for James O’Keefe.
Criminal History…
Last July, government watchdog organization VelvetRevolution.us (VR) had notified MD’s Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and the State’s Attorney Patrica Coats Jessamy about O’Keefe’s previous apparent violations of the very same state privacy laws.
In a July 4, 2010 letter [PDF], VR requested criminal charges for O’Keefe in light of violations of Maryland’s Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act after he secretly video-taped workers in the offices of the four-decade old, anti-poverty, pro-democracy community organization ACORN. [FULL DISCLOSURE: The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VR.]
In the letter, VR attorney Kevin Zeese describes O’Keefe’s actions in his highly-edited ACORN “sting” tapes as a “clear felony according to the statute” and notes that “Violations of the law are felonies punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years and a fine of not more than $10,000.”
Moreover, Zeese called for conspiracy charges to be brought against O’Keefe and his partner in the ACORN scheme Hannah Giles, as well as Andrew Breitbart who later admitted to employing the pair.
In the ACORN affair, O’Keefe secretly videotaped workers while posing as Giles boyfriend, claiming that she, as a prostitute, was being stalked by a dangerous pimp from whom he was trying to protect her.
CNN, and others, have inaccurately reported that O’Keefe “posed as a pimp” in those ACORN interviews when, in fact, his appearance as a 70s-era Blaxploitation Pimp was deceptively edited into the videos later.
Though the New York Times eventually corrected some of their coverage after The BRAD BLOG’s month-long campaign to force them to retract their misreporting, they never fully corrected the record. Even Boudreau, in the preview for her upcoming CNN documentary, inaccurately describes O’Keefe as having represented himself as “a pimp” when, in fact, he never did so.
While at least four different official investigations all found no violations of law by the ACORN workers seen in the video tapes, California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s report “found that O’Keefe and Giles may have violated state laws in California and Maryland prohibiting covert recordings.”
O’Keefe and Giles were given immunity from criminal prosecution in California by Brown in exchange for the complete, unedited versions of the videotapes. In Maryland, however, state law enforcement has yet to take action.
With O’Keefe previously having gotten off scot-free in MD after his apparent violations of law in the ACORN matter, it seems he may have felt free to do so yet again in the CNN caper revealed today.
Earlier this year O’Keefe ran afoul of the rule of law again when he conspired with colleagues to access the phone system of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) at her offices in New Orleans. After initially being charged with a federal felony, O’Keefe retained superstar GOP legal representation who eventually helped him to receive a deal in which he pled guilty to misdemeanor charges.
His federal sentencing in the botched LA caper included three years probation, a fine of $1,500 and 100 hours of community service.
It appears that, if in fact O’Keefe again ran afoul of MD’s privacy laws, he may also have violated his federal probation in the Louisiana conviction.
Attempts by The BRAD BLOG to reach Boudreau for more details, and clarity on whether or not she gave permission for the recorded phone calls, and where O’Keefe made them from, have so far been unsuccessful.
A preview for CNN’s Right on the Edge documentary is below, including an explanation from Boudreau of the bizarre O’Keefe episode…
Excellent coverage, Brad.
I would add, however, that O’Keefe’s rap sheet includes a likely violation of CA Penal Code 632 — a statute that is quite similar to the MD statute at issue here.
As you previously reported in Former San Diego ACORN Employee Files Lawsuit Against Rightwing Activists O’Keefe and Giles:
O’Keefe escaped prosecution because AG Brown (unnecessarily in my opinion) granted him immunity in exchange for a voluntary relinquishment of the unedited videotapes.
Finally, could you image how swift prosecution would befall this clown if he were remotely connected to the “Left” and committed the same act against Glenn Beck — using his phony hooker, Giles, of course, as part of the entrapment?
Oh, BTW, one problem I have with Boudreau’s account is her statement at the outset that O’Keefe appeared in the ACORN videos posing as a pimp. More accurate to state that he posed as a college student; then edited the videos to make it appear he was posing as a pimp.
The other problem is more basic. Why is CNN and the rest of the MSM giving so much coverage to right wing scam artist like O’Keefe, Giles, Breitbart, or to the billionaire funded and manipulated, noisy “know nothings” (aka The Tea Party).
A punk is a prank style joke that everyone finds funny in the end, this was no punk, this was an illegal staged political attack by a GOP operative.
This was a set-up style sting operation by a criminal Republican propagandist to damage & defame a major news organization just before a key election.
Was his illegal disinfo attack on ACORN a punk too? Of course not. Was the impeachment of President Clinton another punk too? Nope.
CNN buried the headline as well as screwed up their headline too.
They totally misused the term punk & they made it all sound like young pranksters.
And why did his girlfriend have dirt on her face & seem so shook up? Did he shove her to the ground? Was he violent towards her, because she knew this was wrong & possibly illegal?
But, it won’t matter, because CNN will not pursue following-up on story, let alone suing him.
I garan-fucking-tee you he will not be prosecuted in any way, shape, or form. Because IOKIYAR.
“appears”, “seems”, “may”, “if” are not violations of any laws.
All of the reporting either from the left or the right from the last decade, or so, has only served the purpose of informing the American people that people who commit the biggest crimes are above the law.
This is putting us all in great danger. CNN could have done something to stop this erosion of morality and our laws as it was happening, but somewhere during or before the Clinton impeachment, completely dropped the ball.
You gotta admit this about wingnuts: they have cojones. They make things happen. They can stand there with a straight face and accuse Dems of doing all the nasty things they are openly doing (like stealing elections, running up deficits, or eroding freedom). They infiltrate groups and expose them, even if there’s nothing there to expose. They organize astroturf parties and peddle the same old shit as though it’s something revolutionary.
So why the hell hasn’t there been an insurrection on the left? Where’s the Green party? Why isn’t anyone infliltrating right wing groups and exposing them. My God, it would seem to be so easy for a funded (or not) left-wing equivalent of O’Queef.
Speaking of which, THIS guy must have the biggest set of balls on the planet. I mean, seriously. This pencil-necked, pasty-faced, 80’s throwback thought he would, what, seduce this CNN babe or something. WTF**10? I am absolutely dumbstruck. If there were any Dems with balls (or delusions) this big, we’d be living in a progressive wet dream right now.
I think for O’Keefe’s next media fiasco he should build a time machine, go back to 2009 and stay there forever since he’s never going to reproduce the magic he created with his ACORN video.
He captured America’s imagination with the twist ending at the end of his first effort: *SPOILER* The twist was that absolutely none of it was real. But since then his pranks have just been a series of failed attempts that has only proven that he is a one-trick pony. The sad thing is people are going to go see his videos just because his name is attached and financiers are going to keep giving him money for new stunts because he is profitable. I haven’t seen this most recent attempt, nor do I plan on it; all early reviews indicate it’s just going to be another tired story with dopey dialogue, an outlandish premise, a love story that would never work in the real world and then the same twist ending as all the rest of his work. I also heard that after he was done filming everything he decided to make it 3-D and as a result it looks really bad. Until O’Keefe learns that as an artist you need to evolve and grow and stop releasing the same thing that made you famous a few years ago, Americans are going to increasingly dislike the work he makes.
Wally said:
No. But it’s what actual journalists do when there has not been a conviction in a court of law, or hard evidence that cannot be disproved.
O’Keefe may want to take notice of that, since he charged ACORN with all matters of things (far worse than anything he’s yet been accused of above) in his phony hit scam on them.
This much I can say without qualification, for a federal criminal, he sure is stupid.
A Ha ha ha ha ha! That slimy b’tard thought he was going to get that reporter in a compromising position? He is DELUSIONAL.
I am very interested in the last lines of the released 13 page docment that CNN has posted.
14. Acting and adaptation
One expects them to start using cever code like in Ocean’s 11.
“Okay. James, you are going to be doing a Cindy Lou. Bob, you’re Lucky Pierre and Rick and I will work the Ozzie and Harriet.”
couple steps further in logic that the oft repeated questions above highlight:
first: OKeefe has and needs no nuts. He’s got unlimited funding same as Rove. Exactly the same as Rove. OKeefe probably is and should be more afraid of what will happen to him if he’s ever honest. anyone wanna take a ride in a small personal aircraft. perhaps a short commuter flight home after giving a deposition in Washington DC?
second: when’s the last time a person or their character was obliterated by a left wing conspiracy? if there were such things, Rove would have been worm appetizers years ago.
third: since when do the Obusha crowd mind the right being this crazy? look at the DNC campaign for 11/2010. “vote for us. we’re not bush and we’re not cheney.” nice credentials. oh yeh and “it’s not our fault. it’s all their fault. their being the crazy left wingers that make those sane and usually kind right wingers so partisan lately.”
fourth: we’re already beyond great danger. the fact that even Moonbeam Brown won’t lift a finger to crush this obvious legal vermin speaks volumes. the faux news version of the left (the obusha crowd) loves having boogey men to beat the real left over the head with. anyone hear OBusha blaming the conservadems for screwing his legislative efforts? no way. it’s all dennis kucinich’s fault. he’s the one who screwed health care reform. jeesh if Dennis had only caved in sooner perhaps we’d have gotten the insurance companies to print the health care reform law after they got done writing it.
fifth: does anyone here doubt OKeefe was gonna slip her a rufie and ruin her (not just her career) and then edit it to make it look as bad for her as possible? (while marginally covering his own butt.) our only and best hope seems to be that this guy, like all rove-wannabe’s, will do something so heinous that even the Koch Bros AND Mellon-Scaife won’t have enough resources to protect him.
scared. hell. scared is what a smart man feels when he sees BP propose a 5 mile deep oil well. it’s a little late for scared now.
“As part of the scheme, O’Keefe would reportedly record a video on the boat, explaining his intention to “have a little fun,” adding, “Instead of giving her a serious interview, I’m going to punk CNN. Abbie has been trying to seduce me to use me, in order to spin a lie about me. So, I’m going to seduce her, on camera, to use her for a video.”” (The Washington Monthly)
I just wonder where Whetmore and O’Keefe got the DATE RAPE DRUG????
Aw, c’mon, these two went to all the trouble of planning on luring Boudreau onto a boat rigged with sex toys, and then trying to get her to drink some champagne…and they “just” wanted to seduce her, filming her among some sex toys and porn magazines?
I believe it was more sinister. I bet they spiked the champagne with a DATE RAPE DRUG, planning on stripping her after she was unconscious, filming staged sex scenes, and then dumping her unconscious somewhere.
But, but, but, you might say, O’Keefe and his buddies at Project Veritas would never do something so bizarre and extreme. Really? These right-wing convicts are a menace to society. And I still say that O’Keefe bears a striking resemblance to Timothy McVeigh. And the right-wing crackpots behind and funding Project Veritas, who canned Santa, the woman who tipped Boudreau off, are just as dangerous. Aiding and abetting criminals like Whetmore and O’Keefe just proves it.
My feeling is that Boudreau barely escaped with her life. Luckily, Santa tipped her off, even though the psychopaths behind Project Veritas then canned her. I’ll probably watch this CNN special this weekend just to see if Boudreau interviews Santa (after all this) and thanks her, effusively, for possibly saving her life.
The techniques of dishonest video editing applied by O’Keefe have spread to Australia.
Recently Australian TV Network Channel 7 aired a documentary on supposed security lapses in India’s current staging of the Commonwealth Games but when analysed by ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) Television program Media Watch it turned out to be a beat up, constructed by creative editing and careful legal parsing of the words used. Strictly speaking nothing the reporter said is actually a lie but the implications taken by the unaware viewer are completely misleading.
Unlike O’Keefe’s effort which was successful in destroying ACORN the Channel 7 program has only harmed the reputation of one person and his small company, but the techniques used are almost identical to O’Keefe’s.
Here is a link to Media Watch’s analysis.
I sent an email to CNN protesting the characterizaion “punked” like it was some cutesy, Aston Kutcheresque prank, all in good fun.
I also found it upsetting to hear the targeted reporter, who did seem bemused by the whole thing, say on CNN yesterday that even if you don’t agree with the Young “Activist” Rethuglican’s message, “You have to admire thrie passion.” Yeah, Right, just like you have to admire Ted Bundy’s “passion” even if you didn’t agree with his “message.”
lmwilker said on 9/30/2010 @ 8:06 am PT…
“Ted Bundy was a Republican:
Bundy worked on the re-election campaign of Washington’s Republican Governor Dan Evans. Evans was elected and he appointed Bundy to the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Committee. Bundy’s political future seemed secure”
That’s fucking scary, Adam. wrt seducing people, didn’t Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen) already attempt to do this with Ron Paul? What an original idea, O’keefe, you fuckwit. Are Americans really this stupid? Are 50% really thinking about voting for Republicans, running on the same platform they have for the last 25 years? Did they really just kill the net neutrality bill? WTF is going on in this world? Sigh.
Brad,
I disagre with your premise that O’Keefe violated his probation, I believe there never was an forma court accusation of wiretapping nor that he pled guilty to that charge. It was tresspassing, which from what I read – this is not the case.