Statement from James O’Keefe
by James O'KeefeThe government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.
As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetrated by ACORN. For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.
I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.
On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. The sole intent of our investigation was to determine whether or not Senator Landrieu was purposely trying to avoid constituents who were calling to register their views to her as their Senator. We video taped the entire visit, the government has those tapes, and I’m eager for them to be released because they refute the false claims being repeated by much of the mainstream media.
It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story. MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent “gag order.” The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I “broke in” to an office which is open to the public. The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me. And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting. The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.
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1,794 Comments
Best of luck James. Thanks for all your hard work.
Hang in there James.
Go James go!
Keep on Keepin' on Mr. O'keefe. Without journalists like you, we would be lost to all the corruption going on.
I can attest to it practically being impossible to get an answer when calling Mrs. Landrieu.
I have appreciated all your hard work to date, but i must say i was confused by this latest endeavor, which given any modicum of reflection, could not end well. A little more planning and projecting next time?
Full steam ahead, young man
The Centurion is with you James.
-Veritas vos Liberabit
Way to go, James.
Waiting for the "Paul Harvey – rest of the story" on this one. The excitement is overwhelming, and to know you actually have a video recording of the events is indeed good news.
To the lawyers in the house, anybody know what the law says about the video being returned to James? Just asking, ya know.
Well done James! You do have more integrity than any journalist in the msm
James is a patriot. MSNBC are hacks working for the POTUS..
Don't think he is guilty of anything. Federal building paid for by we, the taxpayers. If anything, the Senator and her staff are not telling the truth.
A lot of people are behind you James, God bless you!
If the government has custody of those tapes, I doubt seriously that we will be allowed to see them…sorry you got into trouble, but the way things are being handled in Washington these days, it looks like the only way for us to know the truth is to catch these people doing something unscrupulous!
Thanks for clearing this all up.
Just be careful James…
So does this mean there will be no federal charges?
Thank you and your friends James. Keep up the great work and keep them on their toes.
Why didn't you try calling her office and see if you could get through? You could have documented your calls – geez
It's good to hear your side of it, and I'm glad you've had a chance for "reflection". Best of luck, and thanks for your efforts.
It's convenient to have only 2 or 3 phone lines when your constituents disagree with you.
James -you are a brave person – when the mainstream media starts covering the SEIU thugs beating innocent people outside a town hall meeting or Black Panthers standing at the polls(also a federal territory) with nightsticks preventing people from voting and then getting a pass from Holder then they can report on you – but I guess videotape of actual violence by Obama supporters is just fine with the press but an undercover sting by a conservative means all out war – the American people are with you.
Yeah, that's why he videotaped it and is asking for the videos to come out. Way to hide behind a silly name and cat call kneejerkedly for a pointless cause.
[...] pull the trigger so early next time Statement from James O’Keefe – Big Government [...]
steady pimpin'!
Thank you for your efforts James. Shuster is an idiot as Andrew has clearly exposed!
We haven't been allowed to see the tapes from the 5 Israelis who were jumping for joy and filming the WTC collapse even though they were arrested by the FBI. Probably because they include the first plane strike showing they knew in advance. I wish O'Keefe would investigate that.
As they try to shoot the messanger, they end up shooting themselves in the foot. Thank you James. We The People believe in you.
We need more people like you. There are good journalists and there are Great journalists. The Great ones always have controversy. Don't let them get to you. Keep up the great work! You are appreciated.
Correction… MSNBC are a bunch of hacks who are working for Media Matters who works for George Soros who the POTUS also works for.
Frankly, it seemed patently absurd that a bunch of film guys would try amateur hour wiretapping. It's not television, people don't just dress up and sneak around with British driving caps on their heads and pull wires as doofus secretaries get sent off on coffee runs. But the trick is to get out of the gate first with a story that has elements that resonate with people. "Wtaergate" still evokes a Pavlovian reaction, that's what they wanted. The MSNBC approach is to quickly segue to implying all the ACORN work is now suspect. So, we know what the trick is for. Holder may not prosecute, but statute of limitations has a whiel before running out. Still vunerable.
The lying culture that exists in Washigntonand the media is so slick, it's hard for decent people to predict the angle of the attack and the quickness with which one lie is abandoned for a new one the moment it is perceived as not working.
Glad to hear from you, James.
You sound like some sort of self-obsessed rat-f*cker. That you have had so much success peddling your high-school "journalism" speaks ill of our political system, not well of you. Thankfully you appear to be a momentary distraction, like the Balloon Boy.
If you don't understand, or choose to ignore, all the lines you have crossed to cripple ACORN and mess with a U.S. senator, there is no point trying to explain. Enjoy your march over the cliff your masters choose for you.
It's fascinating to watch the similarities between conservatives and african americans when embroiled in conflict. It's not my fault, I'm the victim, It's the mainstream media, It's a conspiracy against me, etc.
Bottom Line: With all the security issues facing this country, you entered a federal building under false pretenses, and lied to the federal security and government workers. Thank god all you were doing was trying to investigate her phones. I'm sure some extremist is following your example, and the next time we may not be as fortunate. It's a crime. You should be punished.
Keep the good fight James.
Sound's like you have the instinct's of a great investigative journalist, which is almost an extinct species.
What I don't understand is the fact that the health care debate had moved past Landrieu. Her phones wouldn't have been ringing off the hook any more. Also, you could have just LISTENED to see if they were ringing and/or being answered. This whole thing was pretty lame. Just admit it and move on.
What an idiot! At least they'll show you the real meaning of teabagging in prison!
This whole thing disturbs me, how much speculation has gone on…..meanwhile the MSM has selective amnesia on a myriad of stories in the last two years far more dangerous to our country. I thank God for the "Big" sites and Fox, and Drudge,if we did not have them we would be screwed as a country.
I think the whole thing that bothers me the most is how they condemned you James, in many different ways before there was a word uttered by you or the FBI. Last time I checked there was still that pesky "innocent till proven guilty" phrase out there also!!
Keep it up James and Andrew. "The folks" will support you with time, talent and treasure. Just remember to avoid all appearence of evil.
What a tirade. Missing your lithium little man…a punk? Sorry punks go out on rants like you just did. James is no punk. Brave, yes, audacious yes….but the only punk I see little man is you. So apologize and go away.
Way to stand up for yourself James. It's amazing how your ACORN work is ignored, and then this mild incident is blown-up.
Any cridibility the MSM had left is all but gone.
I hope one day that Andrew can start his own cable news/opinion programming. Fox is parading around RINOS on their stations and seems to be positioning John McCain for a presidential run. I'm getting off subect here, sorry.
You tell em. We don't like his type around here.
Well, Hello, Mr. Olbermann!!
1. Did you find anything out at all?
2. Why didn't you say anything to Breitbart?
Mr. Dhasselhoff seems to have a "thing" about Israel! For some reason it gets mentioned in almost all of his posts………. Hmmmmm, I'm just sayin'
Health Care is on life support.
Nancy and Harry have something up their sleeve.
Mrs. Landrieu is part of the problem but not the solution.
Obama is a Marxist and we all know it now.
November will be a good start, but we still have 3 years to go with Obama running us into the ground.
I'm not sure why the James Gang had to wear phone company disguises if they were entering a public building unless they had an agenda.
Observing the phone traffic doesn't take 4 people.
Come on James, what's the rest of the story?
Ok this is the thing, James did the right thing here just went about it in a wrong way however as a former Hill staffer I know that offices will turn off their phones or shut down all lines but two if the calls get to be too many. That Landrieu took that money and her constituents didn't want it and were calling so furiously her staff shut the phones down to a line or two doesn't surprise me. If they shut them off compeltely well…dioesn't shock me eitehr. Thats normal for a staff in times like this.
get em James!!! do the job the state-run media WON”T!!
Well, as resident of the GNO, I don't think it was worth the trouble. The Landrieu's suck. And Mary accepted a bribe. That's all we need to know.
That said, glad to know the accusations were false.
Those who seek the truth already know. Those that only seek vengance are not interested in the facts.
Stay focused on your work. The MSM is nothing more than a large group of funded forum trolls anyhow.
VERITAS will prevail…!
as my hope was that you did not do that which the lame stream media was "reporting"
my hope now is that you are not railroaded through some smokey laws in order to
"get the jerk who exposed our wonderful community organization which we used as a
front for falsifying votes and inspiring the misinformed to rise up against the bad bad
corporations and to help the helpless to smuggle underage girls from third world countries
in order to make money at the worlds oldest profession so they can give it to us so we can
give it to a union so they can……well you get the point
Meeowww! gmh6419, are you not intelligent enough to comment without the catty remark about Mr. Brightbart's hair, for heaven's sake? Oh wait, I bet you're a liberal. Well, that explains it. In my experience, liberals are incapable of calmly and rationally discussing their belief system. They are very adept at making catty comments and infantile name-calling however. I bet you're a big hit on the Daily Kos! Ah well, carry on…
I was close!
Next time, run it by your lawyer FIRST
Good luck and keep up the good work
Cheers
Wow you are a clever monkey ,and you bring up a good point. Assumed guilt is guilt,if we could just jail all the libtards who have been accused but never quite found guilty of a crime then hell our job would be done. Half of congress would be gone and oh yeah so would the POS-OTUS. Damm that would be great maybe we could have people go to there houses in the middle of the night and drag them off to a gullag. Damm tyrrany is so much easier then freedom.
ACORN defenders- feel the hate!
Daffyhoff, you are a peach.
Seeing how you seem to be an expert on all things Israel, is there any evidence that there is Jewish connection with the Louisiana Purchase.
Journalist?
Son you give journalists a bad name!
It's disgusting to see all of these knuckle draggers applauding a felony. You’re going to jail creep!
James, in the future perhaps you might want to consult some of your more mature and professional acquaintances before embarking on your "journalistic crusades." This was obviously not well thought through. That said, when I first heard about it, I knew there had to be more to the story, and I looked forward to hearing your side. I also hope that the charges against you and your friends are dropped. You did great work on the ACORN tapes. I still cannot believe that the ACORN workers were so stupid that they didn't laugh you and your ridiculous pimp costume right out of their offices!!! I don't know what's worse: The advice they gave you on how to game the system, even while breaking the law, or the abject stupidity of the people that ACORN employs to give that advice.
"all the lines you have crossed"
Liberal's aren't just evil, they're stupid too, as "D Segretti" proves.
BTW, what problem do you have with crippling the ACORN criminal racket?
gmh6419 … you big dumb dumb… charged isn't the same as convicted…
Mr. O'Keefe:
Once again the mainstream media has proven themselves to be unworthy of any recognition and their credibility continues to diminish by the hour. Your investigative reporting has brought the pests into the light in their woefully unsuccessful attempt to shut you down. The rotten bastards, including the unimpressive David Schuster, have signed onto the ship of Obama, and for them, there is no turning back.
The bottom line is this: you were doing the job THEY were supposed to be doing, and that is protecting this country by exposing corruption and fraud of an truly evil organization that has no intention of doing any good at all.
The time will come for them to vacate. The time will come.
Hail James O'Keefe!
Mike Wallace is respected? I never knew! I remember the 60 minutes gang visiting our set once while we were filming a beer commercial. Mr. Wallace was just walking around the stage talking to the crew. Friendly like, you know, just between you & him. Wink wink, nudge nudge. Oh, what's this? A microphone on a 10 foot pole is following him around secretly recording the conversations. What a surprise! This was way back before there were such things as hidden microphones and recording laws though so no harm, no foul. Mike Wallace is not respected as far as I'm concerned. Cut back on the prozac & coffee.
Good work James…keep it up, you have exposed the Moran Media to ricjly deserved ridicule. Rember the Moran Media and their gotcha crap on 60 Minutes, the exploding gas tank, the Corvair….etc and who can forget all that Moran Media great Dan Rather expose on the ANG reports.
Tell it to the judge jimbo. Let's see if he is as understanding as the partisans on this blog who believe any right wing dirty trick is legal if it promotes their political agenda.
What were you planning to report if you got into the senator's office and found nothing but hard working, dedicated public servants working for their constituents? Probably just edit all that stuff out like you did with ACORN. Then when you finally do find some knucklehead to say something stupid you show up on f o x news to report the "corruption".
That's not reporting jimmy, that dishonesty. You are bottom feeding dirty trickster… thankfully you are also incompetent. I hope you are convicted of a felony and prevented from even voting in the future. You are part of what has gone so terribly wrong with our politics and we need to make an example of you. Just like a Benedict Arnold is a euphemism for traitor, an "O'Keefe" will forever represent political dirty tricks.
I was almost positive there was much more to the story. Good luck, James. I have admired your work.
When you say massive fraud and corruption at ACORN, you must also be aware that ACORN's entire budget is less than one, one-hundredth the ten billion dollars that several independent investigations have determined that Halliburton and KBR defrauded US taxpayers during the Iraq War. And, at least 18 US soldiers died from electrocution in showers due to KBR's shoddy workmanship. I guess your priorities are pretty obvious.
Actions vs intent? No matter what you say your wishes were, still seem to have broken at least two laws.
I have to wonder what some of the folks here would be saying if someone, of any race, creed, color et al, did the very same thing and was found to have some sort of N/B/C device on them. Or just a plain jane bomb.
Yes, this is "The peoples" office (perhaps in a very general way). It is also a Federal office within a Federal building.
As this group not only went into the office but tried to get into building's support facilities.
Does anyone here remember OK bombing or the first WTC bombing?
Geez, not the smartest way to go about this: You commit multiple crimes in relation to a sitting US Senator and then try to spin it as though other news outlets don't have any integrity. Have fun in prison James.
Andrew,
The poster you are referencing to has contributed very little to intelligent discussion, if anything at all…
I am all for open dialog…freedom has to apply equally to all, or it isn't freedom…and as trite and mentally bereft this dingaling is, how anti-Semitic his dialog, I (with teeth clenched), support his freedom to speak and inform people worldwide how much of a dingaling anti-Semite moonbat he is…
Thanks much, Andrew…
"reporters who can’t get their facts straight"… this is WAY too charitable.
gmh:
Hasn't been a good couple of weeks has it?
Keep it up James… good work..
OH… No I get it… this doofus is a truther.
It all makes sense now.
Not worthy of comment, just a reduction of your points.
[...] His full statement after the jump. [...]
Landrieu's office appears to have acted in nefarious ways since at least Thanksgiving. Believe it or not, her lack of "customer service" has caused other legislators to have to divert their attentions to taking widespread customer dissatisfaction throughout Louisiana.
Landrieu does not represent Louisiana, maybe the Louisiana's share of moochers, but not Louisiana.
One if by land, two if my sea…. fight the good fight!
Reference upthread reply to Andrew Breitbart:
"I am all for open dialog…freedom has to apply equally to all, or it isn't freedom…and as trite and mentally bereft this dingaling is, how anti-Semitic his dialog, I (with teeth clenched), support his freedom to speak and inform people worldwide how much of a dingaling anti-Semite moonbat he is… "
I'm glad to see that you thought of the complete obvious. LOL.
Why don't you, Mr. O'Keefe, post the unedited version of the ACORN tapes. After all, the truth shall set you free, right?
Not to mention, who is Carl Rove?
You are a courageous young man…God speed
One more thing: You are calling for the release of the tapes — yet you refuse to release the unedited ACORN tapes. Perhaps we should ask Alanis Morissette to define "irony" for us.
What do those tapes hide, James? Andrew? How can you dare ask that unedited tapes be released when you won't do the same with all of your ACORN tapes?
Did you notice in the affidavit that two of the people tried calling the office standing right there IN the office? They got no answer.
Have you ever notice the libs always go to gang rape as there choice of persecution. Kind of reminds you of Sadam and Pol Pot doesn't it?
Now I know you are pulling our leg.
That is a relief, for a moment there I was beginning to think you were related to Ms. Redgrave.
Thanks for the hard work the MSM won't do. Good luck!
Umm ..maybe she meant the phones were jammed, as in all the lines were busy because so many people were trying to get through?? Since when does "jammed" automatically translate to broken?" Didn't they teach you to reason at Rutgers?
And as far as losing your credibility is concerned, don't worry. You never had any to begin with.
Dude,
It was not just the New Orleans office but also her Shreveport, Baton Rouge and DC offices that were not taking calls! It is obvious that more than 2 or 3 lines were "fixed" not to take calls.
I smell a James Carville in the background.
I agree, how hard would it have been to just sit there and record the staff answering or not answering the phone? Come on James, her vote was weeks ago as well. If there was a furor over the vote it must have died down some by now. If anything you were late to the party. You dropped the ball on this one.
Whoah, dude…!
Decaf. Seriously…
Mr. O'Keefe's statement does not touch on why it required three of them in Sen. Landreau's office – and according to the FBI affadavit, two of them dressed as, and representing themselves as, telephone repairmen, requesting access to the telecom closet on the floor Sen. Landreau's office is on – nor the presence of the fourth individual outside waiting in a car, with (according to one source, not the FBI affadavit) a "listening device".
If Mr. O'Keefe's intention was to simply record video/audio of phones ringing and not being answered, he or any single individual could have easily done that with a video-capable cellphone, sitting quietly in the office waiting area.
Eric Holder in charge of Justice
Are you kidding?
I'm afraid, this very fine investigative reporter is looking at some hard time until a president with some balls pardons him.
there's nothing courageous about him. He's a weaseling liar.
That is BRILLIANT analysis…
A +1 to you…!
exactly
Our prayers are with you, James, be careful, the people against you are not playing fair, they will hang you out by your ears if given a chance, as you have seen from the biased press. You are a real patriot!
It might cost him his only opportunities for successful employment…
Mary is sooooo cute. Just like a two week old piglet
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