Lawyer: Phone scheme meant to embarrass senator

[sabra]

Source: AP

NEW ORLEANS — Four young conservative activists hoped to record embarrassing hidden camera footage to document allegations her staff was ignoring calls critical of her stance on health care reform, an attorney for one of the men said Thursday.

Attorney J. Garrison Jordan denied the four men were trying to disable or wiretap the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office at a federal building in New Orleans.

"You’re dealing with kids," he said. "I don’t think they thought it through that far."

Instead, Jordan said, they hoped to get embarrassing video footage of her staff handling constituent calls.

...

Jordan said his client, Robert Flanagan, the 24-year-old son of a federal prosecutor in Louisiana, did not intend to break the law when he entered the office posing as a telephone worker Monday.

No matter their intentions, the four face the serious charge of entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which carries up to 10 years in prison. They are free on $10,000 bail.

Read more: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view/20100128lawyer_phone_scheme_meant_to_embarrass_senator/srvc=home&position=recent

[Robb]

1. 24 year old kids?

Give me a break. There are 24 year-olds with three Iraq tours. :eyes:

[RedCloud]

19. What about teenage detainees at GITMO?

[movonne]

27. If they want to play big they also fall big....

[jgraz]

34. Imagine 24-year-old black arrestees being referred to as "kids".

Hell, even at 14, they're still invariably referred to as "criminals" or "felons".

[Wizard777]

41. When they are old enough to legally buy liquor you can't call them kids any more.

Even if you can't trust them to dress themselves with outlooking "outlandish". That just means they are special needs ADULTS. Their Mommies and Daddies shouldn't be letting them run all over the country playing spy.

[splatshot]

44. I sure as hell can't trust 'em...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMwhl4IrPNc

[Frank Cannon]

57. For Republicans, childhood lasts until about 50

Remember Bush's "youthful indiscretion" DWIs that he got well into his thirties?

[seeinfweggos]

62. precisely what I was thinking. nt

[MotorCityMan]

66. And Henry Hyde's "youthful indiscrretions"?

During the Clinton impeachment farce, Hyde's own affair was dismissed as a "youthful indiscretion, and I believe he was in his 40's.

[Frank Cannon]

67. Ah, yes. I believe it was ol' Henry who actually coined the term.

Kind of hard to keep track, given that a million Republicans have used the excuse since then.

[wordpix]

60. and i'm a kid in my 50's, too

:crazy:

[Solly Mack]

2. "did not intend to break the law "

Snort

[Downwinder]

14. Putting on a costume to go into the Federal Building.

"I'm just going down to show my Dad."

"I didn't get a phone job. I'm just an extra for this video gig."

[RC]

31. code for didn't intend to get caught.

[No Elephants]

40. More like thought he was entitled to break the law. Just like the doctor killer.

Breaking laws to impose Republican "values" on the nation is always justifiable. Just ask any President or legislator or judge who's done it.

Talk about a slippery slope. These guys are on Mt. Everest--before global warming melted most of the ice.

[Beaverhausen]

3. I have made plenty of calls to my senators and got the "mailbox is full" message

this is a bunch of bullshit.

[wordpix]

61. me, too---Lieberman's offices are a prime example

OTOH, lots of people from around the country, not just constituents, call his offices so we can't really blame his staffers when the mailbox is full. :eyes:

[truthisfreedom]

4. "You're dealing with kids." bush set the precedent for this one... his drinking until 40 was, in

his own words, "youthful indiscretion."

[mwb970]

30. I thought that was Rep. Henry Hyde's affair.

(He was also in his 40s.)

[louis-t]

5. I see, they're "kids" now. But one of them ran somebody's

campaign, didn't he? Poor, innocent young republicans.

[sabra]

7. and another "kid" took down ACORN - and is a celebrity on Faux News

[tanyev]

6. How'd that work out?

:D

[fascisthunter]

8. Still a Federal Offense

And I don't buy their story one bit...

[sandnsea]

9. But 15 yr olds with no advantages

who sell drugs or steal a car, well they're adults who need to be sent away for 20 years.

Republican Values.

[awnobles]

10. Kids on the CIA payroll

Watch them sweep this under the rug via deafening silence.

[boppers]

13. CIA payroll? Huh?

CIA doesn't tap phones in the freaking building. Nobody with any sort of clue (and authority) does, actually... that's pure Hollywood.

[M155Y_A1CH]

46. It can go quite high up

Remember Watergate?
I'm not saying this is the CIA. Not saying it's not either.
:evilgrin:

[boppers]

56. CREEP was CIA related, not a CIA op, and used ancient technology (relatively).

If these morons were sent in by the CIA, it was to mock and insult them.

[seeinfweggos]

63. is the shiny part on the outside or the inside?

of your hat that is.

[seeinfweggos]

65. the cia wouldn't have to get in the building to listen in. nt

[bluestateguy]

11. "kids" (at 24-25)

Just another example of an American culture that has been extending adolescence well into the 20's, or even the early 30's.

[Quantess]

18. Not really. Disadvantaged juveniles are increasingly being tried as adults.

Obviously, justice is unequal depending on your societal background.

[Auggie]

12. What a load of crap

[frazzled]

15. How could you prove her staff was "ignoring calls" if you didn't monitor those calls?

The lawyer seems to be as much as admitting they had the intent to tamper with/bug/monitor the staff's phone calls.

Besides, what would be embarrassing about this. I wish I had a nickel for every time my phone calls to senators or representatives were ignored. Heck, I had Sen. Kerry's staff hang up on me mid-sentence in 2002 when I called to ask him to vote against the Iraq War Reso .......

[DemoTex]

16. Oh, those krazy GOP kids and their merry pranks (remember the Miami Riot Squad?)!

No. 1. Tom Pyle, who had worked for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), went private sector a few months later, getting a job as director of federal affairs for Koch Industries.

No. 7. Roger Morse, another House aide, moved on to the law and lobbying firm Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds. "I was also privileged to lead a team of Republicans to Florida to help in the recount fight," he told a legal trade magazine in a 2003 interview.

No. 8. Duane Gibson, an aide on the House Resources Committee, was a solo lobbyist and formerly with the Greenberg Traurig lobby operation. He is now with the Livingston Group as a consultant.

No. 9. Chuck Royal was and still is a legislative assistant to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a former House member.

No. 10. Layna McConkey Peltier, who had been a Senate and House aide and was at Steelman Health Strategies during the effort, is now at Capital Health Group.

(We couldn't find No. 4, Kevin Smith, a former GOP House aide who later worked with Voter.com, or No. 5, Steven Brophy, a former GOP Senate aide and then at consulting firm KPMG. If you know what they are doing these days, please e-mail [e-mail] we can update our records.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31074-2005Jan23.html

[mopinko]

26. the koch brothers should be tried for treason

dreaming i know, but their money is behind many attempts to overthrow the very concept of american democracy.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

59. that's the ticket.

They are always koching up trouble.

Funny, their version of democracy involves only their opinions, even if a majority disagrees. "I am right, and everyone else I will fuck over."

[Jefferson23]

17. Yea, kids who are determined to break the law for their cause.

We prosecute children under 16 as adults, so FUCK off buddy with the kid label.

[struggle4progress]

20. ... "Flanagan and Basel next requested access to the telephone closet because they needed to perform

"Flanagan and Basel next requested access to the telephone closet because they needed to perform work on the main telephone system," Letten's office said. The men were directed to another office in the building ... http://rawstory.com/2010/01/acorn-pimp-charged-wiretap-louisiana-senator/

Perhaps they thought Landrieu's staff was hiding in the GSA telephone closet? :rofl:

[fishwax]

21. 24-year-olds aren't kids

:eyes:

[azureblue]

22. They can say anything they want to

but the fact is, 24 years old is not a kid, they did in fact break at least three federal laws, and they can also be charged with spying on a US Congressperson. They tried to access the phone equipment of a US Congressperson who handles classified information, necessary for national security. This is attempted espionage. Apparently, another member of the crew was caught outside in a car with a wireless receiver.

[jmowreader]

69. Did Obama reinstate all Congresspeople's clearances?

During the Bush Administration he stripped the clearances of all but eight Members of Congress:

Speaker of the House and House Minority Leader
Senate Majority and Minority Leaders
House and Senate Intelligence Committee ranking members from both parties

Other than those eight people, no MOC has a clearance anymore or at least did not when Bush left the White House.

[Daphne08]

23. Kids? Kids? That's an insult to my father who fought in

the Pacific during WWII when he was 19 to 21 years old.

It's an insult to friends who fought in Vietnam at 20 and 21 years old.

It's an insult to our young soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan right now.

It's an insult to both my sons who worked their way through college before they were 24 years old!

Attorney J. Garrison Jordan should be ashamed of himself.

[shadowknows69]

24. I dare this lawyer to tell an 18 year old combat vet he's a kid.

[NorthCarolina]

25. Messing with the Phones "to embarrass her"? That is the lamest BS I have ever heard

Embarrass her via a commonplace utility malfunction? Really? That's the best they can come up with? Incredibly naive. How about wiretapping in the hopes of getting some recorded "dirt"? Now that I can believe, but this lame excuse they have proffered? No way.

[thecrow]

42. It's the Republican way...

It's the victim's fault, you see...
If only she was answering her phones the way they wanted her to do, they wouldn't have been FORCED to
tamper with her phones. It's ALL HER FAULT, and hey! they're only KIDS!!

Effing Republicans.... they do it every time. They think their excrement don't stink.

This lawyer sounds like a real hack, too.
I loved Landrieu's reply.."Lawyers jobs are to spin for their clients. Good luck with that."

:rofl:

[boppers]

28. Taping phone calls.... is the defense?

Did the *lawyer* think his defense through that far?

"They weren't trying to tap phones, they were trying to record people on the phone..."

*snort*

[theothersnippywshrub]

29. Awww . . . isn't that cute. Each of the teabuggers has the intellectual capacity of a small child.

Does this lawyer want his client tried in juvenile court?

[hay rick]

32. Putting the boy in "boys will be boys."

Just a childish prank- the MSM has their official marching orders. Let's compare the depth and breadth of coverage of this incident vs. say, John Edwards' separation.

CNN.com already does not show any mention or link to this story- on the front page or in any of the links under Politics, U. S., or News Pulse. You have to use their search option to find their 2-day-old story.

[KansDem]

54. "boys will be boys"

Iraq war detainees abused and tortured at GitMo = "boys will be boys," frat pranks, "blowing off steam..."
Four undercover conservatives caught tapping a US Senator's phone = "boys will be boys," pranks...

I think I see a pattern emerging here...

[GinaMaria]

33. This sounds incredibly desperate

either that or they don't teach Watergate in schools any more :shrug:

[KT2000]

35. Try them as adults!

I know this is a radical idea but these college graduate "kids" need to learn a lesson.

[glinda]

36. liar. meant to do something bigger. Just look at situation with Acorn.

[AKing]

37. Typical Wingnuttia speak...AKA "Youthful Indiscretions"

[Skip Intro]

38. Kids my ass. And why the need for a remote "listening device" if wire tapping was not involved?

I hope the judge in this case isn't influence by bs pr by these twenty-something kids' lawyers...

[No Elephants]

39. We let 18 year olds enlist in the military--younger if their parents ok it--and some die

or get disabled for the rest of their lives.

So I guess we should raise the age to, what, 30? 40? 50?

Why do we let 18 year olds even vote, if they have no capacity for decision-making?

Come on, you RW fuckers, be consistent for once. It won't kill you. I promise.

[never cry wolf]

43. I believe they did not intend to wiretap

I believe that they entered a federal facility under false pretenses in order to entrap federal employees into an embarrassing situation for the purpose of affecting a statewide election for federal office.

[Frank Cannon]

58. I believe they did not intend to get caught n/t

[M155Y_A1CH]

45. Someone was embarrassed...

:rofl:

[Matariki]

47. 24 year old "kids" with ties to the CIA

[tonekat]

48. They're not frickin' kids!

What a blatant spin! They're in they're mid-twenties! Some of them have had management titles. Kids my butt.

[Neurotica]

49. The Washington Post is now calling it a "caper"...!

Current title of article: "Conservative activist admits to role in video caper in Sen. Landrieu's office"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012900607.html?hpid=topnews

Where are the WaPo editors?!

[UpInArms]

50. Kids??????? 13-Year Old Girl To Be Tried As An Adult For Murder

http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-keaire-brown-trial-story-42809,0,7157236.story

Keaire Brown is suspected of shooting Scott Sappington Jr. in the head at point-blank range in an attempted carjacking last July 23 as he drove away from dropping off his younger siblings at his grandmother's house. He was on his way to work when he was shot to death in the suspected carjacking attempt.

Scott Sappington Sr. said when he found out the person accused of killing his son was a 13-year-old girl, he couldn't believe it.

This is bullshit - they are not "kids".

It's a FELONY!! Throw 'em in the jail on 10-count thread sheets.

[protect our future]

51. Here's what smells funny to me.

This Senator, along with other Democratic Senators who have been sort of "straddling the fence" about health care reform, are not just getting calls from their own "constituents." Constituents? These calls are coming in from probably every state in the union. Teabaggers and other organized Republican groups advocating against HCR, groups on the other side advocating for.

Now that's a lot of people. Some of them calling from other states will admit it, other people will insist that yes, they OF COURSE live in Louisiana! Constituents? Uh huh.

No wonder callers cannot get through, if the phone lines are truly swamped. No wonder an inbox is constantly full. Other elected officials are experiencing the same thing.

I haven't heart the media say anything about this.

And these "kids" and their "prank"? They must have known that other Senators have swamped phones and full inboxes, and that it's a common occurrence due to an onslaught of so-called constituents calling in from other states, and that it's not just Senator Landrieu. I have to believe they knew about this.

Something's rotten here.

[KansDem]

53. "Something's rotten here."

I agree. This was no "prank." And I'm offended that the media would describe this escapade as four "conservative activists" hoping to get embarrassing calls involving the Democratic Senator. "Embarrassing calls?" With a camera? The camera would have had to been mounted in such a way as to continually record a certain phone. And no one on the Senator's staff would have noticed the camera? Was one of these "conservative activists" prepared to monitor the camera 24/7 to get embarrassing calls? And what constituted an "embarrassing call?"

I don't believe this for a instant. They were up to something seriously nefarious and we need to learn the truth!

[LibertyLover]

52. Kids? Really - kids?

Ah, more of the wonderful Republican "youthful indiscretions" bullshit. Sorry buddy, but 24 and 25 is way past "kid" stage. Even for young, conservative Republicans. Kids? - I don't think so and sure as hell hope that the judge and jury don't either

[yellowcanine]

55. So how does getting into the telephone closet help them do that without wiretapping?

Besides, O Pimp contradicts him. He says they were just trying to find out if the phones were working.

[seeinfweggos]

64. find out if the phones are working, huh? did he try just calling?

[DainBramaged]

68. The fucking bullshit begins............

lawyer talk, ask a Repuke if this isn't a case of unnecessary lawyering that needs to be fixed by bullshit reform.....

[Autumn]

70. Kids my fucking ass,

they are criminals. Plain and simple.

[fascisthunter]

71. me thinks some very powerful people supported these (lol) "kids"