O'Keefe: 'I'd do it again'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/01/art.okeefe.gi.jpg caption="James O'Keefe said Tuesday that he doesn't regret his attempt to tamper with Sen. Mary Landrieu's phone system."](CNN) – The conservative videographer who plead guilty to entering federal property under false pretenses following an attempt to access Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phone system says that if given the chance, he'd do it again.
"I'd do it again, I might do it differently," James O'Keefe told ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday.
"I don't regret what I did," O'Keefe said before adding, "Senators are corrupt, politicians are corrupt. These people have to be investigated."
When asked by Stephanopoulos if he would intentionally break the law again, O'Keefe indicated he would alter his methods.
"I might do it a little differently," O'Keefe said.
O'Keefe is one of four men arrested in January. Two of the group posed as telephone repair workers to get into Landrieu's office while O'Keefe secretly videotaped the incident.
Throughout the interview, O'Keefe defends his methods, saying, "This is not a left or right thing. This is about exposing corruption."
O'Keefe is best known for the films in which he dressed as a pimp and visited the offices of ACORN, which bills itself as an advocacy group for low- and middle-income families, to solicit advice on setting up a brothel, among other scenarios.
He secretly recorded the visits on videotapes that were posted on the Internet, leading to a media firestorm. ACORN announced in March it was shutting down due to a loss of funding.
Editor’s note: The original story has been updated to reflect new language in the first sentence. The words “tamper with” have been struck and replaced with “access” to accurately describe James O’Keefe’s plea bargain. The new sentence now reads: (CNN) – The conservative videographer who plead guilty to entering federal property under false pretenses following an attempt to access Sen. Mary Landrieu's office phone system says that if given the chance, he'd do it again.
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The kid is dishonest and he has the nerve to talk about corruption? Please. He should be in jail and if it werent for daddy he would be.
An extreme right wingnut uses fraud and deception to entrap left wing organizations and insinuate his way into a Senator's office to tap her phones, then claims this isn't "a left or right thing?" He must think everyone is a stupid as he is. It's unfortunate that all he got for his charades was a slap on the wrist. A little jail time might have helped him adjust his attitude.
And by the way, George S., do you really have nothing better to do than to give this guy a soap box to stand on? I mean, really, is there no one else worth interviewing?
I guess the means really do justify the ends. The new neo-con mantra?
Except he didn't dress as a pimp when he went into the Acorn offices. He was dressed normally. Not that it makes the actions of a few employees ok, but it wasn't as outrageous as people think. He didn't show up with a felt hat and sunglasses.
OK wako, next time to it to a republican.
Fair is fair............
I'm waiting..............
oh great...These junior republicans are learning from the worst of them!!!!!!
He looks like one of the porch people from Deliverance. Lies, fear, and hate...a perfect Republican
CNN forgot to mention that it was determined that this piece of dreck's ACORN tapes were altered and bogus. I hope he goes to federal prison and he gets what he deserves.
Who would trust the words of this criminal?
His crimes are politically motivated, fundamentally similar to Watergate (or an attempt to create a new Watergate).
His ravings are nonsensical.
This is about lying to make some news. This is about setting people up to attempt to embarrass them for political purposes. This is about terrible journalism. There is nothing interesting in these people's reports whatsoever.
Gee wiz – I cant think of a better way to investigate corrupt government and protest things like illegal wiretaps with...an illegal wiretap. Not left or right? – I am sure the amazing evidence he would have reported would have been just as neutral as his altered ACORN video. Sorry bud – you already ruined your credibility with that fraudulent video. Too bad too – someone with this determination could have done some good, but now his integrity will always be in question.
If this isn't a right-left thing, then I look forward to similar underhanded tactics being used against some of the transparently crooked Republicans out there. Citizen muckraking, I applaud. Faking Democratic controversy to cover for slime on the right is hypocritical trash.
Put your money where your mouth is, O'Keefe.
This con is lucky he didn't get jail time. O'Keefe is a right wing political operative who has no problem breaking the law to try and obtain a "scoop", whether it be truthful or otherwise. The fact that he stated "Its not a right or left thing" tells you everything you need to know about this self-righteous clown.....
Hmmm, so he hears a (liberal) senator's office is so busy that constituents can't get through, his answer, to clog the office so constituents can't get through. Rotten technique for "investigation" – – try NOT to create the problem you claim already exists. He's merely creating problems so he can show they exist. The only "pimp" ACORN helped was him.
If I was the judge in this case, I'd revisit this guy's sentence.
Throughout the interview, O'Keefe defends his methods, saying, "This is not a left or right thing. This is about exposing corruption."
So where was this guy when Bush and Cheney and the right lied us into the Iraq war, nearly collapsed the American economy, gutted the regulations on such thing as OIL RIGS because they said corporations would police themselves, etc etc etc?
Yeah, so far junior it's apparent it's a Left thing for you!
No excuse to have no respect for the law. He knows what the consequences are, so he needs to suck it up and be a big boy now. Ten years in the slammer will give him plenty of time to think about how he'd go about doing it next time.
Mr. O'Keefe, the Attorney General of California has exposed YOUR corruption. Your ACORN videos where complete frauds – edited to intentionally mislead. You are a disgrace!
As a Democrat my typical knee jerk reaction is to protect the members of my party. With Senator Landrieu, I think a good guess is that this young man is correct, she is corrupt. He is also correct saying that corruption is not right or left, liberal or conservative, corruption is corruption.