ACORN Sting Videographer, James O'Keefe, has been accused of Dishonest Editing in the Past.

[Emit]

A Political Gadfly Lampoons the Left via YouTube

~snip~

Three years ago, Mr. O’Keefe said, he read “Rules for Radicals” by the left-wing icon Saul Alinsky, the Bible for many community organizers, including those at Acorn, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. He absorbed in particular Rule 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”

With the Lucky Charms affair, for instance: “It’s a no-win situation for them,” Mr. O’Keefe said. “If they say yes, then they’re ridiculous — they’ve gone off the deep end. And if they say no, then they’re being racist, they’re hurting Irish-Americans.”

Gregory Walker Levitsky, a friend at Rutgers, said “what disturbed James as a student was the double standard applied to conservative groups and conservative causes.”


“He likes making waves,” Mr. Levitsky added. “But the hidden camera simply shows the truth.”

Not everyone among Mr. O’Keefe’s acquaintances agrees. Liz Farkas, a Rutgers student who called Mr. O’Keefe “a nice guy and a loyal friend,” said she grew disillusioned after he asked her to help edit the script of a Planned Parenthood sting.

“It was snippets to make the Planned Parenthood nurse look bad,” Ms. Farkas said. “I said: ‘It has no context. You’re just cherry-picking the nurse’s answers.’ He said, ‘Okay’ — and then he just ran it.”

Asked whether the left-leaning documentaries of Michael Moore do not do the same, Ms. Farkas said: “Michael Moore goes after the rich and powerful. James isn’t doing that. He goes after low-level bureaucrats and people who are trying to help low-income people.”

The son of a materials engineer and a physical therapist, Mr. O’Keefe grew up in Westwood, N.J., becoming an Eagle Scout and starring his senior year in high school in the musical “Crazy for You.” As a philosophy major at Rutgers, he founded a conservative monthly, The Centurion, that featured the Lucky Charms story and other efforts to expose what he saw as liberal absurdity or hypocrisy.

After graduating from Rutgers in 2006, he spent a year working for the Leadership Institute, a group based outside Washington that trains young conservatives on college campuses. Mr. O’Keefe was “very effective and very enthusiastic,” said Morton Blackwell, the institute’s founder.

But Mr. Blackwell said Mr. O’Keefe was asked to leave because officials felt his video work might violate Internal Revenue Service rules barring nonprofit groups from trying to influence legislation.

~snip~

http://www.ocala.com/article/20090919/ZNYT02/909193018?...

On edit, for reference see mzmolly's parent thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[drm604]

1. K&R

Very important info.

[HughMoran]

2. kick his ass

simple solution

[drm604]

3. I think he my be getting a legal ass kicking. n/t

[merh]

9. If he has edited the videos as is suspected

then he and FOX better get ready to sign over a boat load of money to the Acorn and the employees and former employees of Acorn (those that have lost their jobs and been harmed by his dishonest creativity).

Plunging him into bankruptcy and into a financial state where organizations like Acorn is his only hope would be poetic justice.

Of course, if he is committing a huge fraud and violated laws while making his videos, I hope he is held accountable.

[MattBaggins]

20. Seabass.................nt

[Parker CA]

35. HAHHA, well played. Classic movie. nt.

[seabeyond]

4. i say hire a prostitute to go to all the family value congress, and video. nt

[Emit]

5. lol!

Do we have any volunteers? Anybody?

[merh]

10. All they have to do is go to "C street"

[Dogmudgeon]

6. The Acorn thing is going to go away ... fast

The Republicans can't afford for the idea of looking into the behavior of publicly-funded private organizations to get any traction.

Nine days, then oblivion, like the traditional news cycle.

They got what they wanted -- news of their multiple crackups to be submerged. If there are any crackups this coming week, another Worst Scandal Ever will be drawn out of the GOP Trick Bag.

--d!

[drm604]

11. I think it needs to be kept alive in the sense of a thorough investigation of these tapes.

It's necessary in order to rehabilitate the reputation of ACORN as well as the employees that have been smeared. It's also necessary because we NEED to show that these kinds of smears will not work and will not be tolerated.

If O'Keefe et al broke any laws then they should be prosecuted.

If innocent people have lost their livelihoods and reputations due to misrepresentation then they should be suing. If organizations like the Leadership Institute and Freedomworks are involved (which hasn't been proven) then they should be included in the lawsuits. Maybe even Faux News could be included. Hell, maybe some of the idiot trolls on this board trying to convince us all to abandon ACORN could be included. I'm not a lawyer so I really can't say.

This has to be pursued. People have to learn that if they fuck with innocent people and smear good organizations then they will pay for it.

[krkaufman]

67. Is there any reporting, anywhere, that the tapes are considered faked ...

... or heavily edited to alter the context? (Not defending; just want to learn more.)

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

7. This has the potential to do to the Right what the TANG documents did to Dan Rather. nt

[Octafish]

8. Bingo! Hammer Time!

[FarCenter]

12. If they sue in Maryland, can't they compel release of entire, uneditied video through discovery?

In Maryland, consent of both parties is required for taping of a conversation.

If the Baltimore ACORN workers were not informed that they were being taped, the taping was illegal.

If ACORN brings suit, they should be able to use the legal discovery process to get the entire, uneditied original video shot by the perps.

If it is not turned over, it should be "destruction of evidence".

[drm604]

15. I could be mistaken

but I believe that the injured parties are the employees, so they would be the ones to bring suit, rather than ACORN itself. Although I could be mistaken.

[Sanity Claws]

16. Acorn's reputation has been hit

I don't recall the result of the vote, but there was a Congressional bill to cut off funding to them.

[drm604]

19. I think that it needs to be more than reputation,

but the Congressional funding cutoff is a good point. ACORN has suffered material damage, so maybe they can sue.

[The Magistrate]

17. Suits By the Individuals, Sir, Would Be the Best Course

Mr. Vera has certainly been slandered by the provocateurs, and any evidence of their tampering with the presentation would establish malice so solidly as to warrant very high punitive damages.

[Beaverhausen]

18. Is this the kind of case the SPLC would take on?

[drm604]

22. I'm not sure.

Don't they usually take on racial violence? There was no actual physical violence here although there may have been undeserved damage done to people's lives and livelihoods.

It would be interesting wouldn't it? SPLC in the past has successfully gotten supremacist groups' assets rewarded to the groups' victims or the victims families.

Wouldn't if be something to see ACORN or the employees involved win possession of the resources of organizations like the Leadership Institute and Freedomworks (if either was involved). I don't see that happening but it would be very satisfying wouldn't it?

[Beaverhausen]

24. sure would. Here is another group that might help but they are in Los Angeles

I took a friend here recently for free legal advice because her employer is screwing her out of some pay.

They have good lawyers who do pro bono work.

http://www.bettzedek.org/index.html

In the "new" section it talks about some work they did in San Diego.

[mzmolly]

28. It's a shame no one here has contact

with any of the fired employees. I'd sure like to find a way to reach out.

[drm604]

44. Since you are familiar with their LA office,

maybe you could ask them if they have a San Diego office and, if they don't, could they recommend a similar organization in San Diego.

[mzmolly]

27. I think it's worth a try?

Hmmmm...

[Beaverhausen]

32. in the other thread I suggested Gloria Allred

if you plan to put together info to send out, I would try to include her. This is the kind of thing that is right up her alley.

[mzmolly]

33. Great idea. Though I have no idea how to contact the victim.

I will include her in any future correspondence, however.

[Beaverhausen]

49. If she wanted to take the case, she can find the victim, I'm sure

[Occulus]

59. Then let the individuals go after him and let ACORN go after FOX. n/t

[dmr]

46. Since they were employees of ACORN, then wasn't ACORN's

rights also violated?

I want these people fully investigated and under OATH!

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

29. Of course ACORN would have to open up for discovery also.

[mzmolly]

34. I doubt they have much to fear?

One would think that donors privacy would be protected, regardless.

[DissedByBush]

53. We'll see what happens

ACORN has already threatened to sue and has said the videos are dishonest.

If they don't sue that probably means an internal investigation showed the tapes were correct, or as you said, they won't want to be open to discovery which also looks bad.

ACORN has been painted into a corner on this one. Someone much smarter than I will be needed to clean up the mess these videos created.

[sabrina 1]

58. Well, so far, it's looking good for ACORN on the discovery

end. It looks like they now have two police reports about these lying rightwing Karl Rove thugs. So, they lied.

Mr. crack journalist O'Keefe appears to have a lot to hide. His website has been scrubbed and he's already being asked even by rightwingers to exlain the time-stamps on his videos. I can see why he scrubbed his website, from the little that has been published.

I'd say he would be the one to fear discovery, and whoever funded his little Rovian stunt. Each day, it looks less and less like he would want to be dragged into court and placed under oath. You can get away with lying on Fox News, but not in court.

No wonder he's in hiding. But hide he should not be allowed to do. There are many questions he needs to answer and I'm all for someone like Michael Moore, eg following him around with a video camera asking him some of those questions. It would help in any up-coming court cases also.

[drm604]

71. I hope that you're right. n/t

[iceman66]

45. The video hasn't been offered up as evidence in any court,

except the court of public opinion.

Also, the videographers, unlike law enforcement officials, are under no obligation to preserve evidence or maintain a chain of custody.

Under the circumstances, they most likely have already erased any footage that does not support their skewed version of events.

I'd be especially curious to see the footage from the Acorn offices where they were kicked out, but suspect it will never see the light of day.

[sabrina 1]

77. I'm sure it's been scrubbed. His website has been scrubbed

and from what little has been retrieved, this is one racist POS.

[TheeHazelnut]

48. I don't have a lot of faith in the Baltimore legal system...

...after watching "The Wire!"

[JDPriestly]

52. They should be able to get the tapes in discovery. That was my first thought.

[drm604]

72. That's if the originals still exist.

They may have been wiped already.

[mzmolly]

13. I believe both Liz Farkas and Juan Vera!

K and R.

[Beaverhausen]

14. K&R

Great info.

[subcomhd]

21. This whole thing may be about to blow up in their faces. nt

[starroute]

23. Here's more about O'Keefe's antics in his college days

http://en.allexperts.com/e/r/ru/rutgers_centurion.htm

The Rutgers Centurion is a conservative magazine at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, founded in September of 2004 by James O'Keefe after he was fired from the Daily Targum. . . . The journal is renowned for its walk-in video reports. . . . The Centurion is a member of the Collegiate Network and works with the Leadership Institute's Campus Leadership Program. Although officially recognized by Rutgers, The Centurion incorporated as a New Jersey 501(c)(3) for liability and financial reasons, and maintains a board of directors.

The Centurion holds counterprotests, similar to protest warrior, and has held an affirmative action bake sale twice. It prints specific names and pictures of "liberal" students in its issues from Facebook and often blurs the line between opinion and satire in its prose. In a matter subject to privacy implications, the paper has printed names of students who have "liberal" adornments on their dormitory doors. . . .

In late July, former Editor in Chief and founder James O'Keefe along with board member David Maxham set out to have the American flag hung up in every classroom at Rutgers. After approaching several deans, including Co-Vice Chair Brian Rose, the boys were told such an act would be "problematic" and that hanging up the American flag would give argument to others who would intend to adorn classrooms with their own symbols. Unsatisfied with the response, the students created a video available on Video Google, which caught the attention of the Jersey Guys on 101.5 FM. . . .

The reaction of the student body to the magazine is mixed; some find it merely amusing, while others (including some conservatives) find it gratuitously offensive and an inaccurate representation of true conservative views. Other conservatives, however, feel that it is a refreshing change from the perceived liberal bias on campus.


On edit: After a little more googling, I'm not convinced O'Keefe was actually "fired" by the Daily Targum. That statement seems to come from O'Keefe himself -- other sources simply call him and his associates "drop-outs" from the Targum. And I couldn't find any contemporary reference to a firing, which you'd think would have been controversial enough to have attracted some attention at the time.

[Overseas]

25. K&R /eom

[Quantess]

26. “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”

Haha. The Right is far less capable of living up to their own rules.
James O'Keefe deserves to have his pet tactic turned on himself.

[Turborama]

30. K&R Re the Daily Kos Diary you mentioned in the other thread

Is there any way to get caches of those blog entries mentioned in it? Pretty damning stuff if we can get screenshots of the originals...




Thanks to you and mzmolly for all the excellent research you guys have been doing on this! I've been trying but have hit mostly dead ends lately.

[Emit]

31. I had accessed his blog earlier through the cached version here

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:xzCxt6d2SZQJ:liber...

But I can't get into any of the links

I'll keep trying

Who has access to those way back thingies I've read about here on DU - the way into scrubbed sites? I am clueless on these things.

[mzmolly]

37. He appears to have shut down his blog.

I too am clueless about accessing scrubbed websites.

[Emit]

38. Well, I found the way back machine, but I'm not having any luck here

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

[mzmolly]

39. Just tried it, no luck here either.

[Emit]

40. Looks like it's for links from 2005 and prior

O'Keefe's blog was from 2006

[mzmolly]

41. Ahhhhh, that explains it.

[mzmolly]

36. Love this quote

"In the current headline case, O'Keefe and his "whore" go to Acorn branches, asking for help financing a home. They video record (and later systematically edit) these conversations. In their ridiculous outfits, they imply that he's a pimp, the girl is a prostitute, and they need assistance in obtaining a house they can use as a brothel for a number of underage prostitutes from El Salvador. In the subsequent right-wing "news", the headline becomes that Acorn provides tax advice to a pimp. But what I saw when I watched the video was two over-privileged kids in silly costumes using a hidden camera to pick on people who frankly had no idea what was going on. When I watched the video, I wanted to know who was the little pimp who was making it his life's work to travel around the country with a scantily clad young lady in a crusade against community activism."

Exactly!

[Emit]

57. Here are some cached snippets,

In this diary I made over at Kos on the subject: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/20/784620/-OKeefe-...

Kossacker wanderindiana and others put a few out there - one is in the bottom of my diary, the others are around here: cache-mining for nuggets
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/20/784620/-OKeefe-...

I had tried to do that earlier and was having no luck. But, these guys/gals dug up some stuff - most of it just ramblings of O'Keefe's, but they captured the one I was looking for about LI funding his video monitor back in '06.

[Turborama]

63. Just had a look at the diary in full, great work and some very interesting responses

I've subscribed to it and will keep an eye out for any more updates. If I find anything more I might PM you as sometimes info can get buried in huge threads...

My username on Daily Kos is 'The Truth Will Out' (nothing to do with being a "troofer", I just came up with it while uncovering the true story behind another recent Faux News witch hunt): http://www.dailykos.com/user/The%20Truth%20Will%20Out

Thanks a lot for the shout out, btw. I feel truly honored.


Edited to fix typo.

[mzmolly]

42. Adding ~ He was accused by "a loyal friend" no less.

[blogslut]

43. Off Topic, sort of

Here's O'Keefe's Articles from Rutgers:

http://www.dailytargum.com/2.4988/screw-this-1.1515046
http://www.dailytargum.com/2.4988/casino-wall-street-1....
http://www.dailytargum.com/2.4988/the-conservative-mani...
http://www.dailytargum.com/2.4988/politically-correct-b...
http://www.dailytargum.com/2.4988/the-miracle-of-life-1...
http://www.dailytargum.com/2.4988/an-american-in-davos-...

[bobbolink]

47. Thank you so much for uncovering this! Have you seen this mentioned on any of the news programs?

Do you think there is a way we can get this more attention?

Thank you again... I so much appreciate what you are researching on this!



I regret that I have but one recommend...

[democracy1st]

50. K & R

[spanone]

51. k&r.....

[Beaverhausen]

54. kick for the late night crowd

[Mithreal]

55. K&R nt

[grahamhgreen]

56. Were the Acorn workers on the tapes planted as well?.

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dmr]

61. This guy's a self-serving creep harming those who would never do him harm. n/t

[Brickbat]

76. +1.

[Thornleylv]

62. Micheal Moore is not undercover

When Michael Moore interviews someone they know that with the lights, mic, camera and staff in their face it might be documented. Moore does not go undercover.

[unpossibles]

64. good point

Although it is ironic that the right always bellyache about Moore "editing" his interviews and being biased, etc. - yet it's so typical they are more than willing to do the same things they complain about.

[mzmolly]

65. Exactly.

Welcome!

[umaine79]

66. Who is going under the bus next..

Where the hell is the support. Is Fox News setting the agenda. They take down Van Jones and cut Acorn off at the knees. Who is the next hit and run bus fatality? Where is the support from the White House? I guess I don't understand why one news outlet, playing to the minority, has so much power. Obama has the bully pulpit and he needs to use it to put Fox in a box.

[paparush]

68. It feels like this kind of thing never blows up on Repugs. They defy accountability.

Besides, the Tea Baggers have already been programmed.

ACORN BAD! ACORN BAD!
(drool drool..shaking tiny angry fist)

[eagertolearn]

69. If there is investigation needed someone let Rachel Maddow know about

this. She would love to expose another asshole doing something to the underprivileged. The first time I heard about this story I knew someone was set up. The GOP have been after ACORN and trying to blame something on them since before the election. I feel sorry for the employees who this happened to. Can you imagine being involved in sting that destroys your job and the organization you work for and believe in? Everyone's info on here is great. This is why I like DU. My husband reads the paper every morning and I get on DU because it is news in progress!

[Richard D]

70. They hate Acorn . . .

. . . only because of the voters Acorn has registered. More democrats. They have to stop that.

[Beaverhausen]

73. kick

[redqueen]

74. No way... I'm so shocked!

Hard to believe people are still so easily taken in by RW smear campaigns.

[Brickbat]

75. So he's another young privileged white guy who thinks people aren't paying enough attention to him

and busts up people who are trying to do good work. How revolutionary! How radical! How useful, and way to make a change in this world!