ACORN Buster James O'Keefe's Arrest Shocks Conservatives

(Jan. 27) -- News of James O'Keefe's arrest has stunned right-wing bloggers who cheered him just a few months ago for embarrassing ACORN by masquerading as a pimp in a series of hidden-camera videos. O'Keefe and three other men are accused of tampering with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office.

The four are charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Authorities say O'Keefe took cell phone camera video of two accomplices who posed as telephone repairmen while the fourth suspect used a listening device in a car a couple of blocks away. An FBI agent's affidavit (click to see PDF) says O'Keefe admitted to federal agents that he was part of the scheme.

The response from conservatives on the Web has been noticeably monosyllabic.

Michelle Malkin: Ugh
Hot Air's Allahpundit: Ohhhh boy
Political Byline: D'oh!
The Other McCain: Ruh-Roh
Instapundit Glenn Reynolds: Hmm

The reaction from ACORN -- which was hurt by O'Keefe's videos of its workers in several offices across the country giving his fake pimp advice about opening a brothel -- was also succinct. A Twitter post from the liberal community organizing group said: "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving soul."

Landrieu has issued a one-paragraph statement calling the incident "very unusual" and "somewhat unsettling for me and my staff." The Louisiana Democrat said she's "as interested as everyone else about their motives and purpose."

Patrick Semansky, AP

"The truth shall set me free," James O'Keefe, left, told reporters as he left jail Tuesday in a cab with co-defendant Stan Dai.

Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Michael McHale wasn't as reserved as the senator. He fired off a statement expressing shock and outrage and labeled the affair a "Louisiana Watergate."

Adding to the political intrigue is the identity of one of the phony phone repairman. Robert Flanagan is the son of the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana and has accused Landrieu of selling her vote in favor of a health care reform bill in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid for her state. Media Matters for America rounded up information on the other two suspects, conservative activists Joseph Basel and Stan Dai.

Andrew Breitbart financed O'Keefe's ACORN videos and gave them heavy exposure on his Big Government Web site when it debuted in September. So bloggers are wondering whether there's a connection this time.

"I am thinking O'Keefe knows something about Landrieu. What can it be? Andrew Breitbart do you know something?" Clifton B asked on his blog Another Black Conservative.

"We have no knowledge about or connection to any alleged acts and events involving James O'Keefe at Senator Mary Landrieu's office," Breitbart declared in a statement shortly after the story broke late Tuesday afternoon.

A few hours later, Breitbart had more to say on Big Government -- accusing the "Mainstream Media," ACORN and Media Matters of "jumping to conclusions" and smearing O'Keefe and his co-defendants.

"Let me state clearly for the record: wiretapping is wrong. But until I hear the full story from James O'Keefe, I will not speculate as to what he was doing in Louisiana," Breitbart said.

In other words, stay tuned.