RSSMistake, Big Mistake … ACORN Sues James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles & Andrew Breitbart for Secretly Taping in Maryland
How could anyone be so ignorant as to fall for this trap? I guess if ACORN could be brought down by two young filmmakers, James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles, dressed in bad stereo-typical pimp and prostitute outfits, ACORN is willing to fall for anything.
ACORN looks to sue those that exposed their corrupt and illegal fraud. Have they people never heard of civil case discovery? So you really want to go down this path ACORN? O’Keefe, Giles and Breitbart think they uncovered scandals, wait until discovery occurs … Let the games begin.
BRING IT ON!!!
Once colossal blunder, deserves another. After being caught red handed with video in a scandalous fraud by filmmakers James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles posing as a pimp and prostitute, ACORN now looks to make matters worse and sue.
ACORN filed suit today in Maryland against conservative filmmakers James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles and conservative Web site Breitbart.com for secretly taping the organization’s employees at its Baltimore office.
In the complaint, ACORN alleges that the filmmakers entered into the organization’s offices in July with a “hidden camera and microphone” and taped employees Tonja Thompson and Shera Williams. Both employees are listed as plaintiffs on the complaint, filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.
This is the same ACORN that the House andSenate has voted to defund? The same ACORN that the US Census has cut ties with and now the IRS has done the same? Damages? Acorn is the one who has caused damages and wasted tax dollars in the process.
Sue James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles & Andrew Breitbart? These people should be given an award for stomping out corruption at the tax payers expense.
BTW, no law was broke, maybe ACORN should have read the Maryland’s Interception Law and the false myths that are assumed. This same scenario has already been played out with Linda Tripp.
Maryland law states the following verbatim: Unlawful acts. — Except as otherwise provided in this subtitle it is unlawful for any person to: (1) Willfully intercept, endeavor to intercept, or procure any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication; (2) Willfully disclose, or endeavor to disclose, to any other person the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication in violation of this subtitle; or (3) Willfully use, or endeavor to use, the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication in violation of this subtitle. Cts. & Jud. Proc. §10-402(a)(1)-(a)(3).
What was noticed and seconded by Macsmind, is that nowhere in the law are the words “tape” or “record” ever used.
ACORN is alleging that O’Keefe and Giles taped individuals without their consent. ACORN is asking for $500,000 in damages to be awarded to each of the employees filmed by O’Keefe and Giles, and ACORN itself wants $1 million in damages. Those asking for damages who are claiming emotional distress were giving fraudulent IRS tax advice and were fired by ACORN. So will they sue ACORN as well for an illegal firing?
Macsmind provides us with the Food Lion lawsuit that was laughed out of court, much like this shall be. The Weekly Standard is reporting that Barney Frank is calling for a federal investigation of O’Keefe and Giles’s activities, asking the Congressional Research Service to examine “the federal and state laws that could apply to such videotaping and distribution of conversations without the consent of all parties.”
Keep it coming, the more that this is scrutinized, the more Barack Obama’s name will be drawn into the ACORN web of lies, deceit and fraud.
How far is Barack Obama willing to throw ACORN under the bus and just how much will The One spin the truth of his associations with ACORN seeing that he praised their name during the election. I sense yet more 2012 political ads.
Posted September 24, 2009 by Scared Monkeys Barack Obama, Corruption, Government, House of Representatives, Judicial, Legal - Court Room - Trial, Obamanation, Politics, Scandal, WTF | 22 comments |
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22 Responses to “Mistake, Big Mistake … ACORN Sues James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles & Andrew Breitbart for Secretly Taping in Maryland”
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The WSJ had a nice editorial yesterday condemning Frank for his ACORN boosterism. Regardless of all their lawlessness, Frank wants the spigot turned back on for his homies. The WSJ commented that if Frank really wanted ACORN cleared, he’d have asked the Justice Dept for an investigation rather than the congressional budget office. When he was on O’Reilly’s show he got treated like the deceptive bum that he is. He should stick to things he knows something about, like flirting in men’s rooms.
And then there are some who report that ACORN didn’t keep its Maryland Corporation in good standing – don’t know if that’s true.
Redstate contends that there was not expectation of privacy therefore the Maryland law doesn’t apply.
Thought I’d had to see these three get sued and have to go through a court battle – I sure would love the discovery phase. First remember that ACORN’s head PRAISED them for ferreting out these bad eggs. Also ACORN fired these two employees so how do they now sue on their behalf. Lastly, since the ex-employees claim “distress” they have bought in their mental conditions as part of the discovery process. Oh would it be fun to read the discovery!
This should be fun. If there is a defense fund for Giles and O’Keefe I will donate.
That organization is about as dumb as the day is long….do they not know when they bring a lawsuit, in a little thing called ‘discovery.’
Well what they (ACORN) are about to discover is that all their dirty little secrets and the entire organization will be EXPOSED even further.
I live in the sad sorry state that is Maryland. The MD AG should drop these charges immediately if he wants to be re-elected.
Thought I’d had to see ………..
Should read: Though I hate to see….
From observation, we may deduce that employees
of ACORN are taken from society’s less than highly
educated, prisons, street people, good hearted,
non-vetted, low pay, devotees. At the top of the
organization, government money (taxpayer’s earnings)
are taken in and spread around. It may also be presumed
that the ‘Lion’s Share’ never filters down to the lower
levels in any great quantities. This is the primary reason
for We the Taxpayers demanding to ‘see the books’.
This ‘trial’ may be our opportunity!
ACORN is more than stupid. A lawsuit against the two young people will lead to discovery and that will begin to unravel the hidden agenda of ACORN and all the connections to the chicago political mob. I say like you “Bring it on”. We need to get to the bottom of all of ACORN’s illegal activities and their connection to the Obama administration. Of course, we should expect to have a hard time getting this case properly adjudicated in a court. The administration will do everything that they can to prevent it.
I have been worried that One of these Awesome Young individuals ..would be victim of a accident * you get what I am saying. I pray for their safety. They have untapped the rust from the pipes of Acorn. And Obama stating he has no knowledge and it is no ” high priority” today … Let’s hold him to his word. These Two Young People need Protection and I am not talking about a Lawyer. They opened a huge can of heat and (I am proud of them) I pray that they will not fall for it.
AND HOPEFULLY DISCOVERY WILL LEAD DIRECTLY TO OBAMA’S CORRUPTION.
Hannah Giles Defense fund – or so it purports. Make sure you find out more before donating as anyone can slap up a page.
Acorn has made a very bad error.
They should have spoken with any public company which scams investors. Shorts and naysayers can talk trash about them all day, exposing the guilt right out of SEC reports and the fraud public company’s old lying PR’s. Scam public companies threaten suits as a regular diet ( I have even been warned by phone), but if they get to believing they are so brave and actually do sue the short or naysayer? Endgate. Bingo…the scam has to open all the books.
My bet is Acorn tries to find a save face way out of this suit. I hope some media presses the issue that ACORN must find a way out of this trap. Now, before they do get out.
Don’t hold your breath. Remember, this is the same in the tank media that doesn’t trouble itself in actually digging and researching. They simply sit at their desks and report Obama’s talking points and the way they want the world to be.
12, guess I was hoping Beck might honk that horn. Maybe Red could ask him to dare them to stay in the trap.
I just love it when the left are so stupid, they don’t even know how stupid they are.
As Dirty Harry would say to the lawsuit, “Go ahead, make my day!”
Bring it On !!!!!!!
Exactly right—-let’s expose EVERYTHING. Thank you James O’Keefe & Hannah Giles for putting this out there. Nice work.
All I can tell you is everybody (and I mean everybody) is way off the mark — the two party consent is not listed under Maryland “Criminal Law” — put together the fourth amendment + the communications act of 1934 + Maryland’s wiretapping and electronic surveillance act + md code ann., Cts & Jud. Proc Sec. 10-402 and you will have the answer—
How it is that I (with paralegal studies) and about one other person has figured this one out???
Everyone is drawing conclusions and yet no one, not even the lawyers or the media has read the law or looked at case law, on this subject.
If anyone would like a fairly simple answer, feel free to contact me and I will respond with legal proof — this will go away just like Linda Tripp did.
since when does “judicial procedure” laws apply to private citizens/persons ????? Does “impersona jurisdiction” mean anything to anyone?
mandel7172@gmail.com
If they broke the law, they should be arrested and sued. I say, if we’re going to start cutting funding for corrupt businesses that get federal funding….Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc. should be next. They are the real criminals.
Well, now don’t you look stupid? LOL!
I’m sure you’ve heard the news, so I’ll give you a moment.
__________
SM: What you think one crime absolves another? Hardly. ACORN still actively supported child prostitution and human trafficking of minors for sex.
That’s something to be real proud of.
Wasn’t it the LEFT that said ACORN was innocent until proven guilty?
Personally, I think what these folks did was stupid. You do not have to break the law to prove others are doing the same.
R
ACORN didn’t support anything. The suppossed charges were against certain employees, not the organization itself.
That would be like saying that if you caught some GOP handlers willing to do certain things through entrapment, then the entire group is corrupt. Well, it is, but that’s a different argument. However, I think you get my point.
This attempt to connect ACORN, as an organization, with child prostitution, is not only intellectually dishonest, but entirely deranged, and it shows just how far Conservatives will go to slander their opponent. Obviously, the disenchantment with ACORN is due to their minority enrollment, and the support they give to Democrats.
ACORN has been cleared by two independent investigations of any wrong-doing. Stop beating this dead horse. It’s not going anywhere, and James O’s overzealous propaganda is ruining any chance that he had to frame them any further.
O’Keefe has lost all credibility, and he only has himself to blame. He made it too easy.
It seems that these kind of ridiculous stunts are what passes for GOP opposition now.
____________
SM: Drink some more Kool-aide please.
When employees are talking to PIMPS & PROSTITUTES they are doing so as agents of the organization. In this case it would be ACORN.
There was no investigation. PLUEASE … the one you are citing was bought and paid for by ACORN and did not even look at the scandal in question.
Sorry dude, but you are a poor excuse for a living, breathing and caring individual if you ever defend the trafficking and prostitution of female minors. There is no defense of this yet you go after O’Keefe for this other incident. Of which it would appear the the MSM got the initial reports wrong … go figure.
ACORN is a dirty corrupt organization and and normal thinking, non-kool-aid imbibing person knows it.
R
“When employees are talking to PIMPS & PROSTITUTES they are doing so as agents of the organization. In this case it would be ACORN.”
No, they are overstepping their bounds as an employee. The fact that they work for ACORN does not mean that ACORN supports their actions, as they clearly said they didn’t.
The videos were heavily edited, and the reason that the stunt was even pulled was because of the reality that you can find any employee to entrap if you ask around enough.
“There was no investigation. PLUEASE … the one you are citing was bought and paid for by ACORN and did not even look at the scandal in question.
This absolutely false, and by stating it, you are clearly unaware of the facts of this situation, or you are simply trying to spread lies for your ideology.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7600
ACORN was investigated independently by the Massachusetts Attorney General, and the Congressional research service. In both instances, they were found innocent of any criminal activity.
On top of that, Okeefe is being sued for illegally taping ACORN, and he is facing felony charges in his most recent botched stunt. So, the only one getting sent up the river in all of this is him.
Please stop spreading lies. It will only hurt your cause in the long run.
“Sorry dude, but you are a poor excuse for a living, breathing and caring individual if you ever defend the trafficking and prostitution of female minors.”
Huh? Who has defended any such thing? Once again, your twisted logic is only meant to slander your opponent. You don’t seem capable of basic reasoning, or you’re simply being dishonest. It’s hard to tell.
Neither I, nor ACORN supports any such thing. The argument revolves around you attempting to convict ACORN of questionable acts that only a microscopic percentage of its employees engaged in. Again, it would be like convicting any organization, or corporation of independent acts that their employees were involved in.
“There is no defense of this yet you go after O’Keefe for this other incident. Of which it would appear the the MSM got the initial reports wrong … go figure.”
The MSM is interested in controversy. So, they have no reason to avoid this story, which they didn’t, unless there’s something to the charges, or there’s sufficient conmtroversy to draw in viewers.
“ACORN is a dirty corrupt organization and and normal thinking, non-kool-aid imbibing person knows it.”
The only one who seems to be reflexive, and stuck with a cup of poison punch in their hand is you. You have refused to acknowledge any of the facts, and have used your reply to do little more than call someone else names.
You’re not savvy enough for this “gotcha” game, and now James O’s arrest has put a nail in the coffin of any further ACORN attacks. He should have quit while he was closely behind.
Anyway, your anger should be directed towards James O, who has done further damage to your clumsy cause, and has a good chance of walking away from all of this with a criminal record.
_______________
SM: Sorry dude, you are incorrect.
When an employee of ACORN is working for ACORN, they are acting as an agent of ACORN whether they are or are not overstepping their bounds. DUH!
Say you are on the phone with APPLE computers and one of their employees tells you to go “F” yourself and threatens you with bodily harm. Think they did not over step their bounds? Think they were also not doing it in the process of acting as an agent of APPLE?
Think you would not also have a law suit against the individual and APPLE?
Okay, if you can’t comprehend that hypothetical. If those same employees of ACORN as soon as they got thru providing advice to the PIMP & PROSTITUTE in telling them how to help in trafficking under age girls for sex … say, fell and hit their head on the desk.
Think they would not have a workman’s comp claim filed with ACORN? Of course they wood as they injured themself while working for ACORN.
Sorry, but the employees of ACORN are agents of ACORN. It does not depend on whether they were overstating their role or not. That has nothing to do with it.
R
Look, simply saying that ACORN is guilty of something that a handful of employees were entrapped to indulge is not going to convince most reasonable people. You can keep saying it over, and over again, but it’s only going to satisfy people who already hold a grudge towards their philosophy.
Again, James O. is facing the most meaningful charges in all of this, and that’s only his fault. While he did accomplish the goal of having the government defund ACORN, the matter is not dead. ACORN should not have been dismissed by the government like they were, without any investigation. They now have a case against the government. This is what clumsy, media persecution leads to. You win the battle, but you lose the war.
You should feel betrayed by James O. for ruining what was, on the surface, a sly victory for your side.
I am not a lawyer, however I work in media, and in the past I have done hidden camera work in DC and Virginia. It is pretty well established that in Maryland you can’t record things without the other party knowing.
We divide states into what are called one and two party states. In a two party state both parties need to know about a recording device. In a one party state only one party to a conversation needs to know about a recording device. When I was doing hidden camera work DC and VA were one party states. Maryland however is a two party state.
In addition getting audio may be a lot more iffy than getting video.
Keep in mind that Linda Tripp faced Maryland criminal charges for recording Monica Lewinsky talk about what she did with Bill Clinton.