POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Taken for a Hayride?

Andrew Breitbart's been defending James O'Keefe by stating that he was held without access to a lawyer for 28 hours as information (and disinformation) was leaked to the press in such a fashion as to create "Watergate Jr." Last week, Eric Holder reappointed Jim Letten as US Attorney, and he's since recused himself. Apart from one of the accused's father being Letten's "counterpart in Shreveport", these considerations sound like a reasonable explanation for the recusal:

One Hayride source explained Letten’s pullout as coming from two bases. First, the O’Keefe case is small potatoes for a federal prosecutor with a bevy of well-known skulls on his belt and with the bountiful investigations going on within the ranks of the Jefferson Parish government at present he may be a little busy in the coming weeks.

Secondly, the case is, as the source says, “a dog with fleas.” While O’Keefe might well be guilty of something, the federal charge of entering a federal building under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony – namely that O’Keefe was engaged in trying to bug Landrieu’s phones – is not going to stick. The feds don’t have wiretapping equipment in evidence, because O’Keefe and his gang didn’t bring any. O’Keefe and Robert Flanagan both recorded the entire foray into Landrieu’s offices with cameras, and the government has the video in evidence. The idea that one would record oneself committing a felony in the open is a laughable one.

And because the case is flea-bitten, there is a relatively good possibility the whole matter may be dropped. As Letten is seen as a Republican, having originally been appointed to his position by President George W. Bush, his being the prosecutor on the O’Keefe case is a loser of an idea – if he drops the charges it looks like he’s condoning criminal behavior by Republicans out of political motives and if he tries the case and gets beat it looks like he’s mailing it in. Better to leave it in someone else’s hands and let the air out of the matter.

Regardless of what the ultimate disposition of the case might be, as more information comes to light about it “Louisiana Watergate,” as the state Democrat Party and several left-wing media outlets made it out to be, seems a rather inappropriate moniker.

Althouse on O'Keefe on Hannity, via Insty.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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