Say Anything Blog

This stretches credulity to the breaking point…..

The Maryland State’s Attorney says that there were violations of the law committed in that ACORN office - but those violations were on the part of the people who took the undercover video:

STATEMENT OF STATE’S ATTORNEYS OFFICE FOR BALTIMORE CITY RELATIVE TO THE ALLEGED BALTIMORE ACORN INCIDENT

      Baltimore, MD – September 11, 2009 – We have received inquiries from citizens and the media asking whether the Baltimore City State’s Attorneys Office would initiate a criminal investigation for acts allegedly committed at ACORN offices located in Baltimore.  The only information received in reference to this alleged criminal behavior was a YouTube video.  Upon review by this office, the video appears to be incomplete.  In addition, the audio portion could possibly have been obtained in violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402, which requires two party consent.

      If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio.  The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years.

Basically, they’re saying that in order to videotape and audio record anyone you need their consent or at the very least their knowledge that you’re doing so. Okay. I’m not sure how this would apply to journalism, and I’m quite sure that there are exceptions for law enforcement. But the two filmers, James O’keefe and Hannah Giles may not be protected because they aren’t part of either, rather, they’re just amateur citizen jounalists.

What’s interesting is that they completely seem to dismiss the idea that ACORN has committed a crime.

ACORN’s stance is that no crime was committed because no tax forms were filled out. I’d say they were wrong about that. In most states a conspiracy is committed if there is an act of futherance involved during or after a conversation plotting a crime. In other words, you and I can sit and talk about robbing Fort Knox all day long. No crime there. Get a map of the place and draw out lines of attack - you’re now involved in a criminal conspiracy. Congrats.

Just talking about covering up prostitution and underage sex-slavery wouldn’t be enough to make those two (now four) ACORN workers guilty of a crime - even though ACORN dropped them like a hot iron almost immediately. BUT - if they handed any paperwork to the film makers at any time during or after the conversation I would say that would constitute a clear act of furtherance.

The main stream media continues to ignore this - just a quick look around the web this morning confirms that they’re still sticking their fingers in their ears and saying lah-lah-lah I can’t hear you. ACORN’s stance is, of course, that the whole thing is motivated by racism.

Allah over at Hot Air brings up a couple of points about this. The Maryland State’s Attorney is the one who brought charges against Linda Tripp for recording and then exposing Monica Lewinski. They’ve done it before, so they may do it again. Also, he says this:

I’m torn between hoping they drop this so that he doesn’t go to jail and hoping that they don’t because it’ll make him a conservative cause celebre and throw a giant spotlight on ACORN’s filthiness. Exit question: What should we hope for?

I agree. Going after the whistle blowers may be a big mistake in this case. A quiet prosecution of the ACORN workers would be given a pass by the media - ACORN would be more than happy to throw them under the train and walk away from them. Prosecution of the two reporters - and, yes, they are reporters whether or not they work for one of the mighty “accredited media” outlets - would bring much, much light to the ACORN operation.

This will get interesting, no matter which way it goes.

For much more on this go to Breitbart’s great new site, Big Government.

UPDATE:

Ed Morrisey over at Hot Air has uncovered the fact that the prosecutor in question, Patricia Jessemy, is a not only a partisan Democrat - she actively ignored other cases of “investigative journalism” involving undercover reporters. Those case, it seems, didn’t involve someone investigation ACORN.

It looks like this may well be a political hatchet job. Click over and check out the details and draw your own conclusions.