A federal law enforcement official said one of the suspects was picked up in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device that could pick up transmissions. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was not part of an FBI affidavit that described the circumstances of the case.
O’Keefe said “veritas,’’ Latin for truth, as he left a suburban jail yesterday with suspects Stan Dai and Joseph Basel, both 24. All declined to comment.
“There will be a time for that,’’ Dai said.
As he got into a cab outside the jail, O’Keefe said, “The truth shall set me free.’’ His biography on a website where he blogs says he works at VeritasVisuals.com, though that website does not currently work.
The fourth suspect, Robert Flanagan, the son of Acting US Attorney Bill Flanagan of Shreveport, was not with them. It was not immediately known whether he had already been released on the $10,000 bail set for each suspect.
It sounded like a Watergate-style operation, but federal officials have not yet said why the men wanted to interfere with Landrieu’s phones, whether they were successful, or even whether the goal was political espionage.
By producing undercover videos shot in ACORN offices, O’Keefe brought a firestorm of criticism that the group was helping its low-income clients break the law.
Bill Flanagan’s office confirmed his son was arrested, but declined to comment further.
