CNN details media darling James O’Keefe’s latest bizarre stunt

Last year, Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander took his paper to task for “tardiness” in reporting on James O’Keefe’s phony ACORN sting videos, suggesting that the Post doesn’t “pay sufficient attention to conservative media or viewpoints.” New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt wrote a similar column. Those columns were horribly misguided at the time, and only look more absurd as time goes by.

Here’s CNN, with yet another example of why nobody should ever take James O’Keefe seriously:

James O'Keefe, best known for hitting the community organizing group ACORN with an undercover video sting, hoped to get CNN Investigative Correspondent Abbie Boudreau onto a boat filled with sexually explicit props and then record the session, those documents show.

The plan apparently was thwarted after Boudreau was warned minutes before it was supposed to happen. 

…

[O’Keefe associate Izzy] Santa told Boudreau that O'Keefe planned to "punk" her by getting on a boat where hidden cameras were set up. Boudreau said she would not get on the boat and asked Santa why O'Keefe wanted her there.

"Izzy told me that James was going to be dressed up and have strawberries and champagne on the boat, and he was going to hit on me the whole time," Boudreau said. 

…

CNN later obtained a copy of a 13-page document titled "CNN Caper," which appears to describe O'Keefe's detailed plans for that day. 

"The plans appeared so outlandish and so juvenile in tone, I questioned whether it was part of a second attempted punk," Boudreau said.

But in a phone conversation, Santa confirmed the document was authentic. Listed under "equipment needed," is "hidden cams on the boat," and a "tripod and overt recorder near the bed, an obvious sex tape machine."

Among the props listed were a "condom jar, dildos, posters and paintings of naked women, fuzzy handcuffs" and a blindfold.

Read the whole thing. And as you do so, remember: This is someone the Washington Post’s ombudsman thinks the paper should take seriously.

CNN's Boudreau has posted her own account of O'Keefe's scheme:

James says that he wasn't really going to follow through with the plan. He e-mailed CNN this statement:

"That is not my work product. When it was sent to me, I immediately found certain elements highly objectionable and inappropriate, and did not consider them for one minute following it."

But that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions. 

...

I have worked so hard to have people pay attention to my work, and to be a respected journalist. I don't want to be judged based on anything other than my work. But apparently, I represent all of the things this group hates about the mainstream media. They feel because of the way I look that I do not matter, and that my reporting is a joke. They don't know anything about my work ethic – my history – my dedication and commitment – and my love for reporting. They just saw my blonde hair. And the ironic thing is that I'm really a brunette.