Correction Request: New Orleans Times-Picayune

In David Hammer’s article “ACORN ‘gotcha’ man arrested in attempt to tamper with Mary Landrieu’s office phones” of January 26th, 2010, Mr. Hammer referred to an alleged wiretapping plot by James O’Keefe and three other conservative activists at the offices of Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Robert Flanagan’s attorney, J. Garrison Jordan, said he believes his client works for the Pelican Institute. Asked the motivation for the alleged wiretap plot, he said: “I think it was poor judgment. I don’t think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime.”

There are no allegations of any wiretap plot in the FBI affidavit, and a law enforcement official has conceded that the four men were not attempting to wiretap or intercept calls. Furthermore, legal representation for the accused has gone on record stating there were no intentions to tap phones in the Senator’s office.

We kindly ask you to issue a correction/retraction to the story.

We have been/will be making similar requests of other news sources to correct similar errors. Some, such as the Washington Post and MSNBC’s David Shuster, already have posted corrections or retractions.