Correction Request: Los Angeles Times

In your editorial “James O’Keefe’s Latest Caper” of January 26th, 2010, the incident involving James O’Keefe at Sen. Landrieu’s office earlier this week is referred to as a “bugging scandal,” which is likened to Watergate:

Filmmaker James O’Keefe III is 25, meaning he was born about 13 years after five men were arrested for trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington. The subsequent scandal, which led to the resignation of the burglars’ boss, President Richard M. Nixon, was fodder for history books by the time O’Keefe was old enough to read them. Chances are, he didn’t.

O’Keefe, the Internet “journalist” who became an overnight sensation after his undercover reports revealed unethical behavior by the liberal activist group ACORN, now finds himself in the middle of his own bugging scandal.

There are no allegations of any bugging 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.

This is substantial evidence to refute your claim that O’Keefe “finds himself in the middle of his own bugging scandal.” 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.