FILMMAKER’S CNN STING BACKFIRES

Conservative commentators and Fox News are distancing themselves from James O’Keefe, the filmmaking activist behind the now infamous and discredited ACORN tapes, who allegedly tried to trick CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau into boarding a boat filled with sex toys, try to seduce her, tape the entire scene, edit it, and then submit it to a “friendly” cable news network, presumably Fox News. O’Keefe reportedly planned to set up the seduction scene by first contacting her and offering her an exclusive interview about Sarah Palin or the Tea Party. In the “script” for his planned prank, he planned to say in the introduction that CNN had contacted him for an interview, “I know what their angle is: they want to portray me and my friends as crazies, as non-journalists, as unprofessional and likely as homophobes, racists or bigots of some sort. … Instead, I’ve decided to have a little fun. Instead of giving her a serious interview, I’m going to punk CNN.” As it turned out, Boudreau was alerted to the prank by an O’Keefe associate, Izzy Santa, and the plot backfired. Late Wednesday, Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative Media Research Center said that his group “unequivocally denounces James O’Keefe for his attempted assault on CNN. … There is no place in the conservative movement for this type of behavior.” A spokesperson for Fox News told Mediaite.com that it “had no knowledge of the stunt and no one on any of the news or opinion shows were contacted about it.” The incident is likely to represent another embarrassment for conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart, regarded as O’Keefe’s mentor, who, following the ACORN sting, remarked that O’Keefe “is already well on his way to being one of the great journalists.” The ACORN tapes were later revealed to be heavily edited, with many remarks deliberately taken out of context.