Conservative activist and filmmaker James O’Keefe tried to trick CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau into boarding a boat filled with sex toys and other explicit material in an effort to prank her and the network.
The goal, apparently, was to get CNN to “report” on a fake news story–most likely about tea party racism–and then turn the tables when Boudreau showed up by attempting to “seduce” her on the boat:
CNN was alerted to the prank shortly before Boudreau was set to meet with O’Keefe. According to planning documents obtained by CNN, O’Keefe and his partners even had snappy dialogue written for the meeting on the “pleasure palace.”
Some of the quips were “I want to take you to a higher place, CNN must be a tough place to work, let’s make some headline love,” and “It’s not news, it’s CNN.”
O’Keefe is no stranger to TV news. He was the filmmaker behind the now-infamous ACORN undercover operation. He was also covered by the cablers earlier this year when he was arrested after attempting to enter Senator Mary Landrieu’s office in a disguise. He would eventually plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering federal property under false pretenses.
Update: Media Research Council president Brent Bozell has released a statement harshly criticizng O’Keefe and his attempted “sting:”
“The MRC unequivocally denounces James O’Keefe for his attempted assault on CNN. It isn’t just childish and immature; it’s ugly, dishonest and filthy. There is no place in the conservative movement for this type of behavior and that’s exactly what I warned about in a commentary piece I submitted to CNN.com just two days ago. ‘Could the Citizen Journalist abuse the public trust?’ I wrote in this piece that should run in the next few days. ‘Hypothetically, of course. Conservatives must all guard against this. Let there be scrutiny, by all means.’ And I repeat: there must be scrutiny.”