O'Keefe Update

Looks like John Hood was right. From a statement made by O'Keefe:

I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.

Also of note, O'Keefe refers to himself in the statement as an "investigative journalist".

John Hood pointed out in his original post on O'Keefe that these stunts to not constitute "investigative journalism":

Whatever you think of these kinds of publicity stunts, they do not constitute investigative journalism. The earlier ACORN videos weren’t pieces of investigative journalism, either. It does the growing ranks of investigative journalists at conservative organizations a great disservice to invite a comparison of such publicity stunts with the hard, meticulous, and often boring work of exposing government waste and corruption.

I agree, but my guess is that the whole "investigative journalist" thing is also part of the joke. It has to be. He wasn't seriously investigating whether or not Landrieu's phones were working. Calling himself an investigative journalist allows him to simultaneously mock the subject (Landrieu, ACORN, etc.) and mainstream news outlets that seem incapable of producing real investigative journalism that might embarrass the left.