Four men — including conservative documentary filmmaker James O’Keefe and Robert Flanagan, the son of Western District of Louisiana acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan  — who were arrested in New Orleans on Jan. 25  will be charged with a misdemeanor for entering federal property under false pretenses.

That charge is a downgrade from a previous charge of entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony.

A magistrate judge in federal district court in New Orleans agreed in late February to extend the time for prosecutors to decide how to proceed in the case, which involved alleged phone tampering in the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

The news release about the new charges is below. The bill of information from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana is also embedded below.

News Release:

FOUR MEN CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE OF ENTERING FEDERAL PROPERTY UNDER FALSE PRETENSES

NEW ORLEANS – Joseph Basel, age 24, Stan Dai, age 24, Robert Flanagan, age 24, and James O’Keefe, age 25, were charged in a one-count bill of information with entering real property of the United States under false pretenses, a misdemeanor, announced the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

According to the Bill of Information, between January 20, 2010, and January 25, 2010, Flanagan, Basel, O’Keefe, and Dai met on several occasions. During their meetings, they discussed, among other things, possible scenarios in which they would talk with members of the staff of Senator Mary Landrieu inside of her New Orleans, Louisiana office, in the Hale Boggs Federal Building, and record the interaction using audio and visual equipment. As a result of this planning, on January 25, 2010, Basel and Flanagan entered the Senator’s office dressed as telephone repairmen, said they were following up on reports of problems with the telephone system, engaged in conversation with the staff members, and pretended to test the phone system. O’Keefe, who had also entered the office, recorded the interaction between Basel, Flanagan, and the staff members.

If convicted, Flanagan, Basel, O’Keefe, and Dai each face a maximum term of six (6) months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

The United States Attorney’s Office reiterated that the Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of each defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation of this matter was conducted by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Deputy Marshals with the United States Marshal’s Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.

Joseph Basel Et Al Boi

A magistrate judge in federal district court in New Orleans agreed Wednesday to extend the time by which prosecutors must decide how to proceed in the case of alleged phone tampering in the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.

Four men — including conservative documentary film-maker James O’Keefe and Robert Flanagan, the son of Western District of Louisiana acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan, were arrested in New Orleans on Jan. 25  and charged with entering federal property under false pretenses.

Magistrate Louis Moore agreed to motions brought on behalf of the four men to extend for a month the deadline for prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana to seek a felony indictment, press misdemeanor charges or drop the case, the newspaper reported.

According to The Times-Picayune, Moore said the extension, which was unopposed by prosecutors, would offer the parties “additional time to conduct informal discussions and discovery and avoid or lessen additional proceedings,” suggesting the possibility of a plea deal that would likely spare the four from facing felony charges.

The lawyer for one of the men arrested for tampering with a senator’s phones is meeting with prosecutors in an effort to reach a resolution in the 24-year-old man’s case, The Associated Press reported today.

J. Garrison Jordan, the attorney for Robert Flanagan — the son of Western District of Louisiana acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan – wouldn’t elaborate on the talks he had Wednesday with prosecutors about the charges against his client.

“We’re in discussions with the government, trying to resolve this matter as expeditiously as possible in a fair and just manner,” Jordan told AP.

Robert Flanagan allegedly joined James O’Keefe and two other men in a purported scheme to interfere with phones at Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office, according to the AP. O’Keefe was already noteworthy, having gained notoriety for secret videos he shot last year involving the community organizing group ACORN.

A spokeswoman for the Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is handling the case, declined to comment.

The four men were charged last month with using false pretenses to enter a federal building with the intent to commit a felony after they allegedly pretended to be telephone company repairmen who were at the Landrieu’s office to fix problems with the phone system.

The four defendants are free on $10,000 bonds. Their lawyers decided to waive a preliminary hearing that was set for this week, according to the AP. A judge hasn’t set a date for their next court appearance, the AP said.

Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, has recused himself from the case against four conservative activists who were arrested for allegedly interfering with phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office.

According to a brief news release sent to local reporters late Monday evening, Letten recused himself from the case a day after the Jan. 25 arrests in Landrieu’s office in New Orleans, reports the Associated Press. Letten’s top lieutenant, assistant U.S. Attorney Jan Mann, has taken over.

The news release did not say why Letten removed himself, according to The AP, and his spokeswoman Anna Christman said she could not comment.

One possible reason — one of the suspects, Robert Flanagan, is the son of acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana William J. Flanagan.

Reached by Main Justice Tuesday morning, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans said that the recusal spoke for itself and the office wasn’t going to comment beyond that.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) will no longer hold up federal nominations in his state after receiving assurance that the job of the George W. Bush-holdover U.S. Attorney in New Orleans is safe, The Times-Picayune reported today.

David Vitter (Gov)

The Republican senator now will return his “blue slip” on Western District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney nominee Stephanie Finley and other federal nominees, which he had been withholding until he received official word on the status of U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

The Senate Judiciary Committee traditionally does not consider a nomination until it receives a “blue slip” from the nominee’s home state senator.

Vitter had asked the administration to keep Letten, who has led the Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2001. Today, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Letten would serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, which serves as the voice of U.S. Attorneys throughout the nation, sending a strong signal that his job was safe.

“This prestigious appointment makes it crystal clear that Jim isn’t going anywhere except on regular trips to Washington to personally advise the attorney general,” Vitter told the newspaper. “The attorney general and I superficially discussed this in our meeting last Thursday and I’m really excited to get it done.”

Letten’s office is handling the case against four men who allegedly tried to interfere with phones at Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office. One of the men, Robert Flanagan, is the son of Western District of Louisiana acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan. James O’Keefe, who gained notoriety for secret videos of the community organizing group ACORN, was one of Flanagan’s accomplices.

Andrew Breitbart, the founder of BigGovernment.com, which employs O’Keefe, said today on Fox News that Letten leaked information on the incident in a “concerted effort” to put O’Keefe in a bad light. Letten’s office denied the allegation.

Robert Flanagan (U.S. government photo via AP)

An associate of conservative video-maker James O’Keefe, who is charged with trying to interfere with the phones at Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) office in New Orleans, has accused the prosecutor overseeing the case of leaking information about the arrests to the news media.

Andrew Breitbart, a former Drudge Report editor and founder of BigGovernment.com, which employs O’Keefe, directed his ire at Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Breitbart made the claims in an appearance on Fox News. Letten’s office has denied his allegations.

Breitbart also alleged that  O’Keefe “sat in jail for 28 hours without access to an attorney.”

O’Keefe, 25, gained fame last year for making secret videos in several offices of the community organizing group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) that led to congressional efforts to cut off federal funding for the group.

O’Keefe was arrested last week in New Orleans along with three other conservative activists, including Robert Flanagan, the son of William J. Flanagan, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette.

Breitbart said that Letten’s purported leaks were a “concerted effort” to frame the episode in a way that would put O’Keefe in a bad position, reports Talking Points Memo. But the first report of the arrests came last Tuesday after the U.S. Attorney’s Office put out a press release around the same time as an article on the case, in the Times-Picayune was posted online.

Asked what motivation the U.S. Attorney would have to make such an effort, Breitbart responded: “Well, it’s tied to the Justice Department. And we’ve been very aggressive in asking Eric Holder to investigate what’s seen on the ACORN tapes, and he’s ignored it.”

Letten is a Republican who was appointed by President George W. Bush. He has bipartisan support from the state’s two senators to continue serving during the Obama administration, and was today named to an advisory panel for the Attorney General, a strong indication that Holder will retain him in his post.

Letten’s office denied Breitbart’s allegations in an interview with TPMmuckraker this afternoon. Jan Mann, first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, told the site: “The suggestion that he makes about the motivations of our office are untrue. We’re not going to try this case in the press. But we deny the accusations about our office.”

According to an Associated Press narrative about the events leading up to the arrests, Flanagan  met O’Keefe, Joseph Basel, 24, and Stan Dai, 24, after O’Keefe spoke at The Pelican Institute, a think tank where Flanagan works. Their first meeting came five days before their arrest, said J. Garrison Jordan, Flanagan’s lawyer.

Flanagan, writes the AP, was an All-American pitcher for the Division III baseball team at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., He enrolled last year at Missouri State University’s Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, in Fairfax, Va. And he interned for Republican Rep. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma and Sen. Lamar Alexander, (R-Tenn.).

This story has been edited from its original version for clarity and to make clear that Jim Letten’s office denies the allegations.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) appears close to lifting his holds on federal nominees for Louisiana posts, after he learned that the Justice Department will soon clear up his concerns about the future of New Orleans U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, The Times-Picayune reported yesterday.

David Vitter (Gov)

The Republican senator and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) have urged President Barack Obama to retain Letten, who has served as Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney since 2001. Landrieu said she received assurances from the White House that Letten’s job was safe. But Vitter didn’t and he is holding up DOJ and judicial nominees in Louisiana until he receives official word from the Obama administration that it isn’t seeking a replacement for the Bush holdover.

Jim Letten (DOJ)

Vitter told the New Orleans newspaper he had a half-hour meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday about Letten that “went very well.” He said once he receives official word on Letten’s status he will return the “blue slips,” which home state senators must sign in order for the Senate Judiciary Committee to consider nominees.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley, who was tapped last week for the Western District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney post, is among the Louisiana nominees for judiciary and Justice Department posts. She would replace acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan, whose son, Robert, allegedly tried to interfere with phones at Landrieu’s New Orleans office. Letten’s office is handling the prosecution of Robert Flanagan and three others.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) will delay Senate action on the nominee who would replace the acting U.S. Attorney whose son allegedly tried to interfere with phones at Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office, The Associated Press reported today.

David Vitter (Getty Images)

Vitter’s office said Wednesday that he will block Senate action on Stephanie Finley and President Obama’s other nominees for federal justice system posts in Louisiana until he hears from the White House whether Obama will let Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney Jim Letten keep his job.

Finley was nominated last week to be U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana. She would replace acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan. Vitter is also holding up other federal nominees in Louisiana over Letten. Letten was appointed by President George W. Bush, and has held the Eastern District post since April 2001. Both Vitter and Landrieu have urged Obama to retain Letten.

Flanagan, a career prosecutor, became the top federal prosecutor in the Shreveport, La., office after Donald Washington resigned earlier this month. Robert Flanagan, the prosecutor’s son, along with conservative activists James O’Keefe, Joseph Basel and Stan Dai were charged this week with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purposes of committing a felony. O’Keefe made national headlines last year when he posed as a pimp and allegedly received instructions on how to obtain housing aid for a purported brothel from staffers for activist group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

The son of the acting U.S. Attorney and Basel told a staffer at Landrieu’s office that they were with the telephone company to repair the phone system, according to an FBI affidavit. O’Keefe was already inside the office’s reception area and was holding a phone to record Flanagan and Basel talking to Landrieu staffers, the FBI said. Dai helped plan the operation, according to the FBI.

The son of acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana William J. Flanagan was arrested and charged with trying to interfere with phones at Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office in New Orleans.

Robert Flanagan, 24, along with conservative activist James O’Keefe, 25, Joseph Basel, 24, and Stan Dai, 24 were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purposes of committing a felony.

Main Justice has learned that Flanagan worked as an intern for Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.) from January to April of last year. Kathryn Bruns, a press representative for Fallin, said she could only confirm that an intern of the same name worked in the office. She said she could not confirm that it was the same Robert Flanagan who was arrested, and declined to say if she knew whether the intern was from New Orleans or if his father was a federal prosecutor. She declined to comment on the arrest (Updated: 6:23 p.m.).

As first reported by the Associated Press and The Hill, Flanagan is the son of William J. Flanagan, who is the acting head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Shreveport. O’Keefe was in the news last year for his part in making secret videos in several offices of the community organizing group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

Fallin was one of the Republican representatives who introduced a bill that said the nation owed O’Keefe a debt of gratitude for his undercover videos.

According to an affidavit, Flanagan and an accomplice said that they were repair technicians from the telephone company and were there to fix problems with the phone system, according to an affidavit from an FBI agent. A witness said they were wearing white, hard construction hats, a tool belt, a fluorescent vest and denim pants and tops.

O’Keefe was stationed inside the reception area and was holding a phone to record Flanagan and Basel talking to Landrieu staffers, the FBI said. They manipulated the telephone system at the reception desk and then went to another office in the building to access the main telephone system, investigators said. They told government employees that they left their credentials in their vehicle, according to the FBI.

The Eastern District of Louisiana is handling the case.

UPDATE: 4:55 p.m. A spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana tells Main Justice that the four defendants were arrested yesterday. They made their initial court appearance today and were released on $10,000 unsecured bonds. The spokesperson declined to say if the office would seek the maximum penalty if the defendants are found guilty.

UPDATE: 6:15 p.m. Former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana Donald Washington told Main Justice that he has met Flanagan, who he called a fine young man.

UPDATE: 7:10 p.m. Media Matters reports:

The Times-Picayune reported that “Robert Flanagan’s attorney, J. Garrison Jordan, said he believes his client works for the Pelican Institute.”

Robert Flanagan is a frequent blogger for The Pelican Post, where he has written about Landrieu.  The Pelican Post is the blog of The Pelican Institute for Public Policy, “a non-profit research and education institution that conducts scholarly research and analysis of Louisiana public policy. The Institute’s mission is to advance sound policies based on the principles of free enterprise, individual liberty, and limited government.”

UPDATE: 11:54 p.m. Flanagan removed his Facebook and Linkedin profiles.

Andrew Ramonas contributed to this report.

Here is the FBI press release:

Four Men Arrested for Entering Government Property Under False Pretenses for the Purpose of Committing a Felony

NEW ORLEANS—JOSEPH BASEL, age 24; ROBERT FLANAGAN, age 24; JAMES O’KEEFE, age 25; and STAN DAI, age 24, were charged in a criminal complaint with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony, announced the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

According to the complaint, which was unsealed earlier today, the arrest of FLANAGAN, BASEL, O’KEEFE, and DAI took place after BASEL and O’KEEFE attempted to gain access to the New Orleans office of United States Senator Mary Landrieu on January 25, 2010, while posing as telephone repairmen. According to the complaint, FLANAGAN and BASEL were each dressed in blue denim pants, blue work shirts, light green fluorescent vests, tool belts, and construction-style hard hats when they entered the Hale Boggs Federal Building, located at 500 Poydras Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130. Once in the building, FLANAGAN and BASEL sought access to the offices of Senator Landrieu. O’KEEFE was already present in the office, holding a cellular phone so as to record FLANAGAN and BASEL. Once inside Senator Landrieu’s reception area, FLANAGAN and BASEL told a member of Senator Landrieu’s staff that they were telephone repairmen, and they requested access to the main telephone at the reception desk. FLANAGAN and BASEL then manipulated the telephone system. FLANAGAN and BASEL next requested access to the telephone closet because they needed to perform work on the main telephone system. They were directed to the main office of the United States General Services Administration, also inside the Hale Boggs Federal Building, where they again represented themselves to be employees of the telephone company and stated that they needed to perform repair work in the telephone closet. Both FLANAGAN and BASEL stated that they had left their credentials in their vehicle. In addition, the complaint alleges that O’KEEFE and DAI assisted FLANAGAN and  BASEL in the planning, coordination, and preparation of the operation. The men were apprehended by the United States Marshal’s Service soon thereafter.

If convicted, FLANAGAN, BASEL, O’KEEFE, and DAI each face a maximum term of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.

The United States Attorney’s Office reiterated that the complaint is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation is being conducted by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Deputy Marshals with the United States Marshal’s Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.

The former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana will join a national law firm at its Lafayette, La., office.

Donald Washington, who served as U.S. Attorney from 2001 until yesterday, will focus on white collar litigation and federal and state criminal investigations at Jones Walker, according to a news release from the law firm.

Donald Washington (DOJ)

“Don’s extensive background as in-house corporate counsel, conducting corporate investigations, and in litigation will build upon our strong litigation practice, and he is a particularly good complement to our existing practice in the area of health care and energy litigation, white collar crime, and government investigations,” William H. Hines, Jones Walker’s managing partner, said in the news release. “The depth of his knowledge and experience navigating complex legal issues and federal investigations will be a huge asset.”

Washington said in the news release that he joined the law firm because it “presents exciting, geographically diverse representation opportunities.”

“It provides an excellent platform for someone with my background to continue serving clients seeking a just resolution to their legal issues, while practicing with some of the most prominent and widely recognized lawyers in the nation,” he said.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) last summer recommended that President Barack Obama nominate either John Belton or Stephanie Finley for the Western District U.S. Attorney post.