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.

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

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) told Politico on Wednesday that William Flanagan, an acting U.S. attorney in Louisiana, “most certainly should be” disappointed in his son, who was arrested for allegedly tampering with phones in the senator’s office in New Orleans.

Robert Flanagan and three other men were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony. He allegedly dressed as a telephone repairman and interfered with the office phone.

“This isn’t a child – this is 24-year-old, I’m sure his parents are terribly disappointed, they most certainly should be,” Landrieu told Politico, adding that it was “very disconcerting” that Flanagan’s father is a top federal official in her state.

Flanagan’s attorney, Garrison Jordan, told The Washington Post that his client did not think he was doing anything illegal. “It was obviously a big mistake on his part,” Jordan said. “He just got caught up in a stupid stunt.”

A source familiar with the case told The Post that Flanagan met O’Keefe last week when O’Keefe arrived to speak at the Pelican Institute, the libertarian think tank where Flanagan wrote a blog.

The Times-Picayune quoted a longtime Democrat who said that acting U.S. Attorney William Flanagan is completely nonpartisan and nonideological. “He’s about the straightest arrow there is,” he said.

William Flanagan has not returned a phone call from Main Justice seeking comment.