Billed as a “counter to the leftwing Netroots Nation Convention” being hosted by Minneapolis in June, RightOnline has announced it’ll also be coming to Minnesota’s largest city this summer. The conference will feature Andrew Breitbart, a blogger whose selective editing of video has generated heated criticism, along with conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck protege S.E. Cupp, and Minnesota blogger Ed Morrissey. The convention is a project of Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which was founded by the Koch brothers.

Breitbart made waves in 2009 when he posted videos that purported to show an ACORN employee giving advice to a pimp and prostitute; the video was ruled by investigators in several states to have been highly edited and, in some cases, possibly in violation of state law. Despite the misleading videos, the flap contributed to ACORN’s demise and to Congress stripping its funding. Breitbart got the videos from colleague James O’Keefe, who months later was arrested by the U.S. Marshals and charged with entering the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

Breitbart rose to fame again in 2010 when he posted selectively edited footage of Shirley Sherrod, Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture, during a NAACP event in which she appeared to be making a racist statement. The full video, however, showed that Sherrod had not made a racist statement. Despite that, she lost her position at the USDA.

Sherrod filed a lawsuit against Breitbart in February alleging defamation. Breitbart told Newsweek that he regretted posting the video, but declined to publicly apologize to Sherrod.

The convention will be held at the Minneapolis Hilton on June 17 and 18.

Netroots Nation, which last year featured Sen. Al Franken as its keynote speaker, will be held June 16–19 in downtown Minneapolis and will be headlined by former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold.

Former Sen. Norm Coleman stopped to talk with Pajamas Media at last weekend’s True the Vote conference hosted by the King Street Patriots in Houston. The conference trains conservative activists in how to monitor polls and push for tighter voter ID laws. In the interview, Coleman downplayed assertions that voter fraud cost him the election against Sen. Al Franken in 2008 but called voting “one of the greatest privileges that democracy affords,” comparing voter ID to showing an identification card when writing a check at McDonald’s.

“Some places require an ID to cash a check at McDonald’s; if it’s good enough for McDonald’s it should be good enough for one of the greatest privileges that democracy affords, and that’s the right to vote,” said Coleman.

Republicans at the Minnesota Legislature have also made similar claims that voting is like buying alcohol, cigarettes or plane tickets.

The interviewer pressed Coleman about his race with Franken and alleged voter fraud, but Coleman balked a bit. “I’m not complaining about my race,” he said, later added, “ACORN didn’t support a lot of Republicans and we’ve seen a lot of about fraud.”

He added, “My race was decided by 312 votes; ACORN registered 43,000 people in Minnesota.”

The Texas Independent, which covered the weekend’s conference, quotes Coleman as saying he still believes “there remain serious questions about how the recount was conducted.”

“Voter fraud. It’s a felony.” So reads the “wanted” poster–style type on new fliers being distributed by Republican and tea party groups ahead of election day. What they don’t say is it’s also exceedingly rare. As Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison characterizes such efforts as “voter intimidation” — citing distribution of posters in traditionally DFL-leaning areas like college campuses and bus stops in lower-income neighborhoods — Hennepin County provides the Minnesota Independent with data that shows only .006 percent of votes cast in 2008 were done so fraudulently.

Three conservative groups — Minnesota Majority, the North Star Tea Party Patriots, and the Minnesota Voters Alliance — have partnered to launch Election Integrity Watch (EIW), a project that advocates for voter identification laws and blames ACORN and DFLers for advancing voter fraud in Minnesota. The groups will be watching for voter fraud by sending teams of volunteers to the polls next Tuesday to shoot photos or videos of buses arriving at polling places, challenge voting and monitor assisted-living communities. EIW is offering a $500 reward to anyone who provides evidence that leads to a conviction for illegal voting.

EIW’s activities are part of a national campaign, and allegations of voter intimidation are already cropping up in early voting states including Texas and Florida.

They’re also behind the  fliers and advertisements showing a handcuffed man that Rep. Ellison says is part of a voter-intimidation campaign.

“To scare people is wrong,” Ellison said at a press conference at Minneapolis City Hall Tuesday. “There’s not going to be anybody putting you in handcuffs.”

“This is not about voter fraud. It’s about voter intimidation,” he said. “Our proud history of civic participation is under threat from shadowy groups who are attempting to scare people away from the polls. In reality, Minnesota’s voter protection laws are strong, and our state has many organizations and tools to assure that people can exercise their right to vote — free of intimidation.”

Ellison then invited to the podium experts who spoke about voting in minority communities, voters who have had their civil rights restored and students who talked about voting on campus. Ellison is focusing on educating voters about their rights at the polls. TheUptake has video of the press conference:

[Story continues after video]

Illegal voting is rare in Minnesota, but EIW and tea party groups aren’t taking any chances. The conservative group Minnesota Majority launched a major initiative last year to get illegal voters prosecuted and targeted Minnesota’s two DFL strongholds — Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

Jeff Johnson, a Republican Hennepin County Commissioner, pressed county attorney Mike Freeman recently about the 899 names that Minnesota Majority submitted in 2009. That group’s allegation was that widespread voter fraud cost Republican Sen. Norm Coleman the election, a claim that was picked up by Fox News this summer.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman wrote back (PDF) saying that his office looked into Minnesota Majority’s accusations and found that illegal voting is rare.

“The rate of chargeable cases in Hennepin County of felons voting who have not had their rights restored in the 2008 election is .00006,” wrote Freeman. “Evidence of any other type of voter fraud was insufficient to bring any charges at all.”

His office charged 47 people with illegally voting in 2008. Seven of those came from election officials and 40 from Minnesota Majority’s data. Freeman wrote that the bulk information provided by Minnesota Majority was either insufficient or inaccurate.

In Ramsey County, 28 have been charged with illegal voting.

Despite the low number of charges, Rep. Michele Bachmann rallied the tea party effort on the Glenn Beck Show on Tuesday evening, claiming that a coordinated effort to get felons to vote helped Sen. Al Franken win the 2008 election.

“And remember we had the infamous felons for Franken program two years ago where we know that there were felons that went out and voted presumably for Al Franken,” she said. “We had more felons vote than the margin of vote victory for Al Franken. So there are over about 350 felons or 600, somewhere in that neighborhood, that were eligible to vote. We know that about 350 did vote. And Al Franken won by just barely over 300 votes.”

Freeman said his office’s investigation found no evidence of a coordinated effort to get felons to vote.

“There was no organized or coordinated effort to induce improper voting. There was no involvement of any campaign or any candidate. And there were no cases charged of non-citizens improperly voting.”

Basel

Minnesota native Joe Basel, along with conservative activist James O’Keefe and two others, pleaded guilty this morning in a New Orleans court to charges of entering federal property in January under false pretenses. O’Keefe, who’s best known for posing as a pimp in now infamous gotcha videos targeting ACORN, received the stiffest sentence for his role as leader of the group that used subterfuge to enter Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office. He received three years probation and must do 100 hours of community service and pay $1,500. The others — Basel, Stan Dai and Robert Flanagan — face two years probation, 75 hours of service and a $1,500 fine. 

The four originally faced felony charges for their activity, but prosecutors later reduced the charges. As the AP reports:

The FBI has said O’Keefe used his cell phone to try to capture video of two others who posed as telephone repairmen and asked to see the phones at Landrieu’s office. The fourth allegedly waited outside in a car with a listening device.

O’Keefe has said the group was trying to investigate complaints that constituents calling Landrieu’s office couldn’t get through to criticize the Democrat’s support of a health care reform bill.

Basel is a 2008 graduate of the University of Minnesota – Morris, where he edited the conservative publication, The Counterweight.

Update: Here’s the FBI’s official release on the guilty pleas.

Photo: Twitter

Updated: A Joseph Basel — possibly of Minnesota and involved in an alleged phone-tampering against Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana — follows veteran rightwing prankster James O’Keefe on Twitter.

“JEBasel” has only two tweets of his own, the latest from Dec. 18: “Minnesota needs global warming NOW! Workers of Minnesota Unite!”

But among the 35 Twitter feeds he follows are O’Keefe and two accounts associated with conservative anti-ACORN cheerleader Andrew Breitbart.

Update: JEBasel also follows Francisco Gonzalez, whose latest tweet reads: “Please pray for my friends @JamesOKeefeIII and Stan Dai. They and Joe Basel were arrested by the Feds: http://bit.ly/aHcw90.” (Another person JEBasel follows: timpawlenty.)

JEBasel’s Twitter avatar photo also resembles the avatar for a Facebook account belonging to a Joseph Basel who studied at the University of Minnesota-Morris.

Someone with that name is listed on the UM-Morris College Republicans site, and on Facebook a 2008 Morris grad of the same name is shown to be friends with both O’Keefe and Stan Dai, who was also arrested in Lousiana yesterday.

A bit more (circumstantial) evidence: CampusReform.org recently interviewed Basel, founding editor of the conservative paper The Counterweight at Morris, alongside O’Keefe.

In that interview, Basel spoke of The Counterweight: “I think if you just make your agenda the truth or a fair chance at the truth on campus, you’d be surprised what falls in your lap if you work hard and keep doing it.”

This time around, what could fall in Basel’s lap is a felony charge.

Update: News outlets including the Star Tribune and Forum Communications’ papers are reporting that Minnesota’s Basel is the same one arrested with O’Keefe in New Orleans.

O’Keefe was arrested yesterday; authorities say he and another man aided and abetted two others in attempting to interfere with the phones at the offices of Sen. Mary Landrieu in New Orleans, a felony because it was on federal property.

Here’s the resolution Kline supported:

RESOLUTION

Honoring the fact-finding reporting done by Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III in their investigation in the fraudulent and illegal practices and misuse of taxpayer dollars by the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN).

Whereas Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III filmed investigatory videos uncovering the fraudulent and illegal practices of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN);

Whereas the House of Representatives voted to completely defund ACORN on September 17, 2009;

Whereas these videos resulted in the potential annual savings of millions of taxpayer dollars to organizations that contract with ACORN;

Whereas Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III have displayed exemplary actions as government watchdogs and young journalists uncovering wasteful government spending; and

Whereas Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III are owed a debt of gratitude by the people of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

(1) honors Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III for their work as investigative journalists;

(2) commends Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III for bringing to light the fraudulent behavior of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) and helping save millions of taxpayer dollars that otherwise would have funded ACORN; and

(3) respectfully requests the Clerk of the House to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III.

O'Keefe in his pimp costume, via Nola.com

In September, Rep. Michele Bachmann hailed as “brilliant” James O’Keefe, who with Hannah Giles orchestrated a sting operation at a Philadelphia ACORN office, posing as a pimp and a prostitute. Today, it appears that may have been an overestimation. Days after the duo was named in a federal lawsuit for the ACORN sting, O’Keefe was arrested by the FBI along with three others, allegedly for tampering with phones in the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Back in September, Bachmann praised O’Keefe and Giles at the How To Take Back America conference for their undercover expose of a Philadelphia ACORN office, in which they posed as a pimp and prostitute seeking advice from the anti-poverty group: “Hannah and James used Saul Alinsky’s ‘Rules for Radicals’ — that’s the community organizer’s bible — against ACORN! Brilliant!”

(In a House floor speech the same month, Bachmann alluded to O’Keefe and Giles’ sting, although in an odd way. She accused ACORN of “furthering the trafficking of illegal aliens, minor girls into childhood prostitution and child abuse,” when in fact O’Keefe and Giles — not ACORN — were the ones posing as attempted sex traffickers.)

But their brilliance came into question when an independent investigation, commissioned by ACORN and conducted by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger into the Philadelphia sting found:

The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O’Keefe’s and Ms. Giles’s comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding. A comparison of the publicly available transcripts to the released videos confirms that large portions of the original video have been omitted from the released versions.

Then on Thursday, Katherine Conway-Russell, director of the group’s Philadelphia office, filed a suit against the filmmakers, as well as the conservative website Breitbart.com, in federal court for recording and disseminating her words without permission, a violation of state law.

On Monday, O’Keefe and three others were arrested for posing as employees of a telephone company in order to gain entry to Landrieu’s office in the Hale Boggs Federal Office Building and manipulate telephones. According to a Times-Picayune, O’Keefe, Joseph Basel, Stan Dai and Robert Flanagan (son of the Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana) were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

According to an FBI affadavit (pdf), both Flanagan and Basel “admitted to federal agents that they were not telephone repairmen and that they entered the office of Senator Landrieu under false pretenses.” The affadavit, written by FBI Special Agent Steven Rayes, states the belief that the pair had the intention of “willfully and maliciously interfering with a telephone system operated and controlled by the United States of America,” adding that they were “aided and abetted” by O’Keefe and Dai.

Bachmann tweeted twice about a Washington Times article today charging that FEMA gave the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) nearly $1 million for fire prevention and safety efforts in violation of a congressional ban.

FEMA told Politico:

The story is factually incorrect. As the Washington Times and interested members of Congress were informed earlier this week, as a result of the continuing resolution, no funds have been provided. Additionally, a similar grant – whose funds were transferred – was originally provided to ACORN for fire prevention and safety activities in FY’07, under the Bush administration.

The last FEMA transfer to ACORN (for $450,000) was Aug. 24, reports Politico — well before Congress cut off funds to ACORN last month.

A statement from ACORN references a letter from U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana that inspired the Times story:

Senator Vitter was with ACORN before he was against us. Sen. Vitter knows ACORN’s track record on helping communities prevent tragedy, which is why our fire prevention work in low-income communities is important. Senator Vitter worked with ACORN in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to rebuild New Orleans. He provided support letters to many of our projects. It wasn’t until after his prostitution scandal, and until it became politically convenient, that Sen. Vitter changed his tune.

Elsewhere in Minnesota headlines this morning …

ST. PAUL: Bachmann hard on ACORN, easy on birthers. She asks Gov. Pawlenty to investigate the community-organizing group but won’t diss people who doubt President Obama’s American birth. [Associated Press; CNN]

SAUK RAPIDS: Did he need a photo ID to file? Then how do we know it’s the real Republican state Rep. Dan Severson who is eyeing DFLer Mark Ritchie’s secretary of state post? [St. Cloud Times]

ST. PAUL: Mayoral rivals debate. Republican Eva Ng attacked Mayor Chris Coleman on taxes and fees, which she’d freeze “right now.” [St. Paul Pioneer Press]

MINNEAPOLIS: “Nothing like a pissed-off woman.” That’s how city council candidate Lennie Chism explains away an assault charge as a setup. [Star Tribune]

ST. PAUL: One in five, baby. A state report agrees with Jim Morrison of the Doors: That’s the proportion of Minnesota banks and credit unions on a watch list for failure. [Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal]

MINNEAPOLIS: “It’s like the Metrodome is an obsessed girlfriend, refusing to let the Twins leave.” Sports-romance analogies: You can’t live with ‘em, you can’t live without ‘em. [WCCO-TV; @DeRushaJ]