About face: Conservative Malkin disowns 'ACORN pimp' after phone tampering bust

If Michelle Malkin's recent blog post is any indication, conservatives aren't jumping to the defense of the activist who sought to expose the community group ACORN after he was busted "maliciously tampering" with phones at a Louisiana senator's office.

"This is neither a time to joke nor a time to recklessly accuse Democrats/liberals of setting this up nor a time to whine about media coverage double standards," Malkin wrote in a late afternoon blog post Tuesday. "Deal with what’s on the table."

Malkin then quoted extensively from a New Orleans report, which reveals that conservative activist James O'Keefe was arrested and charged with tampering with phones in the Senate office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).

O'Keefe was arrested with associates -- one of whom was the son of an acting US Attorney. "All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony."

According to the FBI affidavit, Flanagan and Basel entered the federal building at 500 Poydras Street about 11 a.m. Monday, dressed as telephone company employees, wearing jeans, fluorescent green vests, tool belts, and hard hats. When they arrived at Landrieu’s 10th floor office, O’Keefe was already in the office and had told a staffer he was waiting for someone to arrive...

After being asked, a staffer gave Basel access to the main phone at the reception desk. The staffer told investigators that Basel manipulated the handset. He also tried to call the main office phone using his cell phone, and said the main line wasn’t working. Flanagan did the same.

They then told the staffer they needed to perform repair work on the main phone system and asked where the telephone closet was located. The staffer showed the men to the main General Services Administration office on the 10th floor, and both went in. There, a GSA employee asked for the men’s credentials, after which they stated they left them in their vehicle.

The U.S. Marshal’s Service apprehended all four men shortly thereafter.

"Let it be a lesson to aspiring young conservatives interested in investigative journalism: Know your limits," Malkin wrote in reply. "Know the law. Don’t get carried away. And don’t become what you are targeting."