Former Fallin employee, three others attempted to gain access to Senator’s phones

Oklahoma City, OK (January 28, 2010) – Calling Rep. Mary Fallin “out of touch with common-sense values,” Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Todd Goodman today criticized the Congresswoman for her response to an attempted illegal phone tap at a U.S. Senator’s office.

Despite evidence that a former Congressional aide for Republican Rep. Mary Fallin and three other men attempted to gain access to the telephones of a Louisiana senator, Fallin stated that she still is co-sponsoring a resolution to honor one of the suspects.

“In one statement about the incident, Rep. Fallin condemned the criminal actions of these men, but she still believes one of them is worthy of a Congressional resolution praising him for similar previous actions,” Goodman said.  “I don’t know which statement she expects Oklahomans to believe.”

Fallin’s spokesperson confirmed that one of the suspects, Robert Flanagan, served as an intern in her office for nearly a year.  Flanagan and James O’Keefe, along with two other men, were charged with a felony on Tuesday for carrying out a scheme to gain access to the telephones in Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office.

Fallin is a co-sponsor on a Congressional resolution to honor O’Keefe for a previous incident in which he entered another organization’s offices under false pretenses and videotaped one of their employees.

“Mary Fallin is trying to make the case that she should lead our state, and she’s going to try to run on her record in Washington,” stated Goodman.  “Since her record includes using the power of the U.S. Congress to honor the ringleader of a Watergate-style crime and employing his co-conspirator, then she can go right ahead and run on her record.

“When Fallin returns from Washington to campaign, I think she’ll find that Oklahomans prefer someone with different priorities to lead their state,” he added.

Goodman noted that there are bigger issues facing our state that Fallin may not know about after “hanging out in Washington.”

“I think that if she’s so determined to honor political dirty tricks, she’s missing the bigger picture of what Oklahoma families need from their leaders.”

Related Articles:
Fallin says suspect worked in her office (Tulsa World)
Suspect may be ex-intern to Mary Fallin (The Oklahoman)