Senator Mary Landrieu is senior member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Their jurisdiction is vast. That raises the possibility that her office and communications passing through her office might contain some of the most highly classified information handled by any elected official in Congress, or refer to classified information. This includes information regarding counter-terrorism, intelligence coordination, corruption investigations, and active ongoing operations.
Not so funny now, is it?
Some of the issues in front of her committe:
Current hearings held by the Senate Homeland Security Committee:
Intelligence reform in the aftermath of the Christmas terrorist attack
Overviews of contracting corruption in Afghanistan
Planning for securing America’s diplomats around the world
The Terrorist Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act (IRTPA)
Investigating the root causes of the Ft. Hood attack
Securing America from financial crimes
America’s Defense from Cyber Attack
Development plans for "post surge" Afghanistan
Current investigations by the Sub-Committee on Investigations are:
Speculation in trading and how it effects national security
How US banks help overseas corporation dodge US taxes
Report on Tax Havens hiding billions from the IRS
Massive abuses of government credit cards by employees
Ending "offshore secrecy" to allow the US to recover billions in tax shortfall
Shell Oil credit card interest abuses
Medicaid abuse and equipment overcharges
Billions in unpaid taxes on Medicaid income by American doctors
Speculation in the energy markets costing American consumers billions a year
Failures in United Nations reform, waste and corruption
Speculation and manipulation that controls and rigs crude oil and gasoline markets
Current contracting oversight responsibilities:
Overseeing all USAID reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan
Investigating massive corruption tied to the US Embassy in Kabul
Detecting and Prosecuting Contractor Fraud
When you consider the claim they wanted to "embarrass" Landrieu, the question comes up ... what information were they hoping to get? Because leaking any information related to any of these matters would be highly embarrassing. That raises a really troubling question of who they were working for, and were they hoping to find marketable intel?
Some people seem eager to dismiss this. My question to them is why? Because Landrieu's a woman and her job isn't a serious one?
All the noise about thier "intentions" is garbage. This was no accident. They didn't wander into the phone closet looking for a bathroom. It was in a completely separate building. This is an intentional effort to compromise physical security. When people do that by accident entire airports get closed down. This is not something to trivialize. The fact is that guys masquerading as phone workers also breached security entering the building. Every federal facility has metal detectors and security posts at all entrances. They violated that too. This isn't a stunt. It's a bunch of felonies.
One possible explanation comes from a report quoting O'Keefe's father
Earlier Wednesday, during a cable news interview, O'Keefe's father said that although he didn't know anything about the plot he thought it might have something to do with the "Louisiana land purchase." The elder James O'Keefe apparently was referring to "Lousiana purchase," a nickname conservatives have applied to "the buyoff" Louisiana senators allegedly received to sign on to the health care reform bill.
You're not going to get that kind of info sitting in the front of her office.