So Beth and I are in D.C. for the next two weeks and Monday we had a meeting near the White House.
And a very odd string of events ensued ...
We had this meeting, some random political operative, and with the beastly heat we went into a coffee shop. There are some discussions that happen in Congressional offices, while many others happen while walking outside ... unless the heat index is 110F.
So we're sitting and our guy gets out his phone and texts me "Fox News producer to your right." The guy is behind us, being nochalant, but taking it all in - we were talking about some upcoming events, not saying so much because of the crowd and the location.
Fox guy is texting, too, then he leaves. A few minutes later a somewhat scrubby looking street guy comes and sits on the couch next to me. He doesn't order, puts down a snuff can on the coffee table, and starts quietly mumbling to himself.
Having worked in a homeless shelter there's a smell people have when they've spent the night out in the temperatures we've been having. This guy didn't have that. I'm crazy sensitive to smells - no way was this a smokeless tobacco user.
And a snuff can is just the right size for a recording device with a whole lot of battery to it.
Random political operative and I had some things to discuss, so I said "let's take a walk". We went out in the beastly heat, and made a circuit of the block, quickly exchanging the key points we couldn't discuss in the cool, dry air of the coffee shop.
Street mumbler dude was gone when we got back, nowhere to be seen in the vicinity.
Let's put this little event against the bigger backdrop. Fox parent News Corp is melting down in the U.K. due to a wire tap and hacking scandal. Their U.S. operations are threatened by both the investigation spilling over here and the potential for an investigation based on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
News Corp engaged the Chamber of Commerce to attempt to defang the FCPA last year, paying a million dollars for the lobbying. HBGary was offering a variety of "information operations" to the Chamber, including planting malware and other illicit conduct.
I've personally taken up both promoting Indict Breitbart, an effort to get attention on Bretibart, O'Keefe, and Giles for their wire tap crimes in Maryland, and I've been covering the coverup and meltdown of the pursuit of Anthony Weiner by Breitbart toady John Patrick Frey aka Patterico.
I'm not saying that Breitbart's people are watching me anywhere other than online; I don't think they have the resources. I'm not saying Fox News is watching me; I'm a guppy in the D.C. shark tank.
What I am saying is that we were talking something of mild interest in the vicinity of a man who works for a News Corp property, in a coffee shop near the White House, and then not long after what appeared to be a cheesy, easily made wire tap law violation occurred.
This isn't at all out of line for D.C., but it is interesting that it was so directly identifiable as being a News Corp move.