What is the legality of the prank phone call on Gov. Walker? Here we have a journalist who is secretly recording an elected official without their knowledge. I had always assumed that this is illegal (against some kind of espionage law or wiretapping law) but apparently it is okay.
If so then I have some other ideas about "sting" operations that we should set up. If you are a lawyer or know what you are talking about please help me vet these ideas below the fold.
I teach video and sound art at Syracuse University and for awhile now I've wanted to partner with sympathetic members of congress to stage "sting" operations on lobbyists.
For example, Rep. Grayson said that thanks to the Citizen's United ruling lobbyists can essentially tell members of congress "either vote the way we want you to or we are prepared to spend millions to defeat you." Most citizens know this is true on some level, but to be able to get this on tape would lead to outrage. So lets do it.
Let's set up meetings between good Dem reps and lobbyists for the sole purpose of getting their legalized bribes on tape. Let's spend 2-3 years collecting such recordings on multiple issues, health care, wall street reform, war funding, etc. Then when we have a stockpile of these recordings let's strategically release them when relevant legislation is being debated or during campaigns.
For example, when wall street reform was being debated Sen. McConnell had a secret meeting with big wigs on wall street. He reportedly told them he'd do everything he could to stop these reforms. If I remember correctly he met with them at a private swanky restaurant. What if that restaurant had recorded the conversation. Is that even legal? If not, how is it different from the Walker phone call? To have Sen McConnell on tape pledging support for Wall Street would be very useful. It would expose the truth to the general public in a way that would get through and make people rightly angry.
Obviously this is a strategy that stops working as soon as you release the footage. Lobbyists and corrupt members of congress will find ways of meeting privately without falling prey to these kinds of stings. This is why we should think long term and invest 2-3 years collecting these recordings before we make any of them public.
Okay, so how good/bad is this idea? How legal is it or what conditions would need to be met to make it legal? Is the prank call with Gov. Walker legal?