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General News    H1'ed 2/27/12

Updated: Nadia Naffe Weighs In as Breitbart "Rape" Hypocrisy Hits TV

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Last week, we pointed out the hypocrisy of Andrew Breitbart's selective concern for alleged rape victims in "Does Breitbart's Rape Rant Apply to James O'Keefe's Alleged "Barn" Plot?".
Breitbart stated plainly he yelled "stop raping people" to OWS demonstrators as a publicity stunt to get attention focused on the underreporting of alleged rapes at OWS. So we thought it odd that Breitbart wasn't addressing serious harrassment allegations made against his star reporter James O'Keefe. 
Last December, another Breitbart columnist named Nadia Naffe filed a complaint alleging O'Keefe was verbally abusive and tried to coerce her to spend the night in his "barn" - as she realized she was losing muscle control. 
The story aired on Current TV's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, with fill-in host David Shuster unloading on Breitbart as a "hypocrite and a frequently unstable publicity seeking hack". Shuster said Breitbart refused to comment on the issue when contacted, but this was appropriate, because he said Breitbart didn't witness anything between and Naffe and O'Keefe and wasn't involved - but Naffe has newly claimed Breitbart knew, even as events were unfolding that night that Naffe asked for his help.
Breitbart finally spoke out - after Shuster tweeted the link to his segment on Breitbart. Shuster said: 
"This alleged rape plot by @jamesokeefeiii + silence by @andrewbreitbart proves AB is a hypocrite." 
Seething, Breitbart twote back:
"There is no 'rape plot' you slanderous, libelous wannabe Media Matters smear junkie".
This prompted Nadia Naffe to break her silence, tweeting to Breitbart: 
"Now, your an expert on 'rape plots'? I called you that night I was held in the barn to ask for help."
This is apparently the first time anywhere the public has heard her characterize her ordeal at O'Keefe's as being "held" as she visited him to discuss his latest video plot. If true, it also reveals that Naffe reached out to Breitbart for help after she backed out and things went sour. 
Naffe's complaint described O'Keefe becoming argumentative as she expressed a desire to leave O'Keefe's premises before, but the word "held" could be construed differently, if she felt her movements or freedom were restricted. This would also contradict what she said in court.
Sounding testy towards Breitbart for out-of-hand dismissal of the idea that there was no "alleged rape plot", this seems to support the point of our article - that Breitbart's publicity-seeking and concern for alleged victim's rights didn't seem to extend to Naffe's alleged plight, while he literally screamed like a maniac in publicizing those reportedly accosted at Occupy sites.
Naffe had been retweeting Breitbart's tweets as recently as Feb. 14, suggesting she was at least agreeing with his online thoughts. But this tweet by Naffe to Breitbart doesn't appear to convey that he was of much help to her the night she alleges she was losing her ability to walk. It appears Naffe and Breitbart see the incident differently, with Naffe questioning Breitbart's perspective on what does and doesn't constitute an 'alleged rape plot'.
In a searing tweet to Shuster, Breitbart invoked a black inner city teen who in 1987 lied about being raped: 
You're Al Sharpton & Tawana Brawley wrapped into one, smearing feces all over your body and trumpeting a blatant falsehood.
Brawley is said to have been manipulated and paraded around by Al Sharpton who falsely claimed she'd been raped by his political enemies - Sharpton lost a defamation suit years later. 
Similar threats of legal action have been made by O'Keefe, also via public tweets, in part because Shuster referred to him as a "convicted felon" when O'Keefe's guilty plea was on a misdemeanor charge. O'Keefe claims this was no accident, because Countdown had made the same misstatement before.
Some claim O'Keefe's suit could backfire if he is cross-examined and had to respond to allegations already dismissed in the criminal complaint - or, if Naffe could be called in as a witness to discuss just why she thought she might have lost muscle control that night, the case could go anywhere.
Naffe's latest tweets suggest she is fired up about O'Keefe's legal "bullying" and is planning to speak out about O'Keefe and "recordings"  she'd helped him make.
Update 12/27: Nadia Naffe issued a series of tweets Monday
 
The first:
O'keefe's threat to sue @DavidShuster into silence is just like the one he used to bully me not to report crime to police.

After this tweet by Shuster:
Hey @JamesokeefeIII apologize to @nadianaffe. And @AndrewBreitbart why wont u condemn his alleged sex assault plan?
Naffe twote:
I'm not looking for an apology. I've been the one apologizing, to people I recorded w/O'keefe since 2010.

and added:
Would not expect public condemnation of O'keefe by @AndrewBreitbart. Admitting your wrong isn't good for business. 
Later, Naffe twote:
I still dont know the identity of the man O'keefe brought with him to the barn that night, to intimidate or worse, assault me

and finally, poised to go public with her version of the incident:
Working on a post abt what happened at the barn in NJ, and my work as an accomplice to a "convicted criminal" O'keefe et al

Update 12/28: The full transcript of Naffe's hearing has been posted online, providing a wealth of new details about the incident and harassment allegations. We learn the "barn" was a converted office space, for instance. This led to questions about confusion introduced by Chris Harris of northjersey.com whose analysis and article drew narrower conclusions from the hearing, for example Naffe's affirmations that no harassment happened till after the night in the barn. But we also learn Naffe also felt O'Keefe's friend was at one point stealthily "hiding" from her, which would be curious.
Naffe herself has doubled down through nuanced Twitter references to being chemically "impaired" (misspelled as 'imparted'). This tweet responds to someone claiming O'Keefe's sex prank on a CNN reporter somehow amounted to a "rape attempt":
Yes, I know abt the foiled plot against @abbieboudreau. Glad she was not imparted by substances & was able to escape

In this dispute between O'Keefe and Naffe, it's still not clear what really happened, but supporters of O'Keefe have already passed judgment, calling Naffe crazy, a "drunken ditz", "offal", "erratic", "an ass", and more. 
Updated 2/29: David Shuster tweeted:
Correction; when reporting on James Okeefe's arrest, I misspoke and said OKeefe is a convicted felon. He's not. I apologize for the error.

This came just hours before O'Keefe announced a defamation suit, publicized here by Fox and Reuters.
When asked "Do you still have all those emails from @jamesokeefeiii gmail acct downloaded on your computer?", Naffe responded:
About 7yrs worth of his emails. I dare not delete anything now @DavidShuster could subpoena them as evidence.

Updated 3/1: ABC News reports that Andrew Breitbart has passed away of natural causes.

I'm sad. Sad that @AndrewBreitbart spent his last days on earth defending someone who truly didn't deserve it.
Asked more about O'Keefe emails she claims to have, Naffe is advised to give back-up copies to a trusted source: 
No thanks. Last time I did that they wound up at @politico. Today is a day to respect the dead. RIP Andrew Breitbart.
Told the NYT would "crucify" O'Keefe if given her emails, she writes:
Yeah, I know. All the dirty details, money trails, tactics are in his emails. It's enough to give a man a heart attack.
Also on the subject of email, Naffe teases this:
Never met a guy who emailed his buddies every sexual experience he's had w/ a women. Incl the ones he had by himself
Naffe, asked about being sued herself:
To sue for defamation O'keefe would have to prove I've made a false stmt. His own emails will prove I havent 

Updated 3/15: Naffe releases "My Time as an Accomplice to Convicted Criminal James O'Keefe". 
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(OpEdNews Contributing Editor since October 2006) Inner city schoolteacher from New York, mostly covering media manipulation. I put election/finance reform ahead of all issues but also advocate for fiscal conservatism, ethics in journalism and (more...)
 

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