Landrieu 'proud' of GOP response to phone tampering

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said she was "proud" of the Republican response to the attempt by four conservative activists to tamper with the phones in her New Orleans office. "I'm very proud of the Republican senators, so far, [they] have been appropriately constrained," Landrieu told The Hill Thursday. "I don't think any of them want to be on the record supporting illegal activity."

The Louisiana Democratic Party has been pressuring Rep. David Vitter (R-La.) to "condemn" the attempted phone tampering. "Sen. Vitter should immediately denounce the actions of these four men and anyone who may have instigated, supported or assisted them," Michael McHale, chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, said this week.

Landrieu, however, said she was pleased with Vitter's response.

“Senator Vitter called for a full investigation, which I thought was a very appropriate response,” Landrieu said. “What this guy did, James O'Keefe, was wrong. And it very well may be illegal, and if he is found to have broken the law there are serious penalties attached to what he did. I think his actions speak for themselves."

Vitter declined to comment Thursday. His office directed The Hill to his earlier statement: "We're blessed with an extremely competent U.S. attorney's office in New Orleans, and I know they'll handle this as aggressively as they have other serious cases."

Meanwhile, Louisiana's Republican governor called the men's actions "not acceptable" and said he trusted the federal law enforcement system to "punish those actions."

"That office represents the United States senator who was elected by the people of Louisiana," Gov. Bobby Jindal told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "I don't care what your politics are ... we need to respect the law."