Jerry Brown threatens to prosecute team that secretly taped ACORN, then secretly tapes reporters’ phone calls

Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who is now the California Attorney General, but may again become Governor, must be dizzy from trying to keep up with his current title. That’s the only way to explain this strange sequence of events.

On October 2, 2009, the Sacramento Bee reported this story:

Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office has opened an investigation into the controversy surrounding videos that purportedly show members of community organizing group ACORN giving advice on how to open a brothel. In a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dated Sept. 25, Chief Deputy Attorney General James M. Humes said the office has “opened an investigation of both ACORN and the circumstances under which ACORN employees were videotaped.” The governor had asked Brown two weeks ago to look into the incidents. Schwarzenegger issued a statement praising Brown’s decision to investigate. “I am outraged and deeply concerned by these allegations,” the statement said. “If these reports are true, they warrant prosecution under the fullest extent of the law.”

Ordinary citizens taping criminal behavior without the criminals’ knowledge? Why, that’s outrageous. Anyone guilty of that must be prosecuted. Except for one thing. SFGate.com reports this two-faced turnabout by Brown’s office:

A spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown acknowledged Thursday that he taped a phone conversation with a reporter for The Chronicle this week without disclosing the fact or asking permission – and admitted he has taped conversations with other news reporters. Scott Gerber, spokesman for Brown’s office, made the admission after the publication of a story in the newspaper that detailed consumer activist Harvey Rosenfield’s criticisms of revisions the attorney general made to the summary of a ballot measure that deals with car insurance rates. California Penal Code Section 632 prohibits the recording of private telephone conversations without consent, and the state is one of 12 states that require notification of all parties prior to taping. Jim Humes, chief deputy attorney general, said in a statement to The Chronicle Thursday: “In the future, Mr. Gerber will not tape any conversation unless all parties agree.” He added that Gerber has recorded “a few other conversations” with reporters and will contact them. First Amendment advocates said Gerber’s actions, whether illegal or not, reflect poorly on the office of the state’s top legal official, Brown, who is the Democratic front-runner in the 2010 governor race.

Jerry Brown has always been nuts. We’re about to find out if he’s also a hypocrite.

What are the odds?

Source: Sacramento Bee, SFGate.com