How the F.B.I. Identified Murray’s Caller

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
NYT

As the F.B.I. moved in on a man who allegedly threatened Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, because of her support for the health care legislation, law enforcement agents faced a challenge: they needed to confirm that Charles A. Wilson, the man whose phone number was used to leave menacing messages on her office voicemail, was in fact the man who made the threats.

So they found a convenient way to get Mr. Wilson talking about the issue that seemed to be weighing so heavily on him. Special Agent Cory Cote of the F.B.I. called Mr. Wilson at his home number and, according to the criminal complaint (PDF), “disguised himself as a representative of ‘Patients United Now,’ a group that was ostensibly attempting to have the federal health care reform legislation repealed.”

Mr. Wilson apparently was interested in what the group had to say: the call lasted about 14 minutes, according to the complaint.

Patients United Now is a real organization, part of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative, anti-tax advocacy group, that has actively opposed the legislation and also runs a project called “Hands Off My Health Care.” Americans for Prosperity has also been active in publicizing Tea Party events. It advocates for the federal government to “return to its Constitutional limits” and also seeks to highlight the “alarmism” around global warming.

(More here.)