Former U.S. Attorney Excoriates James O'Keefe During Attempted Interview: 'You're a Nasty Little Cowardly Spud

A new video uploaded to YouTube on Monday shows former U.S. Attorney James Letten delivering a sweltering rant against controversial filmmaker James O'Keefe during an attempted interview, calling O'Keefe a "hobbit," a "horses ass" and a "spud," among other things.

The rant took place after O'Keefe, in New Orleans for an "unrelated event," attempted to personally deliver a copy of his new book "Breakthrough" to Letten at Tulane University. The incident reportedly took place on July 10.

"Listen to me, listen to me, pay attention to me, listen to me," Lettin sternly said to O'Keefe as he came and met him on the sidewalk. "You went to my house, you terrorized my wife, you're violating federal law, you're violating state law, you're trespassing, you're a nastly little cowardly spud."

(Credit: YouTube)

Lettin didn't stop there.

"All of you, you're hobbits," he said to O'Keefe and his camera crew. "You are less than I can ever tell you. You are scum. Do you understand?"

After Lettin concluded his rant, O'Keefe appeared to attempt a peaceful exit off the campus, however, was told by Tulane University Police that he was being detained.

"Wait a minute fellas, it's not that easy now," said an unidentified police officer. "Come here. It's not that easy."

"Yes, you are" being detained, continued the officer. "First of all, like I'm explaining to you guys, Tulane University is private property."

Watch the contentious exchange below:

TheBlaze was able to reach Lettin on Monday afternoon, but he declined to comment on the incident.

However, last month, Lettin spoke to freelance journalist Charles C. Johnson and appeared to defend his comments, saying O'Keefe is an "extreme right-winger partisan who does these kind of stunts."

Lettin also appeared to express annoyance when asked why he threw O'Keefe's book at the controversial guerrilla filmmaker.

"Oh come on! I tossed it at him!" he told Johnson.

A spokesperson for Tulane University provided TheBlaze with a statement on Monday afternoon, saying O'Keefe and his camera crew are no longer permitted on the private university's campus.

"James O'Keefe and his companions were issued restricted presence letters by the Tulane University Police Department, meaning that they are not allowed to enter the private property of Tulane's campus," the statement said.

In the video, Letten accused O'Keefe of trespassing on his property and "terrorizing" his wife. O'Keefe adamantly denied the accusations and even showed a video depicting himself of calmly walking up to his door and politely leaving after being denied an interview.

"I got you on tape doing it," Letten insisted. "I got you trespassing on my family's property.”

“Listen to me,” he continued. “You're violating federal law. You spend your life as a snail. You do weird little political things. You're a horses ass. Stay away from my family. Stay away from me. Stay from my house, stay away from this institution.”

Letten is Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning at Tulane University and was nominated as a U.S. Attorney by President George W. Bush, according to his faculty bio.

In 2010, Letten initially attempted to prosecute O'Keefe for allegedly sneaking into a Democratic U.S. Senator's office. He later recused himself from the case and O'Keefe was later found guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

This article has been updated to include a statement from Tulane University and comments Lettin made to freelance journalist Charles C. Johnson last month.

Follow Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) on Twitter

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