Via Big Journalism. I’m kicking myself for not having covered this at the time because most of you won’t know the background before watching. Briefly, lefty smear merchant Max Blumenthal dropped a hit piece on O’Keefe at Salon a few weeks ago alleging that he had helped plan some sort of white-supremacist conference in 2006, and even manned a table there at which racist literature was being sold.

Minor problem one: It wasn’t a white-supremacist conference. It was a debate on “Race and Conservatism” featuring a panel discussion between mainstream conservatives and racist radicals. Among the mainstreamers was Kevin Martin, a black conservative who spoke up after the Salon piece was published to say that O’Keefe chatted with him at the conference and “voiced personal support for me and my positions. He also repudiated the radical elements in the room that night.”

Minor problem two: Dave Weigel of the Washington Independent, the alleged source for the detail about O’Keefe manning the table with racist lit, also spoke up after Blumenthal’s piece hit to say that he had no reason to believe O’Keefe had helped plan the event and had never claimed that O’Keefe manned a table there.

And those weren’t the only “minor problems.” The end result: Salon had to formally retract the detail about O’Keefe planning the event, although as far as I know, the fact that O’Keefe allegedly told Kevin Martin he was on his side remains unreported.

You’re now pretty well prepared for what you’re about to see, although I recommend following the links above and reading Patterico’s reports on this, which were stellar as usual. Exit question: Breitbart’s having a good week at CPAC, isn’t he?