In an effort to get out in front of the Elena Kagan sextape story and issue my videotaped denial, it seems I may have inadvertently offended my good friends at The Heritage Foundation.  So yesterday, I issued them a very public apology that was printed in the biggest newspaper in America: USA TODAY.  For those of you who may not have stayed at a Radisson last night, here’s the article:

US Republican Apologises for Elena Kagan “Sextape”

Conservative Think Tank Fellow Apologizes for Elena Kagan Sextape: Denies Tie to Heritage Foundation Event

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Washington, DC – A conservative think tank fellow today apologized for giving the impression that an alleged “sextape” of US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan was taken during an event at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. In a statement issued today, GOP consultant Martin Eisenstadt said, “If I gave anyone the impression that the Heritage Foundation was in any way involved with the purported videotape incident with Ms. Kagan, then I would like to apologize. The Heritage Foundation is a stalwart of the American conservative movement and would never knowingly be involved in any events that might lead to such a sordid video recording.”

Eisenstadt was responding to a recent YouTube video in which he denies the existence of a sextape, but acknowledges that he had intimate relations with Ms. Kagan following an event with The Heritage Foundation.

According to its own website, The Heritage Foundation was a think tank founded in 1973 whose mission is to “formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.”

Eisenstadt himself is Sr. Fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom & Democracy, a different Washington think tank with no official ties to the Heritage Foundation. An expert on Near East political and military affairs, Eisenstadt has been an adviser to numerous Republican candidates, including John McCain and Sarah Palin.

For those of you who have seen my videotaped denial, you know that the incident in question took place after Think Tank Softball League game between my Harding Institute team and the Heritage Foundation.  Of course, those of you who have read my book “I Am Martin Eisenstadt,” also know from Chapter 9 (entitled “When Think Tanks Play Softball“) that I have something of an ongoing rivalry with the Heritage team. And though that chapter details the 2008 season, for those of you who still doubt my Kagan story, I simply point you to a reference to our 2009 game with Heritage on the Harding Institute website. Again, my sincerest apologies to the Heritage Foundation, the Think Tank League and to the attorneys at Dickstein Shapiro (who recommended Kagan as a softball ringer) for dragging all of you into this controversy.