The latest victim of the inevitable collision between the instantaneous internet and the April Fool's joke is ABC's Jake Tapper.

Our sources tell us Tapper's known for his "gerbil-on-a-wheel" work habits and always wanting to be "first" with every story, from the White House to Capitol Hill and everywhere in between.

So, Tapper jumped on ABC's internal news distribution system early this morning to alert the network that former Justice Department lawyer John C. Yoo-- the author of controversial Bush Administration policy memos after 9/11-- had been arrested in Italy for "war crimes."

It was just a few minutes later after Tapper and colleagues checked the story out that he admitted in another internal email "Oh christ, (sic) I think someone sent this to me as an april fools joke."

Appears someone who knew Tapper couldn't resist taking the bait. But don't feel too bad, Jake, I will likely fall for about a dozen such pranks today.

Check out the email exchange passed along to us after the jump. Tapper is traveling with the President and therefore the email time stamps are different.

Updated at 10:30am: @jaketapper Twittered about his April Fool's Day experience.

liberal activist just "april fools"ed me w/bogus Reuters report on John Yoo getting arrested in Italy. War crimes + torture=comedy (?) about 4 hours ago from web

i didnt report it, natch, but believed it for a sec. oh war crimes + torture! will the ability to mine u for comedy gold never cease?
about 4 hours ago from web

------Original Message------
From:
To: Jake Tapper
Sent: Apr 1, 2009 5:55 AM
Subject: RE: Yoo arrested in Italy for "war crimes"

Yes have checked. No sign of it on Italian wires and Reuters links doesn't work. Never heard of international standard Rompi Testiculo!
_____________________________________________
From: Tapper, Jake
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 11:51 AM
To:
Subject: RE: Yoo arrested in Italy for "war crimes"

Oh christ, I think someone sent this to me as an april fools joke
I cant find it online
Can someone double check... sorry

_____________________________________________
From: Tapper, Jake
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 05:46
To:
Subject: Yoo arrested in Italy for "war crimes"

Former U.S. Official Arrested in Italy

Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:58 pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUNSEO17955925090401

By P.V. Maro

ROME (Reuters) - John C. Yoo, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States, was arrested on Tuesday in Milan, Italy, and is being
held for possible extradition to Spain, where he and five other retired officials who served under former President George W. Bush are expected to be indicted by a Spanish court for violations of the Geneva Conventions, the Convention Against Torture, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.