by Frank James
It's been a busy few days of charges, countercharges, an apparent Federal Bureau of Investigations leak, you name it, between ACORN, the community organizing group and its Republican tormenters who blame it for everything from trying to steal the coming election to triggering the global financial crisis (that's one mighty powerful group of poor people.).
Let's go through what happened in reverse order.
The Republican National Committee just a few minutes ago e-mailed to reporters an Associated Press story from this morning about an FBI investigation of ACORN although the "new" story appears to be pretty much to be the same as yesterday's.
Officials: FBI investigates ACORN for voter fraud
By Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press, October 17, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI is investigating whether the community activist group ACORN helped foster voter registration fraud around the nation before the presidential election. A senior law enforcement official confirmed the investigation to The Associated Press on Thursday.
A second senior law enforcement official says the FBI was looking at results of recent raids on ACORN offices in several states for any evidence of a coordinated national scam.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Justice Department regulations forbid discussing ongoing investigations particularly so close to an election.
ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, says it has registered 1.3 million young people, minorities and poor and working-class voters - most of whom tend to be Democrats.
Republican accusations about the group were raised during Wednesday's presidential debate between Democrat Barack Obama and GOP candidate John McCain.
Some ACORN employees have been accused of submitting false voter registration forms - including some signed `Mickey Mouse' or other fictitious characters.
Those voter registration cards have become the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut, Missouri and at least five other states. Election officials in Ohio and North Carolina also recently questioned the group's voter forms.
ACORN has said the "vast majority" of its workers are conscientious, but some might have turned in duplicate applications or provided fake information to pad their pay. Workers caught submitting false information have been fired, ACORN officials say.
ACORN says laws in a number of states require it to submit all registration cards it collects even dubious ones, so its workers segregate applications with missing, suspicious or false information and flag them so state election officials can quickly check them further.
Last night, after I had given up blogging for the evening, an ACORN press release hit my email inbox. Here's an excerpt:
ACORN Statement Regarding Reported FBI Investigation
October 16, 2008 - One day after John McCain launched baseless attacks at ACORN in his final debate with Barack Obama, unnamed sources have leaked a story to the Associated Press claiming that a national FBI investigation is underway. This is a right wing attempt to set the stage for a massive voter suppression operation and a gross attempt to besmirch the largest community organization of low- and- moderate income Americans. ACORN's statement regarding the reported FBI investigation follows.
Additionally, House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers has just released a letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey assailing this nakedly partisan attempt to taint the election, ACORN and the candidacy of Barack Obama. The full text of the letter is below.
Former US Attorney David Iglesias also expressed his shock and concern in an interview with TPMmuckraker, text below.
Statement from ACORN Regarding Reported FBI Investigation
ACORN has not been contacted by any federal law enforcement agencies. Should any investigation be forthcoming, we are confident that we would be exonerated. We have always, and will continue to, work with any inquiry.
It is well established and documented that in 2004 the Bush Administration was involved in a scandal where Bush Administration political appointees, working in concert with the Department of Justice, pressured some U.S. Attorneys, such as David Iglesias, to pursue partisan investigations of ACORN. Given that in the last forty-eight hours we have seen a coordinated attack by the Republican Party, including a conservative think tank in Ohio connected to the well-know voter suppresser and McCain supporter Ken Blackwell, file a frivolous lawsuit that is virtually identical to the lawsuit filed in 2004 that was dismissed for lack of evidence, followed by Senator Voinovich, a supporter of Senator McCain, calling for a Justice Department investigation, followed by Senator McCain's attack in the debate last night, we believe that dirty politics are at work...
Here's an excerpt from the referenced letter from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to Attorney General Michael Mukasey:
October 16, 2008
Dear Mr. Attorney General and Director Mueller:
It is with shock and disappointment that I read today's Associated Press report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened and leaked an investigation into whether ACORN, a longstanding and well regarded organization that fights for the poor and working class, is involved in nationwide voter fraud.
As an initial matter, it is simply unacceptable that such information would be leaked during the very peak of the election season. Such leaks of information about ongoing criminal investigation matters are always inappropriate, and likely violate the provisions of the U.S. Attorney manual governing release of information about ongoing investigations (and which, in any event, would require approval from the responsible U.S. Attorney or Department division before release. More significant in this case, however, they also run afoul of valuable Department traditions regarding the need for cautious and sensitive handling of election- related matters during the run up to voting (or, as here, while early voting is underway)...
... Moreover, this news is all the more troubling in light of the proven wrongdoing at the Justice Department in the United States Attorneys scandal. As you are aware, there is extensive evidence that political operatives improperly pressured United States Attorneys to investigate and prosecute spurious claims of vote fraud in close proximity to an election. When some did not, they were terminated. Thus, one must view the timing of this extraordinary leak with added suspicion, given that it comes less than 24 hours after the Republican Presidential candidate raised these allegations in a nationally televised debate.
I know that it has become a right-wing cottage industry to cry wolf over alleged "voter fraud" during an election season (only to have such claims evaporate after the election has concluded).
Then there was the Talking Points Memo interview with former former New Mexico U.S. attorney David Iglesias
Here's an excerpt:
"I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again," Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. "Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic." In 2006, Iglesias was fired as U.S. attorney thanks partly to his reluctance to pursue voter-fraud cases as aggressively as DOJ wanted -- one of several U.S. attorneys fired for inappropriate political reasons, according to a recently released report by DOJ's Office of the Inspector General.
Iglesias, who has been the most outspoken of the fired U.S. attorneys, went on to say that the FBI's investigation seemed designed to inappropriately create a "boogeyman" out of voter fraud.
And he added that it "stands to reason" that the investigation was launched in response to GOP complaints. In recent weeks, national Republican figures -- including John McCain at last night's debate -- have sought to make an issue out of ACORN's voter-registration activities.
This sprang from Republicans, including McCain's campaign publicizing what they said was an FBI investigation. Here's an excerpt of a McCain campaign release:
STATEMENT ON ACORN INVESTIGATION
For Immediate Release
Contact: Press Office
hursday, October 16, 2008
ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis released the following statement in response to the FBI's investigation of ACORN:
"Given the fact the FBI has launched a nationwide investigation into the questionable voter registration practices of ACORN, it is imperative that Barack Obama's campaign cooperate fully with this important investigation. To date, in public announcements including last night's debate, Barack Obama has attempted to conceal and distort his and his campaign's relationship with a group that is currently engaging in systematic voter fraud. Barack Obama's campaign must fully disclose the true nature of his association with ACORN...
Which was all started by a small Associated Press story based on a supposed FBI leak:
October 16, 2008
The Associated Press
by Lara Jakes Jordan.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI is investigating whether the community activist group ACORN helped foster voter registration fraud around the nation before the presidential election.
A senior law enforcement official confirmed the investigation to The Associated Press on Thursday. A second senior law enforcement official says the FBI was looking at results of recent raids on ACORN offices in several states for any evidence of a coordinated national scam.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because regulatons forbid discussing ongoing investigations particularly so close to an election.
ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, says it has registered 1.3 million young people, minorities and poor and working-class voters _ most of whom tend to be Democrats.
And so it goes.
Comments
a small Associated Press story based on a supposed FBI leak
So you are saying Lara Jakes Jordan of AP was taken for a ride? Like maybe she is a rube that wouldn't know a fake story from a hole in the ground. Or maybe she is a secret plant the GOP has at AP.
Yeah well anyway it's good to see reporters are now eating their own instead of picking on the 'joe the plumbers' of America.
Posted by: hadenough | October 17, 2008 12:18 PM
hadenough has it right. Either Lara Jordan sources are lying about the investigation or the ACORN spokesperson that denied being contacted by any federal law enforcement agencies is lying. Both can't be true, so I would be nice if some investigative reporters could sort that out.
Posted by: PJ Hansen | October 17, 2008 1:33 PM
I think Bill Maher really did a good job on Larry King last night. He laid it out nicely. How could there be voter fraud when they have not voted? ACORN, was simply flagging bogus registratiosna and reporting then on their own.
Posted by: anna austin | October 17, 2008 1:44 PM
Look at what has grown from Acorn:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/secretmoney/2008/10/acorns_money_tree_has_many_bra.html
Posted by: Woodsplitter | October 17, 2008 2:20 PM
anna, ACORN admits that some of their employees provided fake information to pad their pay. You have the wrong talking point.
The Obama talking point was, unbelievably, that a few renegade employees of ACORN committed fraud, and that therefore, ACORN is the real victim. That explanation is laughable. That's like saying Exxon-Mobil was the real victim when their drunk captain crashed the Valdez. It doesn't work that way. A corporation is responsible for their employees’ actions in the scope of its business. Indeed, they can only act through their employees. Taking Obama's ridiculous talking point to its logical conclusion, a corporation could never be liable for anything because it wasn't them, it was their employee.
Frank James, I've seen several of your articles on ACORN. They consist of fluff, talking points and not so subtle defenses of upstanding ACORN, but not a shred of investigative journalism into the only issues that really matter - did they commit voter registration fraud and is there any connection to the presidential campaigns.
Finally, anna, Bill Maher is a pompous idiot. The allegation is voter registration fraud. I find it hard to believe someone who thinks they are as smart as Maher can't make that distinction.
Posted by: Herbie H. | October 17, 2008 2:27 PM
Harping on ACORN and Ayers is going to backfire on McCain big-time. People have shown they're good and tired of this kind of campaigning, and most people aren't buying it.
Of course, far be it from ME to keep McCain from doing what he considers is his patriotic duty by pointing out the flaws of his opponent. That would, after all, violate his First Amendment rights and I've always been THOROUGHLY in favor of the First Amendment.
Posted by: Op109 | October 17, 2008 2:37 PM
Here is the blog of Acorn's founder, Wade Radke:
http://www.chieforganizer.org/
Posted by: Just the Facts | October 17, 2008 4:36 PM