The Republican National Lawyers Association hosted a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference this year which featured John Fund, a conservative Wall Street Journal columnist who focuses on voter fraud allegations, and Anita MonCrief, the ACORN “whistleblower,” who was actually reportedly fired by the organization over the misuse of a company credit card.
Cleta Mitchell, the co-chair of the RNLA, introduced the February panel, titled “Saving Freedom From Vote Fraud,” but, she said, “We might have entitled it saving freedom from those who would steal it whose name is ACORN.”
Mitchell said ACORN “whistleblower” Anita MonCrief “is one of the most courageous people I have ever known.” She’s been a regular on the Tea Party circuit, encouraging conservative activists to get involved with poll-watching efforts. But as co-panelist Fund wrote once, MonCrief “was fired [in 2008] over personal expenses she had put on the group’s credit card.”
Also featured on the panel was RNLA Chair David Norcross, who thanked James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles — the duo behind the video which featured shots of the pair dressed as a flamboyant pimp and prostitute interspersed with secretly recorded video of them going into ACORN offices asking for help — “for obviously adding a spark to this story that this 70-year-old lawyer probably could not have added.”
“I think there’s gonna be new tactics in 2010, and we’re going to need your help,” Norcross said. “That’s why the RNLA and John Fund — that’s why we and other organizations are so concerned.”
Video of the panel is available here.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.