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ACORN: September 2009

Watch: Maddow Interviews Iglesias On GOP's Anti-ACORN Campaign

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2009, 11:39AM

One point that often gets overlooked in the current freak-out over ACORN, is that the US attorney firings were, in part, a different manifestation of the same Republican-driven campaign to discredit and sideline the group that we've seen recently.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last night interviewed David Iglesias, and reminded us that Iglesias was fired in large part for not pursuing bogus voter fraud cases tied to ACORN. The New Mexico GOP, along with Karl Rove, understood that hampering the registration of poor and minority voters was crucial to boosting Republicans' chances in the minority-heavy state. And that pressuring law enforcement to bring voter fraud cases implicating ACORN, despite the lack of evidence, was the best way to do it.

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Topics: ACORN, David Iglesias, Karl Rove, U.S. Attorneys, Voting, voter fraud

ACORN

ACORN Hidden Camera Scandal Being Probed By Feds, Brooklyn DA

Zachary Roth | September 23, 2009, 4:54PM

ACORN has been contacted by the FBI and the Brooklyn district attorney's office in connection to the recent scandal in which staffers were caught on video advising two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to break the law.

The news was revealed by Arthur Schwartz, ACORN's general counsel, on a conference call with reporters moments ago. (Full disclosure: Almost a decade ago, I was hired by Schwartz to work on a political campaign.) Schwartz said that the requests for information were not subpoenas, but confirmed that they were part of investigations into possible criminal activity revealed by the videos. He added that ACORN is cooperating with those requests.

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Topics: ACORN, Barack Obama, FBI, Justice Department

ACORN

DOJ To Review Whether It Funded ACORN

Zachary Roth | September 21, 2009, 5:22PM

Some Republican foes of ACORN have been calling since last week for a Justice Department investigation of the beleaguered group, in the wake of the now-famous hidden camera scandal.

And it looks like a DOJ probe, of a kind, will indeed go forward.

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Topics: ACORN, Barack Obama, Glenn Fine, House Judiciary, John Conyers, Justice Department

ACORN

Obama: ACORN "Should Be Investigated"

Zachary Roth | September 21, 2009, 10:10AM

President Obama said yesterday that ACORN should be investigated -- though he didn't specify by who.

Speaking on ABC's This Week, as part of yesterday's talk-show blitz, Obama said that what he'd seen on the now-famous ACORN videos "was certainly inappropriate and deserves to be investigated."

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Topics: ACORN, Barack Obama

ACORN

Cutting Off Funds Would Hurt ACORN's Foreclosure Prevention Work

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2009, 12:09PM

Whatever you think about ACORN, poor people and minorities may end up being hurt the most by Congress's sudden vendetta against the group.

As we told you, the House yesterday overwhelmingly backed a Republican measure to cut off all federal funding from ACORN, in the wake of a scandal in which employees were caught on camera advising two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to break the law.

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Topics: ACORN, Voting

ACORN

House Votes To Strip ACORN Of All Federal Funds

Zachary Roth | September 17, 2009, 3:04PM

In the wake of a scandal in which employees were caught on tape advising people posing as a prostitute and pimp in how to break the law, the House of Representatives voted today to strip ACORN of all federal funding.

The vote was 345-75 on a measured pushed by GOP House leader John Boehner. The Senate voted earlier this week to withdraw housing and urban development funding. But the House bill would remove all federal funding.

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Topics: ACORN, Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Justice Department

ACORN

Taking Stock Of The ACORN Sting

Zachary Roth | September 16, 2009, 5:28PM

As you probably know by now, last week two conservative activists set off a frenzy in the right-wing media by posting videos in which they posed as a pimp and a prostitute -- complete with outlandish costumes -- and asked employees of ACORN for advice on how to conceal the woman's source of income on their tax forms. ACORN employees in Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Brooklyn, fell for the sting, offering advice to the young couple on how to deceive the government.

ACORN fired the employees involved, but that hasn't stopped coverage of the scandal from mushrooming beyond Fox's Glenn Beck and quickly going mainstream.