ACORN & Prostitution

[bte]

The videotape was made public Thursday on BigGovernment.com, a political blog launched by Andrew Breitbart as a companion site to his BigHollywood.breitbart.com blog.

In the videotape, made on July 24, James O'Keefe, a 25-year-old independent filmmaker, posed as a pimp with a 20-year-old woman named "Kenya" who posed as a prostitute while visiting ACORN's office in Baltimore. The couple told ACORN staffers they wanted to secure housing where the woman could continue to maintain a prostitution business.

ACORN — the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — bills itself as the nation's largest community of low- and moderate-income families "working together for social justice and stronger communities," according to its Web site. The organization has been accused by Republicans and conservative activists with fraud in voter registration drives around the country and has been under fire since last year for its support of President Obama and for its planned participation in next year's census.

A spokesman for ACORN, Scott Levenson, when asked to comment on the videotape, said: "The portrayal is false and defamatory and an attempt at gotcha journalism. This film crew tried to pull this sham at other offices and failed. ACORN wants to see the full video before commenting further."

On the videotape, "Kenya" can be seen telling an ACORN staffer that she earns roughly $8,000 a month. The ACORN employee then suggests to "Kenya" that ACORN could submit a tax return for 2008 showing that she made $9,600 for the entire year — instead of $96,000 — and that ACORN would charge "Kenya" $50 instead of the usual $150 fee for preparing her taxes.

ACORN offers tax preparation and benefits application services free of charge during tax season; it charges nominal fees during non-tax season.

The ACORN staffer can also be seen suggesting that the prostitute list her occupation as a freelance "performing artist."

"It's not dancing, trust me," the "pimp" says.

"But dancing is considered an art," the ACORN staffer replies. "[Exotic dancers] usually go under performing artists, or yeah, they usually go under performing arts, which will be what you are — a performing artist."

The "pimp" later says that he and "Kenya" plan to bring up to 13 "very young" girls from El Salvador to work as prostitutes. Although an ACORN staffer points out their plans are illegal, she also suggests that the girls can be claimed as dependents.

"What if they are going to be making money because they are performing tricks too?" the pimp says.

"If they making money and they are underage, then you shouldn't be letting anybody know anyway," the ACORN staffer says, and laughs. "It's illegal. So I am not hearing this, I am not hearing this. You talk too much. Don't give up no information you're not asked."

The "pimp" then asks ACORN staffers to "promise" not to discriminate against his sex worker because of "who she is and what she does," according to the audiotape.

"If we don't have the information, then how are we going to discriminate?" the ACORN staffer replies. "You see what I am saying?"

If the girls are under age 16, the ACORN staffer says on the tape, then they are not legally allowed to work in the state, regardless of what they do.

"So it's like they don't even exist?" "Kenya" asks.

"Exactly," the ACORN staffer replies. "It's like they don't even exist."

The staffer goes on to suggest that as many as three of the underage girls can be listed as dependents at the home, but a "flag" will be raised if as many as 13 are listed.

"You are gonna use three of them," the staffer says. "They are gonna be under 16, so you is eligible to get child tax credit and additional child tax credit."

The ACORN workers also appear to be promoting the group's services to the "pimp" and "Kenya."

A second ACORN employee can be heard on the audiotape suggesting that the couple join the organization for an annual cost of $120 prior to attending one of its first-time homebuyer seminars, which are underwritten with taxpayer funds.

Later, when the "pimp" asks what would happen if the organization is somehow connected to the scheme, the ACORN staffer replies, "First of all, it's not gonna damage us because we not gonna know. And with your girls, you tell them, 'Be careful.' Train them to keep their mouth shut."

"These girls are like 14, how can we trust them?" the pimp asks.

"Just be very, very careful," the ACORN staffer says. "Whatever you do, always keep your eyes in the back of your head."

Reached by FOX News, O'Keefe said he was "shocked" at the level of assistance provided by ACORN staffers.

"I was prepared for them to call the police, throw me out of the office and be hostile," he said. "Without hesitation, they helped me every way they could with evading taxes and setting me up with a brothel, with getting around federal tax laws — doing everything they could to help us. I was completely shocked."

House Republicans issued a report in July accusing ACORN of engaging in a scheme to use taxpayer money to support a partisan political agenda. California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called for a criminal investigation into the group, which dismissed the report as a "partisan attack job."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtTnizEnC1U

[Dino Velvet]

Amazing that the ACORN workers didn't even bat an eyelash when child prostitution was brought up.

Here's today's ACORN stories. Catching ACORN doing bad things is getting like shooting fish in a barrel.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549241,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/11/census-bureau-severs-ties-acorn/

[bte]

So far the only news source that has covered the story is FoxNews. I am surprised that more people haven't responded to the post. It seems as though ACORN is crooked, just another one of Obama questionable associations.

[Dino Velvet]

I am surprised that more people haven't responded to the post.

You mean here? I'm not.

If there were a response it would go something like this:
What does a group that gives helpful advice to assist someone in starting up a child prostitution ring and commit tax fraud have to do with gathering Census information? :shrug :shrug One has nothing to do with the other. You watch Fox News, don't you? I mean Faux News. lol

[bte]

I am surprised that more people haven't responded to the post.

You mean here? I'm not.

If there were a response it would go something like this:
What does a group that gives helpful advice to assist someone in starting up a child prostitution ring and commit tax fraud have to do with gathering Census information? :shrug :shrug One has nothing to do with the other. You watch Fox News, don't you? I mean Faux News. lol

LoL...yeah I was talking about people on the P&R forum. I mean this catches ACORN right in the act of committing a crime. This is the same ACORN that backed the president, the same ACORN that does Census information, the same ACORN that was accussed of voter registration fraud, and the same ACORN that has wrote some of the bills that the president has passed. I watch Foxnews sometimes, but other times I like to compare it to HoaxNews, because at times they do say lies. I prefer to watch BBC News though.

[natina]

COMPANY POLICY FIRED THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE

INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY


INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY

INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY


INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/puzzles_toons/images/01tmclo.gif



INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY

INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY
INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY

INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY


INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BLAME,NOT ACORN,ITS NOT A COMPANY POLICY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A154BmAkryQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlYG3tO41SU&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzbVNXNW35k&NR=1

OUTING DOWNLOW GAY NEOCONSERVATIVES ,THE STORY

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/28/outrage-documentary-activ_n_192476.html
OUTING DOWNLOW GAY NEOCONSERVATIVES, THE MOVIE
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/outrage/trailer


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__27Etnquhz0/RuAzB-c5G4I/AAAAAAAAAqo/T0QromUpWcE/s400/wide%2Bstance.gif

http://www.classbrain.com/artread/uploads/gay-republicans.jpg
http://www.appletreeblog.com/wp-content/2008/06/craig-wide-stance.jpg
http://chagrilama.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/widestance.jpg
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/epa0672l.jpg

[notdrunk]

Nice spam post. What do Republicans have to do with this?

[Dino Velvet]

Today's ACORN fuck-up. Will this shit ever end?
Third Videotape Reveals ACORN Assisting 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in Brooklyn, N.Y. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549903,00.html

[Dino Velvet]

Today's virtuous behavior by the good people at ACORN.

Fourth Videotape Reveals ACORN Advising 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in California http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,550562,00.html

Somebody tell Charles Gibson who these guys are. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,550605,00.html

[bte]

Apparently, "the right wing media" was right about ACORN during the election. I wonder what else they could be right about...

[Dino Velvet]

ACORN Gone Wild - San Diego
Fifth video instructs best place to sneak illegal underage prostitutes across the border.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkj_OqfXypQ

http://biggovernment.com/

[trish]

The accusations made against ACORN during the campaign concerned election fraud, not finding housing for pimps & prostitutes. Those allegations have not been born out. Obviously the some people need to be fired and some people have. Also obviously there needs to be better training in place and more accountability.

So did the protitutes find some housing or not? Have any of you guys tried them out yet?

[bte]

The accusations made against ACORN during the campaign concerned election fraud, not finding housing for pimps & prostitutes. Those allegations have not been born out. Obviously the some people need to be fired and some people have. Also obviously there needs to be better training in place and more accountability.

So did the protitutes find some housing or not? Have any of you guys tried them out yet?

I think there has been voter fraud within ACORN and several members have been tried and convicted of election fraud. In 2009, Nevada indicted ACORN on 26 counts of voter fraud. Also in 2004, ACORN registered a 13 year old boy to vote, which proves fraud.

*edited to replace election fraud in my original post to voter fraud*

[Cuchulain]

The accusations made against ACORN during the campaign concerned election fraud, not finding housing for pimps & prostitutes. Those allegations have not been born out. Obviously the some people need to be fired and some people have. Also obviously there needs to be better training in place and more accountability.

So did the protitutes find some housing or not? Have any of you guys tried them out yet?

I think there has been election fraud within ACORN and several members have been tried and convicted of election fraud. In 2009, Nevada indicted ACORN on 26 counts of voter fraud. Also in 2004, ACORN registered a 13 year old boy to vote, which proves fraud.

I posted several lengthy rebuttals to the ACORN 'election fraud' smears prior to the 08 election. Feel free to review them. There's a big difference between voter fraud and election fraud. In a nutshell, ACORN, or anybody else, is required by law to turn in ANY filled out voter registration form, even if it's filled out by Mickey Mouse. Obviously fraudulent forms are flagged by ACORN and the employee who submitted them is fired and turned in to the authorities. State election officials have the job of checking new voter registration forms to see if the prospective voter actually lives in the state and qualifies to vote. Neither ACORN nor anyone else registering new voters have the necessary info or the legal right to do this.

Voter fraud is very rare and an issue trumped up mostly by clowns like Beck and Hannity to discourage the registering of new voters who will likely vote Dem. Check out http://www.brennancenter.org/

As for the current ACORN controversy, the fools in the vids should certainly be (and have been) fired and also prosecuted. I'm waiting for more info from sources other than FOX Noise and that joker from Breitbart. One interesting item I did see was regarding the ACORN employee who was taped talking about killing her husband. She said she realized these people were pulling a conjob and decided to do the same to them. She has several ex-husbands, all of whom are alive and well.

Time will tell where this issue goes. ACORN obviously need to do a better job vetting and training employees.

[bte]

The accusations made against ACORN during the campaign concerned election fraud, not finding housing for pimps & prostitutes. Those allegations have not been born out. Obviously the some people need to be fired and some people have. Also obviously there needs to be better training in place and more accountability.

So did the protitutes find some housing or not? Have any of you guys tried them out yet?

I think there has been election fraud within ACORN and several members have been tried and convicted of election fraud. In 2009, Nevada indicted ACORN on 26 counts of voter fraud. Also in 2004, ACORN registered a 13 year old boy to vote, which proves fraud.

I posted several lengthy rebuttals to the ACORN 'election fraud' smears prior to the 08 election. Feel free to review them. There's a big difference between voter fraud and election fraud. In a nutshell, ACORN, or anybody else, is required by law to turn in ANY filled out voter registration form, even if it's filled out by Mickey Mouse. Obviously fraudulent forms are flagged by ACORN and the employee who submitted them is fired and turned in to the authorities. State election officials have the job of checking new voter registration forms to see if the prospective voter actually lives in the state and qualifies to vote. Neither ACORN nor anyone else registering new voters have the necessary info or the legal right to do this.

Voter fraud is very rare and an issue trumped up mostly by clowns like Beck and Hannity to discourage the registering of new voters who will likely vote Dem. Check out http://www.brennancenter.org/

As for the current ACORN controversy, the fools in the vids should certainly be (and have been) fired and also prosecuted. I'm waiting for more info from sources other than FOX Noise and that joker from Breitbart. One interesting item I did see was regarding the ACORN employee who was taped talking about killing her husband. She said she realized these people were pulling a conjob and decided to do the same to them. She has several ex-husbands, all of whom are alive and well.

Time will tell where this issue goes. ACORN obviously need to do a better job vetting and training employees.

You're right, I made a mistake of posting the voter fraud information that ACORN did instead of the election fraud information. I couldn't find information on any election fraud.

[techi]

Not a huge fan of ACORN... they do have some issues.

But aren't you painting this problem with a rather broad brush?

I mean... I'd bet we could easily nail at least a few Democrat and Republican politicians in pedophilia sting operations. Should we paint both parties as NAMBLA offshoots?

As for voter fraud... that swings both ways too. We've had ACORN acting in a very suspect manner... and we've had Republican elements doing much the same... at least in Ohio.

Republican Michael Connell recieved a subpeona to testify about vote rigging in the 2004 Ohio elections... he died in a single engine plane crash soon after.

[hippifried]

That was convenient.

[techi]

That was convenient.

plane crashes can be clutch(for Karl Rove) but who knows...

Anyone ever research the pedophile ring scandal in Nebraska around the time of the S&L crisis and Iran Contra? The big danger with it was that politicians were compromised. I mean... once a blackmailer has pedo pictures on you he totally owns your voting.

The same kind of thing happened to Spitzer. Granted, she was of age but it's incredibly hard to believe that it's the first time Spitzer did something like that. Hell, he's prolly been dirty like that for much of his adult life. The trigger was pulled on Spitzer because he posted this article in the Washington Post:

Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime
How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021302783.html

William Engdahl's writeup on the Spitzer affair is decent:
http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/Financial_Tsunami/Watergating_Spitzer/watergating_spitzer.html

As for pedophile rings in Nebraska:
http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Cover-Up-Satanism-Murder-Nebraska/dp/0963215809
http://trineday.com/paypal_store/product_pages/Franklin.html
http://franklinscandal.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggxiBWv4xYE

Events surrounding the S&L crisis and Iran Contra were so lawless that much of the pedo crap in Nebraska is believable.

As for conservative activists doing a fake pedo sting at an ACORN office..... pretty mild in comparison.

[guyone]

The trigger was pulled on Spitzer because he...

SPENT CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO GET LAID!

[techi]

The trigger was pulled on Spitzer because he...

SPENT CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO GET LAID!

You think what Spitzer did was uncommon or unknown for a long time? That's being mighty naive.

The issue isn't if he did something wrong(he did), the issue is why was he outted when he was?

[Legend]

Remember acorn? The hooker and pimp tapes exposed them as being a horrible organization?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#36204129

[JerseyMike]

LOL trusting news from Rachel Maddow, why don't you watch Fox News same crap different slant.

[hippifried]

Rachel Maddow has a definite slant, & everybody in media commits the sin of omission, but I don't think she's ever been accused of deliberate fabrication or not doing her homework.

[BluegrassCat]

That's the asymmetry of right and left news media. Both are ideological but the left is always fact-checking and calling out the right, who responds by hurling insults and further untruths.

[hippifried]

Left & right is really a false dichotomy. The reality is that people have a lot more in common that they have differences. The differences just sell more soap.

[JerseyMike]

The left doesn't respond with insults and untruths? Class this is today's lesson taken from the wonderful tv show House, everyone lies.

[bte]

That's the asymmetry of right and left news media. Both are ideological but the left is always fact-checking and calling out the right, who responds by hurling insults and further untruths.

And you think the Left doesn't hurl out insults and untruths? Granted, the Right has their loons, but the Left does as well. Both sides have their crazies.

[hippifried]

The left doesn't respond with insults and untruths? Class this is today's lesson taken from the wonderful tv show House, everyone lies.

Sure they do. The folks out of power become the squeaky wheel. The folks in control of the power get snide & condescending. Well... Actually they just stay snide & condescending because being on top & all, they don't have to take it further. They can just sit back & watch the other side stamp their feet & hold their breath till they turn blue. I've been around for a while. I was involved in the anti-VietNam war movement & the labor movement. I've seen the craziness from all around the political sphere. "Snide & condescending" though is the basis of punditry from all angles.

[scubaman]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/01/us/AP-US-ACORN-California.html?_r=1

Calif. AG: No Criminality Found on ACORN Tapes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 1, 2010


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown determined Thursday that ACORN broke no criminal laws, after reviewing videotapes that sparked a recent political firestorm.

Brown's office said it would not pursue charges against the now-defunct community organizing group. But it said ACORN engaged in inappropriate behavior that may prompt other state agencies to take a look, such as dumping 500 pages of confidential records into the trash and failing to file a state tax return.

''A few ACORN members exhibited terrible judgment and highly inappropriate behavior in videotapes obtained in the investigation,'' Brown said in a statement. ''But they didn't commit prosecutable crimes in California.''

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked Brown last year to investigate ACORN after employees were seen in video segments appearing to advise a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute. ACORN staff told the couple to lie about the woman's profession to get financial help.

The hidden-camera videos created a political firestorm when they were released, and tarnished the once-mighty ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The organization folded last month.

Brown, a Democrat running for governor, said the tapes were highly edited.

Rather than give advice on prostituting underage girls, human trafficking and cheating on taxes, the attorney general's office found ACORN members at times caught on to the scheme and called the police in the portions of the videos that were cut.

''Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor,'' Brown said.

To obtain the full tapes, Brown's office agreed not to prosecute conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, who played the pimp and prostitute in the video, even though the report found they likely violated state privacy laws.

In California, O'Keefe used hidden cameras on visits to ACORN offices in San Diego, San Bernardino and Los Angeles. State law requires both parties to give consent before a conversation is recorded.

ACORN could not be reached for comment because the group has disbanded, and phone listing for O'Keefe and Giles could not be found.

Besides not filing taxes and throwing away confidential papers, the attorney general's report found four instances of possible voter registration fraud by ACORN in San Diego accompanying the 2008 election.

Brown raised a concern that a successor group to ACORN in California is ''run by the same people.''

O'Keefe is now facing charges in New Orleans on a federal case involving an attempt to tamper with Sen. Mary Landrieu's office. Federal authorities initially accused O'Keefe and three others of trying to tamper with Landrieu's phones, but now say they planned to pretend to test the phone system.