ACORN, prostitution and tax evasion

[jimmy olsen]

 
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/acorn.prostitution/

(CNN) -- Two employees at the Baltimore, Maryland, branch of the liberal community organizing group ACORN were caught on tape allegedly offering advice to a pair posing as a pimp and prostitute on setting up a prostitution ring and evading the IRS.

The footage, which appears to have been edited in places, was recorded and posted online Thursday.

The video footage -- which has been edited and goes to black in some areas -- was recorded and posted online Thursday by James O'Keefe, a conservative activist. He was joined on the video by another conservative, Hannah Giles, who posed as the prostitute in the filmmakers' undercover sting.

The video shows the pair approaching two women working at the ACORN Baltimore office and asking them for advice on how to set up a prostitution ring involving more than a dozen underage girls from El Salvador.

One of the ACORN workers suggests that Giles refer to herself as a "performing artist" on tax forms and declare some of the girls as dependents to receive child tax credits.

"Stop saying prostitution," the woman, identified by the filmmaker as an ACORN tax expert, tells Giles. The other woman tells them, "You want to keep them clean ... make sure they go to school." Video Watch tape of alleged advice on prostitution »

Both women appear enthusiastic to help.

Calls to ACORN's Baltimore offices were not immediately returned Thursday.

Stuart Katzenberg, lead organizer for ACORN's Maryland chapter, told the Baltimore Sun that both ACORN employees were fired because they "did not meet ACORN's standards of professionalism."

Sonja Merchant-Jones, chair of Baltimore City ACORN, told CNN affiliate WMAR-TV that the fired workers were seasonal, part-time employees and that no senior ACORN staff members were in the building at the time the film was made.

Scott Levenson, a spokesman at ACORN's national offices 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," Levenson said.

The conservative filmmakers unsuccessfully attempted similar ruses at the group's offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, California, and New York, Levenson said.

Law enforcement officials in the Baltimore area wouldn't confirm whether they are investigating the alleged incident at the local ACORN office. However, authorities said that under Maryland law, such undercover video may not be admissible in court as evidence.

CNN attempted to reach O'Keefe and Giles; O'Keefe was not available for comment and Giles canceled an interview scheduled for Thursday.

ACORN -- an acronym for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- made headlines last year when Republican groups seized on allegations of voter registration fraud by the group in Florida and several other states, claiming its workers were trying to push the election in Barack Obama's favor.

On Wednesday, arrest warrants were issued for 11 Florida voter registration workers suspected of submitting false information on hundreds of voter registration cards, according to court documents. The Florida investigation was triggered by ACORN officials who noticed irregularities in forms they were receiving.
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Founded in 1970, ACORN calls itself "the nation's largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people." The group says it has more than 400,000 member families organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities.

Besides voter registration, the group focuses on issues such as predatory lending, the minimum wage and funding for public schools, according to its Web site. It also provides free tax-return preparation for low-income people and screening for state and federal benefit programs.

CNN's Bill Tucker, Chris Murphey and Steve Turnham contributed to this report.

[The Brain]

Baltimore still #1.

[derspiess]

 

[KRonn]

Yeah, just add this to the many other investigations, corruption allegations and convictions going on around the country for ACORN. And this organization is getting the nod to help do the census? Is that still on? If so, what a joke. We'll have 500 million people by the time they get through!!   


I believe ACORN is going to rename themselves to COI - Community Organization International. I guess a name change is in order to try start clean, or "Reset", or maybe to reflect their goals of spreading the message to other nations.

[jimmy olsen]

Apparently the Washington office was happy to help as well. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549241,00.html?mep

Second Video Shows ACORN Officials Helping 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in Washington Office

One day after two ACORN officials in Baltimore were fired for offering to help a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute to engage in child prostitution and a series of tax crimes, another secretly shot videotape has surfaced that shows the same couple getting similar advice from ACORN officers in Washington.

The newly released videotape, shot on July 25, shows ACORN staffers explaining to the pair how they can hide the woman's professed work — prostitution — and get a loan that will help them establish a brothel.

James O'Keefe, a 25-year-old independent filmmaker, posed as the pimp while visiting the ACORN office, accompanied by 20-year-old Hannah Giles, who posed as the prostitute. On a videotape provided to FOXNews.com, they are seen receiving guidance to establish the woman as the sole proprietor of a bogus company to mask the nature of her business.

"She's not going to put on (the loan application) that she's doing prostitution ... she doesn't have to," the ACORN staffer says. "You don't have to sit back and tell people what you do."

• Click here to see video.

The ACORN staffer is heard suggesting that O'Keefe can purchase a house, and as the landlord, if he is ever questioned by authorities, he can say he was unaware of the illegal business going on inside.

"[W]hen the police ask you, (tell them) you don't know where (the money is) coming from," the staffer said. "We are looking out for you."

The ACORN employee later suggests that O'Keefe, who said he had a budding political career, not linger at the house in case people "put the dots together" and leave him "smeared and tarnished" by his association with his prostitute girlfriend. She should keep her business "low key," the employee continued, saying "You have neighbors and they see stuff. Don't think that people won't get on the telephone and call Fox."

An ACORN spokesman told FOX News the group would need to look at the full tape and transcript before commenting.

One day before the Washington video was shot, O'Keefe and Giles sought help from ACORN workers in Baltimore, who told the pair how to falsify tax forms and seek illegal benefits for 13 "very young" girls from El Salvador that they said they said they wanted to import as prostitutes.

As he did in the taping in Baltimore, O'Keefe told the Washington officers that he had plans to bring as many as 10 women from El Salvador to work as prostitutes in Giles' "business."

"There's like 10 girls," O'Keefe says. "There's ten El Salvodoreans."

The ACORN staffer replies, "I understand what you are saying."

ACORN — the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — calls itself a network of families "working together for social justice and stronger communities," according to its Web site.

The organization has been accused by conservatives and Republicans of committing fraud in voter registration drives around the country, and reaction to the videotape came swiftly after its release on Thursday.

"Taxpayers should be outraged that their money has gone to an organization that, in addition to facing charges of voter fraud and tax violations, is willing to facilitate prostitution," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

"As this video confirms, ACORN continues to operate as a criminal enterprise."

The first videotape, made in the Baltimore offices of ACORN, was made public Thursday on the political blog BigGovernment.com. That night, after portions of the video were aired throughout the day on FOX News, the group fired the two women who assisted O'Keefe and Giles in Baltimore.

[jimmy olsen]

Yeah, just add this to the many other investigations, corruption allegations and convictions going on around the country for ACORN. And this organization is getting the nod to help do the census? Is that still on? If so, what a joke. We'll have 500 million people by the time they get through!!   


I believe ACORN is going to rename themselves to COI - Community Organization International. I guess a name change is in order to try start clean, or "Reset", or maybe to reflect their goals of spreading the message to other nations.

Yeah, 11 members were just arrested in Florida for 900 counts of voter fraud.

[Berkut]

Awesome.

Didn't Obama get his start with ACORN? Right? When he was just a young Muslim immigrant looking for a job?

[Neil]

Awesome.

Didn't Obama get his start with ACORN? Right? When he was just a young Muslim immigrant looking for a job?

Obama has moved into realms of corruption that ACORN can't even imagine.

[The Minsky Moment]

Didn't Obama get his start with ACORN? Right?

No.  Different organization.

[citizen k]

Didn't Obama get his start with ACORN?

I think it was the Young Pioneers. 

[Admiral Yi]

 

[Admiral Yi]

Saw some footage on CNN.  They didn't show her face but the fake ho looks pretty damn good from the back.

[CountDeMoney]

Honestly, I think this is more a reflection on dazzling urbanites in the Baltimore/Washington corridor than it is on ACORN.

But, unlike most of you, my view on dazzling urbanites around here is lower than it is on ACORNtards.

[Martinus]

Frankly, I don't get the brouhaha over this.

OMG you have low-ranking members of a mass-membership organization engaging in dubious and/or illegal activities and then being fired for it? Stop the presses! 

[Admiral Yi]

Frankly, I don't get the brouhaha over this.

OMG you have low-ranking members of a mass-membership organization engaging in dubious and/or illegal activities and then being fired for it? Stop the presses! 

1) It's funny as shit.

2) The Obama connection.