ACORN comes under new fire as videos gain publicity

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO -- Political fallout continues to rain over ACORN as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls for a state investigation into the liberal activist group.

"Over the past few days, I have seen a series of news stories regarding the ACORN organization that have concerned me greatly," the governor wrote in a letter to state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

The governor's letter refers to news coverage of a series of videos that show ACORN workers -- to varying degrees -- offer advice or assistance to a pair of undercover bloggers who claim to be seeking help starting a teen prostitution ring to finance political activity.

The governor asked Brown's office to investigate after the bloggers posted footage taped in ACORN's San Bernardino office.

"We'll review the video, and if we think there's any wrongdoing, we'll look into it or refer the matter to a local district attorney," Attorney General's spokesman Scott Gerber said.

Also in ACORN news, the House of Representatives voted Thursday to deny federal funding to ACORN. Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, said in a statement announcing the House vote that he wants federal agencies to review ACORN's operations.

The House vote follows U.S. Senate action to stop the flow of taxpayer money to ACORN.
A new video taped at ACORN's office in National City was posted on the Web site early Thursday morning.

The San Bernardino footage shows ACORN staffer Tresa Kaelke cq offer advice to O'Keefe and Giles, but she also advises that ACORN would not be able to actually aid the pair's purported prostitution scheme.

Kaelke said in a statement earlier this week that she thought O'Keefe and Giles were joking and that her comments were her attempt to out-shock the pair.

The National City footage shows an Acorn employee who appears to counsel O'Keefe and Giles on how to smuggle underage Salvadoran hookers into the United States.

Kaelke has been suspended. ACORN California head organizer Amy Schur said the National City employee, identified on the video as Juan Carlos, resigned while ACORN was in the process of firing him.

"I don't believe he understood what was going on," Schur said. "I believe he was confused by the situation."

The videos were shot by undercover bloggers James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, who posted the content on BigGovernment.com, a conservative Web site.

On the Web site, O'Keefe presented a quote from "Rules for Radicals," Saul D. Alinsky's manual for political warfare, above San Bernardino clips.

The quote is Alinsky's eighth tactic: "Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose."

ACORN is a community organizing group whose name is an acronym for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Its services include tax-filing and loan assistance. ACORN also engages in political activity on behalf of the poor and voter registration drives.

Before the video controversies, ACORN employees have run afoul of election monitors in multiple states.

Nevada authorities have charged two ACORN employees with violating that state's laws by using a quota system to employ and pay ACORN staffers responsible for registering new voters.
A trial is scheduled to begin in Las Vegas on Sept. 29, Nevada Attorney General spokeswoman Edie Cartwright said.

Bertha Lewis, ACORN's chief executive, issued a statement Wednesday announcing the group would suspend its intake of new clients, provide new training to front line employees and hire an external auditor.

"Any reforms they come up with, we plan to implement," Schur said. "Our governor seems to be piling on in an opportunistic way."