Michael Gaynor
Bill O'Reilly exposes New York Times ACORN news management during 2008 presidential campaign
By Michael Gaynor
Tragically, due to the bias of the liberal media establishment in general and The New York Times in particular, not nearly enough voters knew what they needed to know about the relationship between ACORN and now President Obama before they voted for President last year.
Congratulations to Fox Cable News's Bill O'Reilly for reporting on "The O'Reilly Factor" on March 31, 2009 what the mainstream media did not report during the 2008 presidential election campaign or since: that The New York Times chose NOT to report what it had learned about ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), then Democrat presidential candidate Obama and the Obama presidential campaign.
Wikipedia: "William James 'Bill O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American television/radio host, author, syndicated columnist and self-described 'traditionalist' political commentator. He is the host of the most-watched cable news program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. Prior to hosting The O'Reilly Factor, he served as anchor of the entertainment program, Inside Edition. O'Reilly is the author of eight books, and hosted The Radio Factor, a talk radio program syndicated by Westwood One, until early 2009."
In "New York Times Malicious News Management in the Duke Case," I noted that "[i]n Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and The Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case, co-authors Stuart Taylor Jr. (who reported on legal affairs and the UnitedStates Supreme Court for The New York Times for eight years) and KC Johnson....demonstrated conclusively that The New York Times 'worked...long and hard [in 2006] to prop up" the prosecution's baseless case and "[t]he editors of the Times...were finally forced by events to pivot suddenly away from the steadfast pro-Nifong bias of the coverage that had been happily running...' (pp. 317-18)."
But this despicable instance is not the last or the most egregious and important example of The New York Times managing the news."
President Obama owes the now financially-challenged The New York Times...BIGTIME!
A couple of years after its deplorable Duke case coverage, The New York Times "worked...long and hard to prop up" the Obama presidential campaign." Unfortunately, it was not "finally forced by events to pivot suddenly away from the steadfast pro-[Obama] bias of the coverage that [it] had been happily running."
Soon after Senator John McCain had won the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination, The New York Times ran a scurrilous page 1 story insinuating that McCain was having an affair with a much younger (female) lobbyist. This year, after now President Obama had been inaugurated, The New York Times quietly settled the lawsuit by the lobbyist under a confidentiality agreement and published a note to the effect that it had not intended to imply that anything immoral had happened.
In addition to working hard to sabotage the McCain campaign with that scurrilous story, The New York Times skillfully managed what it reported about ACORN, thereby protecting their choice for President, then Senator Obama.
What did The New York Times know and when did it know it?
Plenty...and well before Election Day 2008.
The email exchanged by Anita MonCrief and Stephanie Strom reveal that The New York Times managed what would have been politically explosive news that did not fit The Times' own agenda: the full extent of the ACORN-Obama relationship.
Set forth below are illuminating statements by Ms. Strom in email to Ms. MonCrief that reflect Ms. Strom's knowledge (and attitude) with date and time of the email in which made.
1. "I'm a little miffed with the funders, too. They have to be aware that the grants they make to c(3)s like Project Vote are being funneled to Acorn, which, whether c(4) or simply nonprofit corporation under state law, they aren't supposed to give money to. " July 10, 2008 8:18:52 PM
2. "I really want to see 1024 Elysian Fields in New Orleans. It's the official 'home' of something like 50-plus Acorn related entities. The real story to all this is how these myriad entities allow them to shuffle money around so much that no one really knows what's getting spent on what — and for the charities like the housing orgs, that's a problem. Charitable money cannot be spent on political activities. It's a big no-no that can cost organizations their exemptions. July 31, 2008 5:17:49
"When you say the DC Local waives the credit report charges if clients sign up for bank drafts with ACORN, do you mean ACORN actually runs a banking services organization? That would be news to me. The rumor I've heard about the chief organizer's fund is that this is what the Rathkes have used to 'repay' Acorn and the two charities that Dale embezzled from. It's a huge slush bucket controlled by Wade and Maude Hurd, no one else." July 31, 2008 5:17:49 PM
3. "You are a gold mine! = )." July 31, 2008 6:06:26 PM
4. "Thanks so much for this. I'm getting a clear picture of what went down last week with the fund raising letter and their scramble to get money somewhere, anyway, in response to my questions. Why not just say they're having trouble? So are lots of nonprofit groups right now, even those that arent connected to a scandal of any sort. Sometimes the cover up is worse than what's being covered up." August 3, 2008 11:51:15 AM
5. "I'm a bit worried about reaching out to Amy if she's in the process of rejoining Acorn. Doesn't that mean she's drunkt the Koolaid?" August 4, 2008 1:40:52
6. "I don't need to 'out' the member who was intimidated. I basically just need her to confirm what I've been told. I can then recount the incident as if I know it to be fact." September 4, 2008 8:59:59 PM
7. "Am also onto the Obama connection, sadly. Would love the donor lists. As for helping the Repubs, they're already onto this like white on rice. SIGH." September 7, 2008 1:59 PM
8."Separately, I'm wondering whether you can give me any more details about the Nov. 2007 meeting with the Obama camp. Where did it take place? Who was involved? Any details would help." September 12, 2008 3:57 PM
9. "You're the best. If we could get the names of two or three people who were either sacked or forced out on suspicion of having passed information to me, that would clearly demonstrate the lie.
"What a mess." September 13, 2008 9:43 AM
10. "I just dawned on me that the law firm doing the scrub of the Acorn embezzlement is Sidley Austin, i.e. Obama's old law firm. Also, that Mesirow Financial, the firm hired to provide financial advice to Acorn, is headed by a guy who's a major Obama donor.
"Do you have any idea if the campaign played a role in recommending these outfits?" September 16, 2008 1:14 PM
11. "Hi. So sorry about what went down to do vis your office. It's really horrible. Why do they think it's so important to seal your lips? What have they got to hide?
"An email that I tried to send you yesterday failed to be delivered. It contained a link I thought would be interesting for [initial redacted]. It was a legal doc, showing that Richard Mesirow, the head of the firm, was charged with wrongdoing of some sort (I cant remember what right this minute.). My question is why Acorn wants to have a firm who's head is under a legal cloud doing its 'financial review.'" September 17, 2008 7:03 PM
12. "1,000 thanks. This is valuable, in particular because it provides me with a number for the Sandlers — who are very difficult to contact. = )
"Are there no similar lists provided by the RNC or its alikes" September 24, 2008 9:10 AM
13. "Hi, there. Thanks again for all you're doing for me. I'm sorry to be such a pest, but people just don't shoot straight these days.
"Please mail the file to me c/o my employer at 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018. If you want, use our Fedex no., [number redacted].
"Again, 1,000 thanks." September 30, 2008 2:26 PM
14."Did you say you also have a donor file from the Clinton campaign? If so, can you forward?
"The DNC lists you sent are good because they have a column marked DNC." September 30, 2008 2:41 PM
15. "Hey, do you have the email to which the Obama list was originally attached, i.e. the email on which you received it? The date on that email would show that you all could not have downloaded the list from public Web sites because the data on it had not yet been filed with the FEC.
"Sorry to be such a pest.
"BTW, take a look at the NO Times-Picayune story about the hearing yesterday. Someone there must be close to Acorn because they say nothing about the judge throwing out the poll or telling the lawyer to approach the AG." October 3, 2008 3:06 PM
16. "I'm so sorry if any of my work is causing you problems. I've tried to be very careful.
"I'm calling halt to my efforts. I just had two unpleasant calls with the Obama campaign, wherein the spokesman was screaming and yelling and cursing me, calling me a rightwing nut and a conspiracy theorist and everything else. Without something that clearly links the campaign to the organization, I'm spinning my wheels. Sorry.
"I'd still like to get that file from you when you have a chance to send it. One of these days, the truth is going to come out." October 6, 2008
17. "I'm going to have a discussion today with a pal of mine at the paper. What's happened is that the campaign has answered some of my questions on the record — but when I sought on-the-record answers to my questions about the meeting and about the list, the campaign insisted on speaking only on background. When I asked why, I got the barrage I described earlier. Clearly, I've hit a nerve with what you've told me. The campaign knows that having the allegations of meeting attributed to 'former employees' — and there are more than one of you talking — and having an anonymous denial of the meeting makes it harder for me to get it into the paper.
"The emails you've sent help nail the dates when these things were coming in.
"Thank you, thank you." October 7, 2008 7:56 AM
Thomas Jefferson famously said, "If I had to choose between a country without newspapers and newspapers without a country, I would unerringly choose the latter."
Jefferson trusted more in the wisdom of an informed people than he did in the powers of an unresponsive government, but he expected newspapers that would inform the people instead of conceal the truth from them.
Thank God (and Ms. MonCrief and Ms. Strom) for those emails!
And thanks to Bill O'Reilly for boldly standing up for "the folks."
When it comes to the truth prevailing, I say better sooner than later and better late than never!
Last fall I repeatedly warned about ACORN and its ties to then Democrat presidential candidate Obama.
In "Blame Obama's ACORN for the Financial Crisis," posted on September 29, 2008, I wrote the simple truth:
"Don't expect the mainstream media to identify ACORN and its favorite community organizer and lawyer, rookie United States Senator and current Democrat presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. among the villains in the current financial crisis.
"But media bias does not change facts."
I quoted a January 14, 2007 Pittsburgh Tribune Review article as follows:
"...in Chicago, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is more important than Iraq or Washington. ACORN and its associated Midwest Academy, both founded in the 1970s, continue to train and mobilize activists throughout the country, often using them to manipulate public opinion through 'direct action.' It's sometimes a code for illegal activities.
"Prior to law school, Barack Obama worked as an organizer for their affiliates in New York and Chicago. He always has been an ACORN person — meeting and working with them to advance their causes. Through his membership on the board of the Woods Fund for Chicago and his friendship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, Obama has helped ensure that they remain funded well.
"Since he graduated from law school, Obama's work with ACORN and the Midwest Academy has ranged from training and fundraising, to legal representation and promoting their work."
In "Beware Obama, 'the Senator from ACORN,'" posted on October 1, 2008, I asked, "Will the current financial crisis that finally resulted from affirmative action lending and intimidation tactics to which Obama is connected ironically make him the next President of the United States?"
I answered:
"If Obama moves into the White House in 2009, it will be because his involvement with ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) was not generally appreciated and NOT because Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a National Review Online contributing editor, did not give fair warning.
"On May 29, 2008, Mr. Kurtz shared his 'Inside Obama's Acorn, By their fruits ye shall know them.'
"Mr. Kurtz warned in that article, 'if you're looking for the piece of the puzzle that confirms and explains Obama's network of radical ties, gather your Acorns this spring. Or next winter, you may just be left watching the "President from Acorn" at his feast.'"
In "ACORN Should Be Obama's Undoing," posted on October 2, 2008, I predicted: "We will never know exactly how many fraudulent votes ACORN will be responsible for in the upcoming presidential election, but If the whole truth about ACORN and its long and intimate relationship with rookie United States Senator and 2008 Democrat presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. becomes fully and generally known, on Election Night 2008 Obama and his ACORNites will moan."
In "Michelle Malkin Was Right About ACORN, Of Course," posted on October 4, 2008, I wrote hopefully: "ACORN, a key culprit in the current economic mess, made Obama a local, statewide and national political success, but awareness of what ACORN really is and how Obama has served it as organizer, trainer, lawyer and funder and received its political support (legal or not) in return can and should put an end to that political success in the nick of time."
In "McCain Can Still Win, By Exposing Obama and ACORN, posted on October 9, 2008, I noted:
"It would be the height of irony for Obama, 'the Senator from ACORN,' to benefit from the financial crisis that his kind of thinking created with his personal help as organizer, trainer, lawyer, funder and political supporter and win the Presidency.
"If Obama does win, things will worsen instead of improve."
In "Obama's ACORN: A Corrupt Organization of Revolutionary Nuts," posted on October 10, 2008, I wrote:
"Unfortunately, with Obama and ACORN, the bulk of the mainstream media is ignoring instead of scrutinizing and publicizing the danger.
"To put it simply, Obama is lying about his ties to ACORN, lest voters see behind the curtain and realize he is a front man and a fraud."
In "Does NYT Know More About Obama/ACORN,' posted on October 20, 2008, I wrote:
"Would The New York Times NOT report some things voters should know and instead spin for Obama, whitewash the Obama/Ayers relationship and run scurrilous stories about the McCains?
"Is the Pope Catholic?
"It's no surprise that The New York Times is backing the Obamas and battering the McCains.
"It's no surprise that McCain's alliance with The New York Times on campaign finance reform has turned out to be a boon for The New York Times and a burden for McCain.
"And it's no surprise that The New York Times has been handling the Obama/ACORN relationship the way it has."
In "ACORN Whistleblower, Obama's Third Strike," posted on October 22, 2008, I wrote: "Yesterday, [ACORN whistleblower] Anita [MonCrief] advised me, Ms. Strom [New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom] apologetically canceled a meeting for today and explained that New York Times policy was not to publish what might be a game changing article this close to the election."
I explained how Ms. MonCrief had contacted me and added:
"...before Anita emailed Michelle Malkin and me, she had been working with New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom, but what ended up published as Ms. Strom's ACORN articles were so 'watered down' that Anita decided to turn elsewhere."
Tellingly, when Ms. Strom emailed Ms. MonCrief about my article later that day, she did not dispute its accuracy, but lamented about being outted: "I thought we had an agreement to speak off the record. In addition to outting yourself, you outted me, too. I have scrupulously protected your identity, refusing to even acknowledge speculation about our discussions. Wish I had received the same consideration."
If my reporting had been inaccurate, surely Ms. MonCrief would have said so.
In "John Fund: Do the Expose BEFORE the Election This Year, Please," posted on October 28, 2008, I wrote: "It's 2008 and Election Day is nearly upon us. So it's time for Mr. Fund to report what's really been going on this year, while it is helpful to those voters who care about the integrity of the electoral process and the rule of law and haven't voted early. Say by tomorrow?"
In "Why Obama and ACORN Fear Anita MonCrief," posted on October 29, 2008, " I wrote: "... Obama looked into the camera during the last presidential debate and flat out lied to the American people about it (in his calm, seemingly non-threatening manner).
"ACORN is the organization with which Obama has been associated throughout his adult life, as organizer, trainer, lawyer, funder and political beneficiary...and Obama's Achilles heel.
"Anita reports revealing connections between ACORN and the Obama campaign based on personal knowledge.
"In late 2007, Anita reports, Anita received a call from the Obama campaign asking if this was the same Project Vote that Obama worked for in the 90's. With the staff retreat fresh in mind, Anita answered yes and sent an email to Zach Polett, Karyn Gillette, Nathan Henderson James, and Kevin Whelan stating that the campaign wanted someone to call them back regarding some media questions that were being asked at the time.
"In late 2007, Anita reports, Karyn Gillette approached Anita to tell her that she had direct contact with the Obama campaign and had obtained their donor lists. This meeting took place sometime in November of 2007 and may have even been a conference call between the campaign and Project Vote. Anita was given an excel spreadsheet to work with for cultivation of new donors. When Anita had trouble because of the duplicates, Karyn stated that she would contact her person at the campaign and see if they had another one.
"Anita reports that Karyn Gillette also provided lists obtained from the Kerry and Clinton campaigns, as well as the 2004 DNC donor lists, and that these lists were shared with the Political directors of roughly 12 ACORN battleground states in order to raise money for a $28 million dollar (number as of 11/2007) voter registration drive (based on direct and indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that research uncovered after the Rathke embezzlement scandal showed that persons demanded a forensic audit and suggested a well-known, credible firm to do it, but Bertha Lewis told them that the auditors came back with a contract that was 'too expensive' and that's what Dale Rathke told funders back when they were hoping Arthur Anderson would take over auditing (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that ACORN and Project Vote used CCI to transfer money between the organizations and may be guilty of violating RICO statues (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that Sidley Austin, Obama's old law firm, is representing ACORN pro-bono and Mesirow Financial, the firm hired to provide financial advice to ACORN, is headed by a major Obama donor, Richard Mesirow (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita also notes that questions have been raised about the shredding or destruction of documents by ACORN's own lawyers (based on documents).
"Bottom line: ACORN has been improperly coordinating with and operating as an arm of the Obama campaign, and 'the Senator from ACORN''s involvement with ACORN has been much more than his lawful representation of ACORN in the motor voter case years ago."
In "Anita MonCrief: Obama Supporter and Exposer, ACORN Whistleblower and Blogger," posted on November 2, 2008, I declared:
"Anita surely shares Obama's political views, but when she speaks the truth, she exposes Obama as a liar.
"It's his fault, not hers.
"Hurray for Anita!"
In "Will ACORN Steal the Presidency for its Man, Obama," posted on November 4, 2008, I wrote:"Anita did not mince words in her first blog article: 'ACORN is a corrupt organization that is preying on the marginalized in this society and they have become the cancerous growth of this election.'
"Voter, Obama is 'the Senator from ACORN' and he's been lying to you about his ties to it. That should be all you need to know."
Tragically, due to the bias of the liberal media establishment in general and The New York Times in particular, not nearly enough voters knew what they needed to know about the relationship between ACORN and now President Obama before they voted for President last year.
In "Why Obama Won and McCain Lost," posted on November 5, 2008, I explained:
"McCain was a liberal media darling when he was the alternative to President Bush and a Republican proponent of liberal versions of campaign finance reform and immigration reform. "But the liberal media always was ready to attack McCain if a more liberal alternative was available (and The New York Times proved that with scurrilous articles about both McCain and his wife Cindy and whitewashes of Obama's relationships with ACORN and William 'domestic terrorist' Ayers).
"McCain received the endorsement of The New York Times for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, but if he ever expected its endorsement over a more liberal Democrat presidential nominee like Obama, he was fooling himself.
The truth: ACORN whistleblower MonCrief gave The New York Times much more information than it chose to report and her email exchanges with Stephanie Strom soon to be submitted to Congress prove it.
It appears that, as in the Duke case, editors made sure Times coverage was slanted to fit the political correctness agenda of The New York Times instead of the pesky facts that undercut it.
Expose: "an exposure of something discreditable ."
When is an expose not an expose?
When it is managed news.
When does a newspaper need to be exposed?
When it manages the news.
Wikipedia:
"Stephanie Strom...is an American journalist who has been a national correspondent for The New York Times since December 2002.
"Strom received her B.A. from Northwestern University in 1985 and an M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1986. She began her career at the Times as a clerk in the Washington bureau.
"Strom's previous posts at the Times include: research assistant to A.M. Rosenthal; metropolitan reporter; business/financial reporter focusing on retail and toy industries and Seventh Avenue; business/financial reporter covering Wall Street and the financial industry; business correspondent in the Tokyo bureau; correspondent focusing on executive compensation; and correspondent focusing on philanthropy and nonprofits."
Ms. Strom did a number of "exposes" about ACORN last year.
What is not generally known is that those "exposes" left much out and, according to ACORN whistleblower and Strom source MonCrief, Ms. Strom stopped doing those "exposes" before Election Day 2008 because, as Ms. Strom told Ms. MonCrief, The New York Times did not want to affect the presidential election "either way."
Then neither did Dan Rather and Marla Mapes in 2004!
The New York Times reported embezzlement at ACORN in a Strom article titled "Funds Misappropriated at 2 Nonprofit Groups" and published on July 9, 2008.
The article reported on public disclosure of misappropriation at two "prominent national nonprofit groups," one of which was ACORN. It described ACORN as "one of the country's largest community organizing groups" and reported that (1) "Acorn chose to treat the embezzlement of nearly $1 million eight years ago as an internal matter and did not even notify its board"; (2) "[a] whistle-blower forced Acorn to disclose the embezzlement, which involved the brother of the organization's founder, Wade Rathke"; (3) Dale Rathke "embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000" and "a small group of executives decided to keep the information from almost all of the group's board members and not to alert law enforcement"; (4) "Dale Rathke remained on Acorn's payroll until a month ago, when disclosure of his theft by foundations and other donors forced the organization to dismiss him."
The article did not mention ACORN's connection to Obama, but it prompted Ms. MonCrief to contact Ms. Strom, initially using an alias and later identifying herself(as she later did with me in October 2008), and become an unidentified source for Ms. Strom.
It was not until August 16, 2008 that a follow up article appeared. That Strom article, titled "Head of Foundation Bailed Out Nonprofit Group After Its Funds Were Embezzled," reported an ACORN announcement that a supporter had agreed to cover the embezzlement loss.
That article began:
"When the embezzlement of almost $1 million by the brother of the founder of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as Acorn, surfaced last month, the organization announced that an anonymous supporter had agreed to make it whole.
"That supporter was Drummond Pike, the founder and chief executive of the Tides Foundation, which channels money to what it describes as progressive nonprofits, including some Acorn charitable affiliates.
"Mr. Pike is a friend of Wade Rathke, the founder of Acorn and its leader until the scandal broke, and he agreed to buy the promissory note that required the Rathke family to repay Acorn the money that Mr. Rathke's brother, Dale, had stolen."
The filing of a lawsuit seeking ACORN financial documentsand severence of Wade Rathke's ties to ACORN led to a third Strom ACORN article, titled "Lawsuit Adds to Turmoil for Community Group" and published on September 12, 2008.
That article began:
"In the wake of an embezzlement scandal that rocked the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, two of its board members are seeking a court order to force it to hand over financial documents.
"They also are seeking to sever what they describe as continuing ties between Acorn and its founder, Wade Rathke, who resigned after it became public this summer that his brother had embezzled almost $1 million from the organization eight years ago. They contend that Mr. Rathke continues to direct the staff and expenditures.
"'Acorn will suffer irreparable harm if the defendants are not restrained from contact with employees, expending and receiving, destroying or prohibiting the review of accounting and other data necessary to fulfill the fiduciary responsibility of the interim management committee,' the board members, Marcel Reid and Karen Inman, stated in the petition. Both serve on a committee established to lead Acorn."The suit cites their concerns that money is being spent improperly and that important documents are being destroyed. It was filed on behalf of the entire 51-member board, but Acorn executives and some board members say Ms. Reid and Ms. Inman had no authority to file the suit or to claim to represent the board."
About a month later, on October 10, 2008, a fourth Strom ACORN article, titled "On Obama, Acorn and Voter Registration." was published. It reported that the McCain campaign was linking then Democrat presidential nominee Obama to ACORN was published and minimized the ACORN-Obama connection.
The article began with the McCain campaign attempt:
"Senator John McCain's presidential campaign on Friday stepped up its efforts to tie Senator Barack Obama to a community organizing group that has been accused of involvement in problematic voter registrations in several hotly contested states, including Colorado, Indiana, Nevada and North Carolina.
"The group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, has long been a favorite target of conservatives. It made news this year when it was revealed that a brother of Acorn's founder had embezzled almost $1 million from the organization but that Acorn had failed to disclose the theft for eight years.
"'Barack Obama has made very inconsistent remarks about what his relationship with this organization is,' Rick Davis, Mr. McCain's campaign manager, said in a conference call.
"Mr. Davis said Mr. Obama had worked as Acorn's lawyer and conducted training events for its leaders. He also noted a payment the Obama campaign made in February to an Acorn affiliate, Citizens Services Inc."
Then the article continued with a whitewashing of the ACORN-Obama connection:
"While Mr. Obama did represent Acorn in a lawsuit in 1995, Acorn was on the same side as the Justice Department. The training events involved two hours of work. And the payment to the Acorn affiliate was reported in campaign filings, although they had to be revised because of an error.
"The Obama campaign described the accusations as a spurious effort to tie Mr. Obama to potentially fraudulent voter registrations.
"'Barack Obama strongly condemns voter registration fraud or any other breach of election law by any party or group,' Ben LaBolt, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
"Acorn, whose political action committee has endorsed Mr. Obama, has said that the investigations into its voter registration work are politically motivated."
That was followed with a defense of ACORN as well as praise of Obama:
"'Rumors of Acorn's voter fraud have been greatly exaggerated and to a large extent manufactured,' Bertha Lewis, the organization's interim chief organizer, or chief executive, said Monday in a conference call to announce that the organization had registered 1.3 million people to vote.
"Ms. Lewis said it was Acorn itself that informed state officials about some questionable registrations collected by its employees that are now under investigation. Acorn said it had terminated the workers involved.
"In 1995, Mr. Obama was on a team of lawyers that represented Acorn in a lawsuit to compel Illinois to comply with federal laws intended to enhance access to the polls. The team also represented Equip for Equality, a group that promotes the rights of the disabled, and four individuals.
"Mr. Davis said that as their lawyer, Mr. Obama had 'an intimate relationship' with Acorn 'against the State of Illinois and the federal government.'
"In fact, the Justice Department was on the same side as Acorn in the lawsuit, as were other organizations, including the League of Women Voters. Those plaintiffs won the case.
"Mr. Davis urged reporters to question Mr. Obama about training sessions he had done for Acorn. 'What were you teaching them?' Mr. Davis asked. 'Were you teaching them how to evade the law?'
"Lewis Goldberg, a spokesman for Acorn, said Mr. Obama conducted two leadership training sessions of roughly an hour each for Acorn's Chicago affiliate over a three-year period in the late 1990s. He was not paid for that work, Mr. Goldberg said.
"Even before Friday's conference call, Republicans had made much of an $832,598 payment made in February by the Obama campaign to Citizens Services Inc., a consulting firm affiliated with Acorn.
"'This organization is not just related to but deeply ingrained in the Acorn organization, a front group for Acorn,' Mr. Davis said.
"The Obama campaign initially reported that the payment was for 'staging, sound, lighting' and other advance work when it reported its expenditures with the Federal Election Commission. It filed amended reports in August and September to reflect that those payments were for get-out-the-vote efforts.
"Mr. Davis contended that the original filing was an effort to 'hide the fact' that money was paid to Acorn. But F.E.C. officials have said such amended filings are common.
"Citizens Services typically contracts with Acorn and its affiliates for work like that done for the Obama campaign. Mr. Goldberg, the Acorn spokesman, said that less than $80,000 of the Obama campaign's payment to Citizens Services went to Acorn. Jeff Robinson, executive vice president of Citizens Services, did not return a call inquiring how the rest of the money was spent.
"In 1992, Mr. Obama was personally involved in voter registration efforts when he served as director of Project Vote in Chicago, helping to register 150,000 voters on the South Side. His success was widely written about at the time and credited with helping to elect Senator Carol Moseley Braun, the first African-American woman in the Senate.
"Mr. LaBolt emphasized that Project Vote and Acorn were not as intertwined at that time as they are today, when a significant part of Project Vote's revenues flow to Acorn and various of its affiliates as payment for services."
The article added at the end:
"But according to Sam Graham-Felsen, who blogs on the Obama campaign's Web site, Mr. Obama himself linked his 1992 work to Acorn in a meeting with Acorn's leaders in November.
"'Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drives in Illinois, Acorn was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work,' Mr. Obama said, according to a post Mr. Graham-Felsen made in February."
But nothing about the Obama campaign giving ACORN its donor list.
On October 15, 2008, another ACORN article titled "Acorn Working on Deal to Sever Ties With Founder" was published, without any reference to Obama.
The article reported that ACORN was "battl[ing] charges of fraudulent voter registration practices in several states" and "negotiating to sever all ties with its founder, whose brother embezzled almost $1 million from the group."
On October 21, 2008, another Strom follow up article, titled "Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality," appeared, with a brief reference to "Obama's ties to" ACORN.
The article stated:
"An internal report by a lawyer for the community organizing group Acorn raises questions about whether the web of relationships among its 174 affiliates may have led to violations of federal laws.
"The group, formally known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has been in the news over accusations that it is involved in voter registration fraud, charges it says are overblown and politically motivated.
"Republicans have tried to make an issue of Senator Barack Obama's ties to the group, which he represented in a lawsuit in 1995. The Obama campaign has denied any connection with Acorn's voter registration drives."
Nothing more before Election Day 2008.
Nothing more since Election Day 2008.
Did The New York Times manage the news for political purposes?
Is the Pope Catholic?
The same New York Times that reported that then Democrat presidential hopeful Obama had disinvited Rev. Jeremiah A. "God damn America" Wright. Jr. to the announcement of his presidential campaign because Rev. Wright's sermons could be "rough" and never explained what "rough" really meant and ran an inadequately sourced front-page "expose" insinuating that 2008 Republican presidential nominee McCain had an illicit relationship with a female lobbyist did not choose to expose the relationship between the Obama campaign and ACORN.
Abraham Lincoln was right: "it is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."
© Michael Gaynor
April 1, 2009
Tragically, due to the bias of the liberal media establishment in general and The New York Times in particular, not nearly enough voters knew what they needed to know about the relationship between ACORN and now President Obama before they voted for President last year.
Congratulations to Fox Cable News's Bill O'Reilly for reporting on "The O'Reilly Factor" on March 31, 2009 what the mainstream media did not report during the 2008 presidential election campaign or since: that The New York Times chose NOT to report what it had learned about ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), then Democrat presidential candidate Obama and the Obama presidential campaign.
Wikipedia: "William James 'Bill O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American television/radio host, author, syndicated columnist and self-described 'traditionalist' political commentator. He is the host of the most-watched cable news program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. Prior to hosting The O'Reilly Factor, he served as anchor of the entertainment program, Inside Edition. O'Reilly is the author of eight books, and hosted The Radio Factor, a talk radio program syndicated by Westwood One, until early 2009."
In "New York Times Malicious News Management in the Duke Case," I noted that "[i]n Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and The Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case, co-authors Stuart Taylor Jr. (who reported on legal affairs and the UnitedStates Supreme Court for The New York Times for eight years) and KC Johnson....demonstrated conclusively that The New York Times 'worked...long and hard [in 2006] to prop up" the prosecution's baseless case and "[t]he editors of the Times...were finally forced by events to pivot suddenly away from the steadfast pro-Nifong bias of the coverage that had been happily running...' (pp. 317-18)."
But this despicable instance is not the last or the most egregious and important example of The New York Times managing the news."
President Obama owes the now financially-challenged The New York Times...BIGTIME!
A couple of years after its deplorable Duke case coverage, The New York Times "worked...long and hard to prop up" the Obama presidential campaign." Unfortunately, it was not "finally forced by events to pivot suddenly away from the steadfast pro-[Obama] bias of the coverage that [it] had been happily running."
Soon after Senator John McCain had won the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination, The New York Times ran a scurrilous page 1 story insinuating that McCain was having an affair with a much younger (female) lobbyist. This year, after now President Obama had been inaugurated, The New York Times quietly settled the lawsuit by the lobbyist under a confidentiality agreement and published a note to the effect that it had not intended to imply that anything immoral had happened.
In addition to working hard to sabotage the McCain campaign with that scurrilous story, The New York Times skillfully managed what it reported about ACORN, thereby protecting their choice for President, then Senator Obama.
What did The New York Times know and when did it know it?
Plenty...and well before Election Day 2008.
The email exchanged by Anita MonCrief and Stephanie Strom reveal that The New York Times managed what would have been politically explosive news that did not fit The Times' own agenda: the full extent of the ACORN-Obama relationship.
Set forth below are illuminating statements by Ms. Strom in email to Ms. MonCrief that reflect Ms. Strom's knowledge (and attitude) with date and time of the email in which made.
1. "I'm a little miffed with the funders, too. They have to be aware that the grants they make to c(3)s like Project Vote are being funneled to Acorn, which, whether c(4) or simply nonprofit corporation under state law, they aren't supposed to give money to. " July 10, 2008 8:18:52 PM
2. "I really want to see 1024 Elysian Fields in New Orleans. It's the official 'home' of something like 50-plus Acorn related entities. The real story to all this is how these myriad entities allow them to shuffle money around so much that no one really knows what's getting spent on what — and for the charities like the housing orgs, that's a problem. Charitable money cannot be spent on political activities. It's a big no-no that can cost organizations their exemptions. July 31, 2008 5:17:49
"When you say the DC Local waives the credit report charges if clients sign up for bank drafts with ACORN, do you mean ACORN actually runs a banking services organization? That would be news to me. The rumor I've heard about the chief organizer's fund is that this is what the Rathkes have used to 'repay' Acorn and the two charities that Dale embezzled from. It's a huge slush bucket controlled by Wade and Maude Hurd, no one else." July 31, 2008 5:17:49 PM
3. "You are a gold mine! = )." July 31, 2008 6:06:26 PM
4. "Thanks so much for this. I'm getting a clear picture of what went down last week with the fund raising letter and their scramble to get money somewhere, anyway, in response to my questions. Why not just say they're having trouble? So are lots of nonprofit groups right now, even those that arent connected to a scandal of any sort. Sometimes the cover up is worse than what's being covered up." August 3, 2008 11:51:15 AM
5. "I'm a bit worried about reaching out to Amy if she's in the process of rejoining Acorn. Doesn't that mean she's drunkt the Koolaid?" August 4, 2008 1:40:52
6. "I don't need to 'out' the member who was intimidated. I basically just need her to confirm what I've been told. I can then recount the incident as if I know it to be fact." September 4, 2008 8:59:59 PM
7. "Am also onto the Obama connection, sadly. Would love the donor lists. As for helping the Repubs, they're already onto this like white on rice. SIGH." September 7, 2008 1:59 PM
8."Separately, I'm wondering whether you can give me any more details about the Nov. 2007 meeting with the Obama camp. Where did it take place? Who was involved? Any details would help." September 12, 2008 3:57 PM
9. "You're the best. If we could get the names of two or three people who were either sacked or forced out on suspicion of having passed information to me, that would clearly demonstrate the lie.
"What a mess." September 13, 2008 9:43 AM
10. "I just dawned on me that the law firm doing the scrub of the Acorn embezzlement is Sidley Austin, i.e. Obama's old law firm. Also, that Mesirow Financial, the firm hired to provide financial advice to Acorn, is headed by a guy who's a major Obama donor.
"Do you have any idea if the campaign played a role in recommending these outfits?" September 16, 2008 1:14 PM
11. "Hi. So sorry about what went down to do vis your office. It's really horrible. Why do they think it's so important to seal your lips? What have they got to hide?
"An email that I tried to send you yesterday failed to be delivered. It contained a link I thought would be interesting for [initial redacted]. It was a legal doc, showing that Richard Mesirow, the head of the firm, was charged with wrongdoing of some sort (I cant remember what right this minute.). My question is why Acorn wants to have a firm who's head is under a legal cloud doing its 'financial review.'" September 17, 2008 7:03 PM
12. "1,000 thanks. This is valuable, in particular because it provides me with a number for the Sandlers — who are very difficult to contact. = )
"Are there no similar lists provided by the RNC or its alikes" September 24, 2008 9:10 AM
13. "Hi, there. Thanks again for all you're doing for me. I'm sorry to be such a pest, but people just don't shoot straight these days.
"Please mail the file to me c/o my employer at 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018. If you want, use our Fedex no., [number redacted].
"Again, 1,000 thanks." September 30, 2008 2:26 PM
14."Did you say you also have a donor file from the Clinton campaign? If so, can you forward?
"The DNC lists you sent are good because they have a column marked DNC." September 30, 2008 2:41 PM
15. "Hey, do you have the email to which the Obama list was originally attached, i.e. the email on which you received it? The date on that email would show that you all could not have downloaded the list from public Web sites because the data on it had not yet been filed with the FEC.
"Sorry to be such a pest.
"BTW, take a look at the NO Times-Picayune story about the hearing yesterday. Someone there must be close to Acorn because they say nothing about the judge throwing out the poll or telling the lawyer to approach the AG." October 3, 2008 3:06 PM
16. "I'm so sorry if any of my work is causing you problems. I've tried to be very careful.
"I'm calling halt to my efforts. I just had two unpleasant calls with the Obama campaign, wherein the spokesman was screaming and yelling and cursing me, calling me a rightwing nut and a conspiracy theorist and everything else. Without something that clearly links the campaign to the organization, I'm spinning my wheels. Sorry.
"I'd still like to get that file from you when you have a chance to send it. One of these days, the truth is going to come out." October 6, 2008
17. "I'm going to have a discussion today with a pal of mine at the paper. What's happened is that the campaign has answered some of my questions on the record — but when I sought on-the-record answers to my questions about the meeting and about the list, the campaign insisted on speaking only on background. When I asked why, I got the barrage I described earlier. Clearly, I've hit a nerve with what you've told me. The campaign knows that having the allegations of meeting attributed to 'former employees' — and there are more than one of you talking — and having an anonymous denial of the meeting makes it harder for me to get it into the paper.
"The emails you've sent help nail the dates when these things were coming in.
"Thank you, thank you." October 7, 2008 7:56 AM
Thomas Jefferson famously said, "If I had to choose between a country without newspapers and newspapers without a country, I would unerringly choose the latter."
Jefferson trusted more in the wisdom of an informed people than he did in the powers of an unresponsive government, but he expected newspapers that would inform the people instead of conceal the truth from them.
Thank God (and Ms. MonCrief and Ms. Strom) for those emails!
And thanks to Bill O'Reilly for boldly standing up for "the folks."
When it comes to the truth prevailing, I say better sooner than later and better late than never!
Last fall I repeatedly warned about ACORN and its ties to then Democrat presidential candidate Obama.
In "Blame Obama's ACORN for the Financial Crisis," posted on September 29, 2008, I wrote the simple truth:
"Don't expect the mainstream media to identify ACORN and its favorite community organizer and lawyer, rookie United States Senator and current Democrat presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. among the villains in the current financial crisis.
"But media bias does not change facts."
I quoted a January 14, 2007 Pittsburgh Tribune Review article as follows:
"...in Chicago, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is more important than Iraq or Washington. ACORN and its associated Midwest Academy, both founded in the 1970s, continue to train and mobilize activists throughout the country, often using them to manipulate public opinion through 'direct action.' It's sometimes a code for illegal activities.
"Prior to law school, Barack Obama worked as an organizer for their affiliates in New York and Chicago. He always has been an ACORN person — meeting and working with them to advance their causes. Through his membership on the board of the Woods Fund for Chicago and his friendship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, Obama has helped ensure that they remain funded well.
"Since he graduated from law school, Obama's work with ACORN and the Midwest Academy has ranged from training and fundraising, to legal representation and promoting their work."
In "Beware Obama, 'the Senator from ACORN,'" posted on October 1, 2008, I asked, "Will the current financial crisis that finally resulted from affirmative action lending and intimidation tactics to which Obama is connected ironically make him the next President of the United States?"
I answered:
"If Obama moves into the White House in 2009, it will be because his involvement with ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) was not generally appreciated and NOT because Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a National Review Online contributing editor, did not give fair warning.
"On May 29, 2008, Mr. Kurtz shared his 'Inside Obama's Acorn, By their fruits ye shall know them.'
"Mr. Kurtz warned in that article, 'if you're looking for the piece of the puzzle that confirms and explains Obama's network of radical ties, gather your Acorns this spring. Or next winter, you may just be left watching the "President from Acorn" at his feast.'"
In "ACORN Should Be Obama's Undoing," posted on October 2, 2008, I predicted: "We will never know exactly how many fraudulent votes ACORN will be responsible for in the upcoming presidential election, but If the whole truth about ACORN and its long and intimate relationship with rookie United States Senator and 2008 Democrat presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. becomes fully and generally known, on Election Night 2008 Obama and his ACORNites will moan."
In "Michelle Malkin Was Right About ACORN, Of Course," posted on October 4, 2008, I wrote hopefully: "ACORN, a key culprit in the current economic mess, made Obama a local, statewide and national political success, but awareness of what ACORN really is and how Obama has served it as organizer, trainer, lawyer and funder and received its political support (legal or not) in return can and should put an end to that political success in the nick of time."
In "McCain Can Still Win, By Exposing Obama and ACORN, posted on October 9, 2008, I noted:
"It would be the height of irony for Obama, 'the Senator from ACORN,' to benefit from the financial crisis that his kind of thinking created with his personal help as organizer, trainer, lawyer, funder and political supporter and win the Presidency.
"If Obama does win, things will worsen instead of improve."
In "Obama's ACORN: A Corrupt Organization of Revolutionary Nuts," posted on October 10, 2008, I wrote:
"Unfortunately, with Obama and ACORN, the bulk of the mainstream media is ignoring instead of scrutinizing and publicizing the danger.
"To put it simply, Obama is lying about his ties to ACORN, lest voters see behind the curtain and realize he is a front man and a fraud."
In "Does NYT Know More About Obama/ACORN,' posted on October 20, 2008, I wrote:
"Would The New York Times NOT report some things voters should know and instead spin for Obama, whitewash the Obama/Ayers relationship and run scurrilous stories about the McCains?
"Is the Pope Catholic?
"It's no surprise that The New York Times is backing the Obamas and battering the McCains.
"It's no surprise that McCain's alliance with The New York Times on campaign finance reform has turned out to be a boon for The New York Times and a burden for McCain.
"And it's no surprise that The New York Times has been handling the Obama/ACORN relationship the way it has."
In "ACORN Whistleblower, Obama's Third Strike," posted on October 22, 2008, I wrote: "Yesterday, [ACORN whistleblower] Anita [MonCrief] advised me, Ms. Strom [New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom] apologetically canceled a meeting for today and explained that New York Times policy was not to publish what might be a game changing article this close to the election."
I explained how Ms. MonCrief had contacted me and added:
"...before Anita emailed Michelle Malkin and me, she had been working with New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom, but what ended up published as Ms. Strom's ACORN articles were so 'watered down' that Anita decided to turn elsewhere."
Tellingly, when Ms. Strom emailed Ms. MonCrief about my article later that day, she did not dispute its accuracy, but lamented about being outted: "I thought we had an agreement to speak off the record. In addition to outting yourself, you outted me, too. I have scrupulously protected your identity, refusing to even acknowledge speculation about our discussions. Wish I had received the same consideration."
If my reporting had been inaccurate, surely Ms. MonCrief would have said so.
In "John Fund: Do the Expose BEFORE the Election This Year, Please," posted on October 28, 2008, I wrote: "It's 2008 and Election Day is nearly upon us. So it's time for Mr. Fund to report what's really been going on this year, while it is helpful to those voters who care about the integrity of the electoral process and the rule of law and haven't voted early. Say by tomorrow?"
In "Why Obama and ACORN Fear Anita MonCrief," posted on October 29, 2008, " I wrote: "... Obama looked into the camera during the last presidential debate and flat out lied to the American people about it (in his calm, seemingly non-threatening manner).
"ACORN is the organization with which Obama has been associated throughout his adult life, as organizer, trainer, lawyer, funder and political beneficiary...and Obama's Achilles heel.
"Anita reports revealing connections between ACORN and the Obama campaign based on personal knowledge.
"In late 2007, Anita reports, Anita received a call from the Obama campaign asking if this was the same Project Vote that Obama worked for in the 90's. With the staff retreat fresh in mind, Anita answered yes and sent an email to Zach Polett, Karyn Gillette, Nathan Henderson James, and Kevin Whelan stating that the campaign wanted someone to call them back regarding some media questions that were being asked at the time.
"In late 2007, Anita reports, Karyn Gillette approached Anita to tell her that she had direct contact with the Obama campaign and had obtained their donor lists. This meeting took place sometime in November of 2007 and may have even been a conference call between the campaign and Project Vote. Anita was given an excel spreadsheet to work with for cultivation of new donors. When Anita had trouble because of the duplicates, Karyn stated that she would contact her person at the campaign and see if they had another one.
"Anita reports that Karyn Gillette also provided lists obtained from the Kerry and Clinton campaigns, as well as the 2004 DNC donor lists, and that these lists were shared with the Political directors of roughly 12 ACORN battleground states in order to raise money for a $28 million dollar (number as of 11/2007) voter registration drive (based on direct and indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that research uncovered after the Rathke embezzlement scandal showed that persons demanded a forensic audit and suggested a well-known, credible firm to do it, but Bertha Lewis told them that the auditors came back with a contract that was 'too expensive' and that's what Dale Rathke told funders back when they were hoping Arthur Anderson would take over auditing (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that ACORN and Project Vote used CCI to transfer money between the organizations and may be guilty of violating RICO statues (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that Sidley Austin, Obama's old law firm, is representing ACORN pro-bono and Mesirow Financial, the firm hired to provide financial advice to ACORN, is headed by a major Obama donor, Richard Mesirow (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita also notes that questions have been raised about the shredding or destruction of documents by ACORN's own lawyers (based on documents).
"Bottom line: ACORN has been improperly coordinating with and operating as an arm of the Obama campaign, and 'the Senator from ACORN''s involvement with ACORN has been much more than his lawful representation of ACORN in the motor voter case years ago."
In "Anita MonCrief: Obama Supporter and Exposer, ACORN Whistleblower and Blogger," posted on November 2, 2008, I declared:
"Anita surely shares Obama's political views, but when she speaks the truth, she exposes Obama as a liar.
"It's his fault, not hers.
"Hurray for Anita!"
In "Will ACORN Steal the Presidency for its Man, Obama," posted on November 4, 2008, I wrote:"Anita did not mince words in her first blog article: 'ACORN is a corrupt organization that is preying on the marginalized in this society and they have become the cancerous growth of this election.'
"Voter, Obama is 'the Senator from ACORN' and he's been lying to you about his ties to it. That should be all you need to know."
Tragically, due to the bias of the liberal media establishment in general and The New York Times in particular, not nearly enough voters knew what they needed to know about the relationship between ACORN and now President Obama before they voted for President last year.
In "Why Obama Won and McCain Lost," posted on November 5, 2008, I explained:
"McCain was a liberal media darling when he was the alternative to President Bush and a Republican proponent of liberal versions of campaign finance reform and immigration reform. "But the liberal media always was ready to attack McCain if a more liberal alternative was available (and The New York Times proved that with scurrilous articles about both McCain and his wife Cindy and whitewashes of Obama's relationships with ACORN and William 'domestic terrorist' Ayers).
"McCain received the endorsement of The New York Times for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, but if he ever expected its endorsement over a more liberal Democrat presidential nominee like Obama, he was fooling himself.
The truth: ACORN whistleblower MonCrief gave The New York Times much more information than it chose to report and her email exchanges with Stephanie Strom soon to be submitted to Congress prove it.
It appears that, as in the Duke case, editors made sure Times coverage was slanted to fit the political correctness agenda of The New York Times instead of the pesky facts that undercut it.
Expose: "an exposure of something discreditable ."
When is an expose not an expose?
When it is managed news.
When does a newspaper need to be exposed?
When it manages the news.
Wikipedia:
"Stephanie Strom...is an American journalist who has been a national correspondent for The New York Times since December 2002.
"Strom received her B.A. from Northwestern University in 1985 and an M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1986. She began her career at the Times as a clerk in the Washington bureau.
"Strom's previous posts at the Times include: research assistant to A.M. Rosenthal; metropolitan reporter; business/financial reporter focusing on retail and toy industries and Seventh Avenue; business/financial reporter covering Wall Street and the financial industry; business correspondent in the Tokyo bureau; correspondent focusing on executive compensation; and correspondent focusing on philanthropy and nonprofits."
Ms. Strom did a number of "exposes" about ACORN last year.
What is not generally known is that those "exposes" left much out and, according to ACORN whistleblower and Strom source MonCrief, Ms. Strom stopped doing those "exposes" before Election Day 2008 because, as Ms. Strom told Ms. MonCrief, The New York Times did not want to affect the presidential election "either way."
Then neither did Dan Rather and Marla Mapes in 2004!
The New York Times reported embezzlement at ACORN in a Strom article titled "Funds Misappropriated at 2 Nonprofit Groups" and published on July 9, 2008.
The article reported on public disclosure of misappropriation at two "prominent national nonprofit groups," one of which was ACORN. It described ACORN as "one of the country's largest community organizing groups" and reported that (1) "Acorn chose to treat the embezzlement of nearly $1 million eight years ago as an internal matter and did not even notify its board"; (2) "[a] whistle-blower forced Acorn to disclose the embezzlement, which involved the brother of the organization's founder, Wade Rathke"; (3) Dale Rathke "embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000" and "a small group of executives decided to keep the information from almost all of the group's board members and not to alert law enforcement"; (4) "Dale Rathke remained on Acorn's payroll until a month ago, when disclosure of his theft by foundations and other donors forced the organization to dismiss him."
The article did not mention ACORN's connection to Obama, but it prompted Ms. MonCrief to contact Ms. Strom, initially using an alias and later identifying herself(as she later did with me in October 2008), and become an unidentified source for Ms. Strom.
It was not until August 16, 2008 that a follow up article appeared. That Strom article, titled "Head of Foundation Bailed Out Nonprofit Group After Its Funds Were Embezzled," reported an ACORN announcement that a supporter had agreed to cover the embezzlement loss.
That article began:
"When the embezzlement of almost $1 million by the brother of the founder of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as Acorn, surfaced last month, the organization announced that an anonymous supporter had agreed to make it whole.
"That supporter was Drummond Pike, the founder and chief executive of the Tides Foundation, which channels money to what it describes as progressive nonprofits, including some Acorn charitable affiliates.
"Mr. Pike is a friend of Wade Rathke, the founder of Acorn and its leader until the scandal broke, and he agreed to buy the promissory note that required the Rathke family to repay Acorn the money that Mr. Rathke's brother, Dale, had stolen."
The filing of a lawsuit seeking ACORN financial documentsand severence of Wade Rathke's ties to ACORN led to a third Strom ACORN article, titled "Lawsuit Adds to Turmoil for Community Group" and published on September 12, 2008.
That article began:
"In the wake of an embezzlement scandal that rocked the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, two of its board members are seeking a court order to force it to hand over financial documents.
"They also are seeking to sever what they describe as continuing ties between Acorn and its founder, Wade Rathke, who resigned after it became public this summer that his brother had embezzled almost $1 million from the organization eight years ago. They contend that Mr. Rathke continues to direct the staff and expenditures.
"'Acorn will suffer irreparable harm if the defendants are not restrained from contact with employees, expending and receiving, destroying or prohibiting the review of accounting and other data necessary to fulfill the fiduciary responsibility of the interim management committee,' the board members, Marcel Reid and Karen Inman, stated in the petition. Both serve on a committee established to lead Acorn."The suit cites their concerns that money is being spent improperly and that important documents are being destroyed. It was filed on behalf of the entire 51-member board, but Acorn executives and some board members say Ms. Reid and Ms. Inman had no authority to file the suit or to claim to represent the board."
About a month later, on October 10, 2008, a fourth Strom ACORN article, titled "On Obama, Acorn and Voter Registration." was published. It reported that the McCain campaign was linking then Democrat presidential nominee Obama to ACORN was published and minimized the ACORN-Obama connection.
The article began with the McCain campaign attempt:
"Senator John McCain's presidential campaign on Friday stepped up its efforts to tie Senator Barack Obama to a community organizing group that has been accused of involvement in problematic voter registrations in several hotly contested states, including Colorado, Indiana, Nevada and North Carolina.
"The group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, has long been a favorite target of conservatives. It made news this year when it was revealed that a brother of Acorn's founder had embezzled almost $1 million from the organization but that Acorn had failed to disclose the theft for eight years.
"'Barack Obama has made very inconsistent remarks about what his relationship with this organization is,' Rick Davis, Mr. McCain's campaign manager, said in a conference call.
"Mr. Davis said Mr. Obama had worked as Acorn's lawyer and conducted training events for its leaders. He also noted a payment the Obama campaign made in February to an Acorn affiliate, Citizens Services Inc."
Then the article continued with a whitewashing of the ACORN-Obama connection:
"While Mr. Obama did represent Acorn in a lawsuit in 1995, Acorn was on the same side as the Justice Department. The training events involved two hours of work. And the payment to the Acorn affiliate was reported in campaign filings, although they had to be revised because of an error.
"The Obama campaign described the accusations as a spurious effort to tie Mr. Obama to potentially fraudulent voter registrations.
"'Barack Obama strongly condemns voter registration fraud or any other breach of election law by any party or group,' Ben LaBolt, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
"Acorn, whose political action committee has endorsed Mr. Obama, has said that the investigations into its voter registration work are politically motivated."
That was followed with a defense of ACORN as well as praise of Obama:
"'Rumors of Acorn's voter fraud have been greatly exaggerated and to a large extent manufactured,' Bertha Lewis, the organization's interim chief organizer, or chief executive, said Monday in a conference call to announce that the organization had registered 1.3 million people to vote.
"Ms. Lewis said it was Acorn itself that informed state officials about some questionable registrations collected by its employees that are now under investigation. Acorn said it had terminated the workers involved.
"In 1995, Mr. Obama was on a team of lawyers that represented Acorn in a lawsuit to compel Illinois to comply with federal laws intended to enhance access to the polls. The team also represented Equip for Equality, a group that promotes the rights of the disabled, and four individuals.
"Mr. Davis said that as their lawyer, Mr. Obama had 'an intimate relationship' with Acorn 'against the State of Illinois and the federal government.'
"In fact, the Justice Department was on the same side as Acorn in the lawsuit, as were other organizations, including the League of Women Voters. Those plaintiffs won the case.
"Mr. Davis urged reporters to question Mr. Obama about training sessions he had done for Acorn. 'What were you teaching them?' Mr. Davis asked. 'Were you teaching them how to evade the law?'
"Lewis Goldberg, a spokesman for Acorn, said Mr. Obama conducted two leadership training sessions of roughly an hour each for Acorn's Chicago affiliate over a three-year period in the late 1990s. He was not paid for that work, Mr. Goldberg said.
"Even before Friday's conference call, Republicans had made much of an $832,598 payment made in February by the Obama campaign to Citizens Services Inc., a consulting firm affiliated with Acorn.
"'This organization is not just related to but deeply ingrained in the Acorn organization, a front group for Acorn,' Mr. Davis said.
"The Obama campaign initially reported that the payment was for 'staging, sound, lighting' and other advance work when it reported its expenditures with the Federal Election Commission. It filed amended reports in August and September to reflect that those payments were for get-out-the-vote efforts.
"Mr. Davis contended that the original filing was an effort to 'hide the fact' that money was paid to Acorn. But F.E.C. officials have said such amended filings are common.
"Citizens Services typically contracts with Acorn and its affiliates for work like that done for the Obama campaign. Mr. Goldberg, the Acorn spokesman, said that less than $80,000 of the Obama campaign's payment to Citizens Services went to Acorn. Jeff Robinson, executive vice president of Citizens Services, did not return a call inquiring how the rest of the money was spent.
"In 1992, Mr. Obama was personally involved in voter registration efforts when he served as director of Project Vote in Chicago, helping to register 150,000 voters on the South Side. His success was widely written about at the time and credited with helping to elect Senator Carol Moseley Braun, the first African-American woman in the Senate.
"Mr. LaBolt emphasized that Project Vote and Acorn were not as intertwined at that time as they are today, when a significant part of Project Vote's revenues flow to Acorn and various of its affiliates as payment for services."
The article added at the end:
"But according to Sam Graham-Felsen, who blogs on the Obama campaign's Web site, Mr. Obama himself linked his 1992 work to Acorn in a meeting with Acorn's leaders in November.
"'Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drives in Illinois, Acorn was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work,' Mr. Obama said, according to a post Mr. Graham-Felsen made in February."
But nothing about the Obama campaign giving ACORN its donor list.
On October 15, 2008, another ACORN article titled "Acorn Working on Deal to Sever Ties With Founder" was published, without any reference to Obama.
The article reported that ACORN was "battl[ing] charges of fraudulent voter registration practices in several states" and "negotiating to sever all ties with its founder, whose brother embezzled almost $1 million from the group."
On October 21, 2008, another Strom follow up article, titled "Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality," appeared, with a brief reference to "Obama's ties to" ACORN.
The article stated:
"An internal report by a lawyer for the community organizing group Acorn raises questions about whether the web of relationships among its 174 affiliates may have led to violations of federal laws.
"The group, formally known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has been in the news over accusations that it is involved in voter registration fraud, charges it says are overblown and politically motivated.
"Republicans have tried to make an issue of Senator Barack Obama's ties to the group, which he represented in a lawsuit in 1995. The Obama campaign has denied any connection with Acorn's voter registration drives."
Nothing more before Election Day 2008.
Nothing more since Election Day 2008.
Did The New York Times manage the news for political purposes?
Is the Pope Catholic?
The same New York Times that reported that then Democrat presidential hopeful Obama had disinvited Rev. Jeremiah A. "God damn America" Wright. Jr. to the announcement of his presidential campaign because Rev. Wright's sermons could be "rough" and never explained what "rough" really meant and ran an inadequately sourced front-page "expose" insinuating that 2008 Republican presidential nominee McCain had an illicit relationship with a female lobbyist did not choose to expose the relationship between the Obama campaign and ACORN.
Abraham Lincoln was right: "it is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time."
© Michael Gaynor
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
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