Government Accountability Office Finds No Evidence to Support Breitbart and O’Keefe’s Attack on ACORN
The Government Accountability Office released a report today showing that Andrew Breitbart and James O’Keefe got away with a gigantic hoax on the American public, resulting in the unjust demise of an organization that helped the poorest and most disenfranchised: GAO Finds Little to Support Congress’ Abolition of ACORN.
A report issued today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds little to support the charges that led to the demise of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a grassroots consumer advocacy organization driven out of existence by Congressional critics.
The GAO found that monitoring of awards to ACORN by government agencies generally consisted of reviewing progress reports and making site visits. Of 22 investigations of alleged election and voter registration fraud, most were closed without prosecution, the report found.
One of eight investigations of alleged voter registration fraud resulted in guilty pleas and seven were closed without action due to lack of evidence.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) reported five closed matters – one resolved, one dismissed and the others dropped after FEC “found no reason to believe the violations occurred.”
At its peak, ACORN was a collection of 1,200 community-based organizations in 100 U.S. cities that advocated for low- and moderate-income families.
In 2009, conservative activists released selectively edited videos claiming to show ACORN employees giving advice on hiding prostitution activities and avoiding taxes.
Frank says: