Judicial Watch Obtains New FBI Documents Regarding ACORN Voter Fraud Investigation
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) related to the 2007 investigation and arrest of eight St. Louis, Missouri, workers from the “community organization” Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for violation of election laws and voter fraud.
The documents include handwritten notes from FBI investigators interviewing canvassers working with Project Vote, an ACORN affiliate. Among the highlights from the FBI handwritten notes:
- [ACORN] “Told employees not to talk to the FBI. ‘FBI trying to intimidate you.’”
- Fraudulent cards:
- To cause confusion on election day to keep polls open longer
- To allow people who can’t vote to vote.
- To allow to vote multiple times.
- Project Vote will pay them whether cards fake or not – whatever they had to do to get the cards was attitude.
- Constantly threatened
- Staff restricted on what to say to FBI
- “Poverty pimpin” [sic] ACORN
- ACORN HQ is wkg for the Democratic Party.
- PV [Project Vote] pays ACORN $6.00 per card…Said “You treat the cards like (cash) $”
- Some [names] went right from the phone book and made up the rest.
- Canvassers: homeless, volatile, drug users, drunks…
- Anyone who was against PV (Project Vote) or ACORN’s goals “right wing”
- She thought if she used a completely fake name it would be less like ID Theft…”Yeah, it’s against the law, I know.”
In addition to the hand-written notes, the documents also include copies of the arrest warrants, criminal case cover sheets and court documents. In April 2008, all eight ACORN employees involved in the scandal pled guilty to voter registration fraud.
In March 2010, Judicial Watch obtained a separate batch of FBI documents detailing federal investigations into alleged ACORN corruption and voter registration fraud in Connecticut. The FBI and Department of Justice initiated investigations. However, the Obama Justice Department, while noting that ACORN had engaged in “questionable hiring and training practices,” closed down the investigation in March 2009, claiming ACORN broke no laws.
“These documents show the need for a national criminal investigation by the Obama Justice Department into ACORN. Is Attorney General Holder doing nothing because of Obama’s close connections to ACORN and Project Vote? The information in these new documents has national implications that cry out for further investigation,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
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