Gov. Carcieri orders RI ACORN probe

Wants immediate halt of state funding to group

Updated: Friday, 18 Sep 2009, 5:48 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 18 Sep 2009, 5:47 PM EDT
        Nancy Krause

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Gov. Donald Carcieri has ordered all state departments and agencies to freeze any payments being made directly to the Rhode Island chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or indirectly to any of its affiliates.

The governor's order comes as ACORN is facing national scrutiny. Hidden-camera video shot at four separate ACORN offices across the country show ACORN employees giving a fake pimp and prostitute advice how to buy a home for their illegal sex business and how lie on tax forms to account for the woman's income.

The fake pimp and prostitute even told one of the workers they were planning to bring in 12 underage girls from El Salvador to work in the home.

"It is unconscionable for a single dime of taxpayer money be spent to support an organization that is engaged in this type of activity," said Governor Carcieri. "I am ordering a review of each state department, agency, and quasi-public agency to determine if ACORN is benefitting from taxpayer dollars."

Carcieri is not alone. Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to deny all federal funding for ACORN nationally. The U.S. Senate approved a similar resolution earlier in the week. Rhode Island's Congressional delegation, with the exception of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse , voted in favor of freezing ACORN funds.

 ACORN has ordered all of its local branches, including the one in Providence , to close for a month while it conducts an internal investigation into the matter. Four ACORN employees involved in the hidden-camera investigation have been fired.

In addition to freezing funding, Gov. Carcieri has asked the state Board of Elections to review the legal status of the ACORN-RI political action committee.

"If ACORN-RI has used either federal or state taxpayer dollars to support its political agenda, this activity must stop, and the Board of Elections must take appropriate legal actions against the organization."
 


[well, if ACORN is "non-partisan", so was SNCC, SDS, the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground]