After employees for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) were caught on hidden-camera advising a couple on how to cheat on taxes and lie on mortgage applications, the group commissioned an independent investigator, former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, to audit its conduct.
ACORN has now released the results of its self-examination, and — surprise, surprise — it says they did nothing wrong.
“We did not find a pattern of intentional, illegal conduct by ACORN staff involved; in fact, no action, illegal or otherwise, was ever taken by any ACORN employee on behalf of the videographers,” Harshbarger said in a statement. “Instead, the videos represent the byproduct of ACORN’s longstanding management weaknesses, including a lack of training, a lack of procedures and a lack of onsite supervision.”
Complicity in tax and mortgage fraud are just honest mistakes, even when you tell someone, “Honesty isn’t going to get you the house,” and suggest that people underreport income and lie about their jobs.
