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ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy

James O'Keefe, who, along with Hannah Giles, made videos about ACORN
Main article: History of ACORN in the United States

In 2009, workers at offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a collection of autonomous community based organizations that advocated for low and moderate income families, were secretly recorded by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe.[1] The videos purported to show low-level ACORN employees in several cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid taxes and detection by the authorities with regard to their plans to engage in tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution.[2]

The videos were published on Andrew Breitbart's website BigGovernment from September through November 2009. They generated extensive, negative publicity for ACORN, and led to the United States Census Bureau and the IRS ending their contracts with ACORN, the U.S. Congress suspending its funding,[3] and ACORN losing most of its private funding. This was despite several independent investigations that by December 2009 appeared to reveal that no criminal activity by ACORN staff had taken place.[4][5][6]

ACORN filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on November 2, 2010, effectively closing the organization.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1sourceslead was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Shane, Scott (September 19, 2009). "A Political Gadfly Lampoons the Left via YouTube". The New York Times. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference FOX was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Report of the Attorney General on the Activities of Acorn" (PDF). April 1, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  5. ^ "Brown Releases Report Detailing a Litany of Problems with ACORN, But No Criminality". California Office of Attorney General. April 1, 2010. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  6. ^ "Preliminary report clears ACORN on funds". CNN. June 15, 2010.
  7. ^ ACORN filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy; Los Angeles Times; November 2, 2010
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference associated was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Hays, Tom. Associated Press, "New York Federal Appeals Court rules against ACORN", carried at Dayton Daily News, August 13, 2010

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