Letter to Attorney General Gansler, Baltimore State’s Attorney Jessamy, and US Attorney Rosenstein
September 11, 2009
Dear Mr. Rosenstein:
As you may be aware, a video was released yesterday appearing to show employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in Baltimore, Maryland instructing a purported prostitute and pimp in techniques and methods by which the two can engage in apparent criminal activity while maintaining a false front of legality. This activity appears to be centered on obtaining housing for what appears to be significant criminal activity, possibly including tax evasion, prostitution, and trafficking in the human sex trade with minors from abroad. A second video, similar in nature apparently from the Washington, D.C. office of ACORN emerged on national media today. There may be emerging a disturbing pattern of conduct in these housing assistance arms of ACORN’s regional offices. If true, these activities are very concerning considering the fact that a subsidiary of ACORN, ACORN Housing Corporation, is even listed as a housing foreclosure counseling resource on the official State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s consumer protection program web site. ACORN Housing Corporation is also listed as a housing foreclosure counseling resource on one of Governor Martin O’Malley’s official state funded web sites at www.mdhope.org.
It is imperative that a formal investigation be launched immediately by your office into the activities apparently undertaken by ACORN and its employees in this case, and to determine if laws have been broken and if there are other such cases as yet undiscovered. The video alone appears to provide evidence that ACORN’s employees seem to have engaged in acts of potential criminal conspiracy, by freely aiding two persons apparently believed by the employees to be planning the establishment of a brothel, specializing in the trafficking and abusive manipulation of minor girls illegally brought to the US. These persons appeared to have asked for, and appeared to have received, advice on how to engage in racketeering, fraud, and the systematic sexual abuse of children. The actions of these particular employees seem to be clearly captured on video which was subsequently released to the public. As a result of the justifiable public outcry, newspaper accounts report that these specific employees were terminated from employment with ACORN. However, neither ACORN representative in the video appeared to show any compunction about offering the advice and aid, even after they were made aware of the nature of the proposed “business”. Therefore, it seems reasonable to infer that there may be other instances of similar advice having been provided to genuine aspiring criminals.
As if the above activities weren’t enough on their own, ACORN has been the recipient in the past of multiple grants of public funds. Therefore, further investigation is required to determine what, if any, taxpayer funds have been distributed to ACORN that may have been misused. Taxpayer dollars meant to directly support community development and leadership programs may have been, instead, used to indirectly support the commercial sexual exploitation of children through apparently illicit enterprises. The manner in which ACORN receives its public funds is circuitous and confusing at best and a veritable Gordian knot at worst. There is little if any transparency with respect to taxpayer funds, either federal or state or local, provided to ACORN or its affiliate organizations. Without a directed effort and investigation, it may be impossible to determine the nature and source of the funding that supported the activities described above.
The law-abiding citizens of Maryland have a vested interest in ensuring that not only are so-called altruistic organizations not conspiring in criminal activity, but moreover, that their tax dollars are not being distributed in such a manner as to support it. Additionally, we should fully expect and be confident that tax exempt non-profit organizations are not suborning criminal activities in our state. These video releases, if accurate, give us serious concern that this is not so. We consider these video releases to be of a very serious nature deserving a full and thorough formal investigation and report to the citizens of Maryland. As the representatives of those citizens, we call upon you to put in place the full measure of your authority to determine the nature and extent of the activities engaged in by ACORN and its employees, and to act accordingly with the full force of law.
Sincerely,
Anthony J. O’Donnell Christopher B. Shank
House Minority Leader House Minority Whip
House Republican Caucus Calls for Immediate Investigation of ACORN
As has been reported in both local and national media, a video was released on Thursday apparently showing Baltimore employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) instructing a purported prostitute and pimp in techniques and methods by which the two can engage in criminal activity while maintaining a false front of legality. Today, the House Republican Caucus called for an immediate investigation into the actions of the ACORN employees shown in the video, the possibility of additional similar instances, and the potential misuse of taxpayer funds by ACORN in supporting such activities.
“It is imperative that an investigation be launched immediately by the Attorney General, Baltimore State’s Attorney, and the US Attorney’s Office for Maryland into the activities possibly undertaken by ACORN and its employees in this case, and to determine if any laws have been broken and if there are other such cases as yet undiscovered” said Delegate Anthony J. O’Donnell, House Minority Leader. “The video alone appears to provide evidence that ACORN’s employees may have engaged in acts of potential criminal conspiracy. It is astonishing that ACORN employees appear to give advice to two persons apparently believed to be planning the establishment of a brothel to specialize in the trafficking and abusive manipulation of minor girls illegally brought to the US. These persons appear to have asked for, and received, advice from ACORN on how to engage in racketeering, fraud, and the systematic sexual abuse of children.”
The Minority Leader and Whip sent letters today to Attorney General Gansler, Baltimore State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy, and US Attorney Rod Rosenstein asking each of them to engage their offices in a detailed investigation of this incident and to ascertain whether other similar activities have occurred. Additionally, as ACORN receives public funds through various sources, the letter requested an examination of funding to establish if there is evidence of misuse of taxpayer monies.
“Taxpayer dollars meant to directly support community development and leadership programs have been, instead, used to encourage criminal activity and the commercial sexual exploitation of children” said Delegate Christopher B. Shank, House Minority Whip. “The manner in which ACORN receives its public funds is circuitous and confusing. Our law enforcement officers at the state and federal levels should investigate this matter diligently and forcefully to bring this rogue group to justice. ”
“The law-abiding citizens of Maryland have a vested interest in ensuring that not only are so-called altruistic organizations not conspiring in criminal activity, but moreover, that their tax dollars are not being distributed in such a manner as to support it” concluded Delegate O’Donnell. “We are looking forward to hearing from the officials to whom we have communicated our concerns as to how they intend to respond to this issue.”
House Republican Caucus Responds to Governor O’Malley’s Proposed Budget Reductions
Today, House Republican leaders responded to Governor O’Malley announcement of an additional $454 million in budget reductions to the FY 2010 budget. The reductions will affect state agency budgets, aid to local governments, and state employee salaries in the form of mandatory furlough days.
“This is one more example of attempting to address the budget problem through piecemeal solutions and fund shuffling” said Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell. “Had the administration and the majority leadership in the legislature actually faced the situation head on, and made real, significant cutbacks in spending, Maryland would be in a much better position. Instead, the Governor is continuing to kick the can down the road while refusing to address the fundamental problem”.
Maryland continues to face an ongoing structural budget deficit. In 2007, the special legislative session called to deal with the problem resulted in a tax increase of $1.3 billion. In the following budget year, state government spending was increased by the same amount. The overall state budget has increased every year since Governor O’Malley took office, despite the administration’s assertion that the previous administration was to blame for leaving the problem behind.
“There are some simple, obvious places to look for the true reductions in state spending that we have repeatedly called for” said Minority Leader O’Donnell. “The expansion of Medicaid that took place in the 2007 special session, GCEI funding, the bank error that resulted in an overpayment of $30 million to local boards of education, and an immediate moratorium on the tens of millions of dollars being spent on state land acquisitions. None of these are nickel and dime reductions, they will make a significant impact on the deficit problem. These are few of the many examples, and they are common sense solutions.”
“Comptroller Franchot commented at the start of the meeting that basic financial literacy ought to be a fundamental part of the curriculum in Maryland’s high schools” said Minority Whip Christopher Shank. “Managing a finite amount of resources, saying no to obligations you can’t afford – these are key skills that every responsible citizen should develop. Perhaps we should start the training with the administration and the General Assembly leadership.”
