Jim Kouri
Law Enforcement Examiner
8/30/2011
A young Barack teaching community activists about political organization and power. The classes were held by ACORN. Credits: NewswithViews
While the cover story swallowed whole-cloth by many politicians, news organizations and Americans is that ACORN had disbanded following a number of scandals, an investigation by a Washington, D.C., watchdog reveals ACORN not only continues to exist but the group is planning to help prop-up and re-elect a failed president.
A public-interest group that investigates and fights government corruption, announced yesterday, August 24, that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain records related to the agency’s communications with Estelle Rogers, a former ACORN attorney currently serving as Director of Advocacy for the ACORN-connected organization Project Vote, President Obama’s former employer.
The successful legal watchdog group, Judicial Watch, is in the midst of investigating the extent to which the DOJ and Project Vote are partnering on a national campaign to use the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) to register more individuals on public assistance, widely considered a key voting demographic for the Obama 2012 campaign.
“While it’s perfectly alright for a non-government organization to seek voters for candidates and political parties, the Department of Justice should not be a tool for any political campaign or candidate,” said political strategist Mike Baker.
Pursuant to a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed on June 23, 2011, Judicial Watch seeks the following: “All records of communications between the Department of Justice and Estelle Rogers, Director of Advocacy for Project Vote. The timeframe for this request is January 2, 2009, to June 23, 2011.”
According to federal law, the DOJ was required to respond to Judicial Watch’s June 23, 2011, FOIA request within 30 working days, or by August 5, 2011. U.S. Postal Service records indicate the DOJ received Judicial Watch’s request on June 28, 2011. As of the lawsuit’s filing, the DOJ has failed to produce the records requested or respond with a date they will be forthcoming…
…In addition to pursuing public agency registration cases in Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and New Mexico, Project Vote also filed a lawsuit on April 19, 2011, in partnership with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), against the State of Louisiana alleging violations of the NVRA. Less than three months later, on July 12, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division/Voting Section sued Louisiana on the same grounds, claiming that “Louisiana officials have not routinely offered voter registration forms, assistance and services to the state’s eligible citizens who apply, re-certify or provide a change address for public assistance or disability services.”
The DOJ sued the State of Rhode Island on March 11, 2011, alleging violations of the NVRA. The lawsuit led to policy changes intended to increase the number of voter registration applications processed by “public assistance and disability service officers.” These two lawsuits, filed within five months of each other, are the first such lawsuits filed by the DOJ since 2007…
Read the entire article at the Law Enforcement Examiner.
Update: Scandal-linked operative doing Obama vote work. New White House aide part of effort to get artists to promote president’s agenda
A scandal-prone Obama White House operative with close ties to ACORN has been chosen to lead a get-out-the-vote effort for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
The Obama aide is Buffy Wicks, former deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Wicks played a key role in the National Endowment for the Arts scandal documented by BigHollywood.com. She took part in a now-infamous 2009 conference call in which Obama officials urged taxpayer-subsidized artists to produce artistic works that would help advance Obamacare and the rest of the president’s radical policy objectives…
