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QUESTIONABLE STATEMENTS:
"Michelle will stand up to ACORN, SEIU and other extremist groups that break Michigan's election laws."
Characterizing the Service Employees International Union as an "extremist group" seems extreme. SEIU has 2.2 million members in the United States, making it the second-largest union and the fastest growing union. Although traditionally aligned with Democrats, the union best known for organizing health care workers has endorsed some Republicans, like state Sen. Mike Nofs (R-Battle Creek). There is no investigation into SEIU, according to Secretary of State spokeswoman Kelly Chesney.
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now advocated for low- to moderate-income people in areas including housing, health care and education. Once again, calling the group "extremist" is an ad hominem attack. ACORN disbanded in April 2010 after an embezzlement scandal and allegations over alleged voter registration fraud in the 2008 presidential election. There also was a tape of ACORN advising how to skirt taxes to conservative activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
There are reports of seven federal investigations into ACORN's activities, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) in a 2009 report commissioned by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. There are reports of 15 state investigations, including Michigan. Both Attorney General Mike Cox and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land investigated in 2008 ACORN electoral activities. Land turned her investigation over to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern Division. Cox did not charge ACORN as an organization, according to spokeswoman Joy Yearout. He charged one ACORN employee, Antonio Johnson, who pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery. (link) He was sentenced in 2009 to six months in jail and two years probation, according to Yearout.
The CRS report found the group had committed no wrongdoing in the last five years, which rebuts McManus' claim that ACORN has broken Michigan's election laws. The CRS also found that the conservative activists might have violated state law with the sting operation. However, in light of the investigations, Congress pulled the plug in 2009 on ACORN's federal funding for housing programs, but a federal judge later than year overturned the ban.
OVERALL IMPRESSION:
Slamming ACORN is a common theme for McManus, who also did so in a campaign literature piece. She's not alone, as all of her GOP opponents – Sen. Cameron Brown (R-Fawn River Township), Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson, Rep. Paul Scott (R-Grand Blanc) and Calhoun County Clerk and Register of Deeds Anne Norlander – have all campaigned against the group long after it disbanded.
ACORN is a hot-button topic with Republican activists who will determine the SOS nomination. A November 2009 Public Policy Polling survey found that 52 percent of Republicans think ACORN stole the 2008 election for Barack Obama.
TRUTH SQUAD CALL: Foul.
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Foul for calling SEIU and ACORN "extremist groups." And neither group has been found to broken Michigan's election laws, although an ACORN employee has been convicted of forgery.
Download Michigan Truth Squad Analysis .pdf
