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GOP Attacked ACORN Just Before 2004 Election
GOP Attacked Integrity of ACORN's Voter Efforts Just Before 2004 Election
By Jason Leopold, The Public Record
Thursday, October 16, 2008
For full
story see…
GOP Attacked Integrity of ACORN's Voter
Efforts Just Before 2004 Election
The Department of Justice appears to be taking advantage of the revised edition in its manual related to the prosecution of election offenses.
Historically, the DOJ warned federal prosecutors to be “extremely careful” when conducting voter fraud investigations and prosecutions in the weeks before an election, fearing that it could become a campaign issue and perhaps influence the outcome of an election.
Last year, however, the DOJ, under former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, removed those restrictions, as well as others, from an updated version of the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual. In other words, prosecuting and/or conducting investigations into voter related crimes before an election was no longer off limits.
One of the key guidelines removed from the manual in May 2007 said, "Federal prosecutors and investigators should be extremely careful to not conduct overt investigations during the pre-election period of while the election is under way. Most, if not all, investigations of an alleged election crime must await the end of the election to which the allegation relates."
The warning, "it should also be kept in mind that any investigation undertaken during the final stages of a political contest may cause the investigation itself to become a campaign issue," was watered down in the updated version of the manual.
On Wednesday, the Associated Press, citing law enforcement officials, reported that the FBI launched a probe into the voter registration group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, to examine evidence that the grassroots organization that registers low-income and minorities committed voter registration fraud around the country. In a statement, ACORN said it “has not been contacted by any federal law enforcement agencies” about a federal investigation into its voter registration efforts. But the organization believes the Republican Party’s attacks on the organization is an example of “dirty politics are at work.”
For full story see…
GOP Attacked Integrity of ACORN's Voter
Efforts Just Before 2004
Election
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