Insult To Injury: ACORN Loses Backing Of One Of It’s Largest Corporate Partners
Sep 28, 2009 9 Comments ›› Erik Wong
Already facing the loss of federal government funding, the community-organizing group ACORN also has run afoul of one of its big corporate partners, Bank of America Corp.
In response to questions from The Wall Street Journal, a spokesman for the banking company said it has “suspended current commitments” to ACORN Housing, an affiliated group, and “will not enter into any further agreements with ACORN or any of its affiliates,” pending assessments by the bank of the organization’s operations.
ACORN, officially the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has been under fire since the recent release of secretly recorded videos that showed Acorn employees offering advice on evading taxes, setting up brothels and smuggling illegal immigrants.
ACORN has called the actions unacceptable and has fired the workers involved. Last week, ACORN said it has selected Scott Harshbarger, a former Massachusetts attorney general, to investigate any wrongdoing at the organization.
ACORN Housing for years has worked with Bank of America and some other big banks on foreclosure-prevention efforts.
“Bank of America takes recent allegations made against ACORN and ACORN Housing Corporation employees very seriously,” the bank said in a statement.
