Ignoring police report, Carlson advanced false claim that ACORN employee killed husband
Referring to a San Bernardino, California, ACORN employee whose claim that she killed her husband was recorded by actors posing as a prostitute and pimp, Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson asked, "She killed somebody?" adding, "Despite this, some lawmakers want to keep funding the group." However, the San Bernardino Police Department investigated the matter and concluded that the claims made by Tresa Kaelke -- the ACORN staffer in question who said she fabricated the story because the actors filming her "were clearly playing with me" -- "do not appear to be factual," and that her "known former husbands" are "alive and well."
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Carlson asked of Kaelke: "She killed somebody?"
From the September 16 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
CARLSON: You want to see some more shocking video? Guess what? We have it. ACORN, corrupt policies - watch.
[begin video clip]
KAELKE: But, it - you know, I don't think that that's a nice thing. I don't think -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You killed him emotionally?
KAELKE: No, I shot him.
[end video clip]
DOOCY: Hmm.
CARLSON: She killed somebody? Despite this, some lawmakers want to keep funding the group. Griff Jenkins tracked one of them down for us.
Carlson earlier reported, "According to ACORN, he's still alive"
From the September 16 edition of Fox & Friends:
BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Yeah, the same routine. They go in, they say, listen, I need a house. They're pushing -- she's a prostitute. And then she used that line where she says I have about a dozen girls ready to come, between 12 and 16, from El Salvador, and that's when she, this woman you just saw, springs into action. Well, they need a place to stay.
CARLSON: Well, before she killed her husband, allegedly -- and, by the way, I think he's still alive somewhere in California.
KILMEADE: Yeah, they found him alive.
CARLSON: They --
DOOCY: Barstow.
CARLSON: According to ACORN, he's still alive. So, there's still a lot of questions about that whole thing.
KILMEADE: We've just got a great bowl of --
CARLSON: And a sad -- well, and a sad back story if in fact she was a victim of domestic violence -- so, a lot of questions here. But, first and foremost, before she admits to killing her husband, she gives prostitution advice to these young kids because she says she was actually in the business before.
Police report confirms Kaelke did not kill husband
San Bernardino PD: Investigators found former husbands "alive and well." In a September 15 news release, the San Bernardino Police Department stated that Kaelke's claim that she shot and killed her husband does "do[es] not appear to be factual":
DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT:
An undercover video reportedly filmed in the San Bernardino office for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was recently released on the Internet. The film depicts a worker talking about her past involvement in prostitution and the alleged self-defense killing of her former husband.
The San Bernardino Police Department is investigating the claims made regarding the homicide. From the initial investigation conducted, the claims do not appear to be factual. Investigators have been in contact with the involved party's known former husbands, who are alive and well.
ACORN: Kaelke "matched" actors' "false scenario with her own false scenarios"
Kaelke said she decided to tell actors "outrageous things with a straightface." According to an ACORN press release, Kaelke stated of the actors who filmed her, "They were not believable. ... Somewhat entertaining, but they weren't evengood actors. I didn't know what to make of them. They were clearly playing with me. I decided to shock them asmuch as they were shocking me. Like Stephan Colbert does -- saying the most outrageous things with a straightface." The press release also stated: "When the actors approached Ms. Kaelke with their provocative costuming and outlandish scenario, she could not take them seriously. So she met their outrageousness with her own personal style of outrageousness. She matched their false scenario with her own false scenarios."
Transcript:
From the September 16 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
KILMEADE: Well, we had Washington, D.C.; we had Baltimore.
DOOCY: Right.
KILMEADE: We saw a little Brooklyn. Are you ready for San Bernardino --
DOOCY: Yeah. Why not?
KILMEADE: -- inland empire of Los Angeles?
CARLSON: Yeah, but, now, here's the key. They say that the woman that you're about to see in this ACORN probe in California, that she knew that the fake pimp and prostitute -- you know, this whole scheme that these young kids have done in these ACORN offices, undercover -- this woman now claiming, well, she knew they were fake so she created her own fake story as well.
DOOCY: Yeah. The woman's name is Tresa Kaelke and she was one of the people who worked in the front office there at -- in San Bernardino at the ACORN office. It's interesting, right now, ACORN is starting to spin this as, "Oh, yeah, those people who you see on tape, those are low-level employees."
Well, anyway, attention ACORN: Here's one of your low-level employees talking about how she killed her husband.
[begin video clip]
KAELKE: This is an ex-husband, you know, that just beat the hell out of me, you know, a few times and then, you know, I killed him. But, it -- you know, I don't think that that's a nice thing. I don't think --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You killed him emotionally?
KAELKE: No, I shot him. ... He came at me and I let him throw me around a little bit, you know. And then I just picked up the gun and said [bleep]. And I shot him. And he died right there. And -- but before that, I had done some -- laid some groundwork.
[end video clip]
KILMEADE: And they did their same act.
DOOCY: Routine.
KILMEADE: Yeah, the same routine. They go in, they say, listen, I need a house. They're pushing -- she's a prostitute. And then she used that line where she says I have about a dozen girls ready to come, between 12 and 16, from El Salvador, and that's when she, this woman you just saw, springs into action. Well, they need a place to stay.
CARLSON: Well, before she killed her husband, allegedly -- and, by the way, I think he's still alive somewhere in California.
KILMEADE: Yeah, they found him alive.
CARLSON: They --
DOOCY: Barstow.
CARLSON: According to ACORN, he's still alive. So, there's still a lot of questions about that whole thing.
KILMEADE: We've just got a great bowl of --
CARLSON: And a sad -- well, and a sad back story if in fact she was a victim of domestic violence -- so, a lot of questions here. But, first and foremost, before she admits to killing her husband, she gives prostitution advice to these young kids because she says she was actually in the business before.
[...]
CARLSON: You want to see some more shocking video? Guess what? We have it. ACORN, corrupt policies -- watch.
[begin video clip]
KAELKE: But, it -- you know, I don't think that that's a nice thing. I don't think --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You killed him emotionally?
KAELKE: No, I shot him.
[end video clip]
DOOCY: Hmm.
CARLSON: She killed somebody? Despite this, some lawmakers want to keep funding the group. Griff Jenkins tracked one of them down for us.
LOL. I need coffee...
No, but it aired them uncritically and looks pretty stupid now, doesn't it? As far as tax money goes, ACORN receives something like 1/2 million a year. Wow. I'd be a little more concerned about blackwater, but that's because I'm not a partisan hack.
In all of the videos that have been put out, you can't find one single instance of any of the ACORN workers making any direct reference to child prostitution. Wouldn't you think that in three cities and seven workers you'd find one of them directly addressing the topic if it were being suggested by the "applicants?" The only person who ever mentions the topic is the voice you hear off-camera. I find that peculiar.
The original, unedited videos will never be made available for examination. ACORN won't have the chance to establish their authenticity and no charges will be brought as a result. This will lead to claims of cover-up for ACORN and they will be considered guilty in the court of public opinion. Its accusers will win by potentially fraudulent means.
They're using video from a group that trapped lowly-paid ACORN employees by pretending to be a prostitute and a pimp???
And then they parade their film all over Fox News ...
Clearly Fox News CREATES news and is not REPORTING on news
I am reminded of the story involving Jayson Blair, who was caught plagiarizing and fabricating stories. He resigned from the New York Times in 2003. Why has there been no call for any of the Fox News anchors to resign? Who are the editors for Fox News? Why have there been no call for them to resign?
I would like Fox's editors and newscasters to be held responsible for not verifying information before it reaches the air.
Very simple answer, they have not fabricated anything, they have merely reported the criminal conduct of acorn, something your left wing "news outlets" are not doing. In the latest tape acorn is advising on where it is best to smuggle underage girls into the US. What a great organization, you must be proud of them.
In Gretchen's crazy reality, that must mean there are other uknown former husbands buried in this ACORN employee's back yard.
Start diggin' Gretchen. We're counting on YOU to give us the truth!!
…closed case… she is a self professed lying whore, murderess too.
Stay tuned.......wait for it
Tresa Kaelke was married at least twice. First husband's name - Duane A. Berhow - he died in 1992 in CA according to SSDI – media huh
What does that have to do with ACORN? Let me help you out. Nothing.
Anyway, she didn't kill her husband, or husbands, and it looks like you cut and pasted your response on here from somewhere else. Where did you get this "information"?
My guess is from the comments at American Thinker.
BTW, did either of you see this comment a bit further down?
I'll bet he was thinking "narcissist".
Does the Fox employee being caught with child porn have anything to do with Fox? All the libs here seem to think so, how about you? Or is this just another example of the libs double standard, as in two sets of rules?
But I am curious, how do you feel about the latest tape where the acorn rep is advising on where it is best to smuggle in underage girls. Are slave trade smugglers unionized? That would explain acorn's support of the practice.
I've heard the same thing, so I think MMFA got this slightly wrong. But Kaelke never murdered him. That's what the police said. Nor was she involved in prostitution. She was making stuff up to match the film maker's ridiculous stunt.
Do you feel duped? Do you think maybe next time you should get your news from a real news network?
Maybe I got it wrong. The Mercury news quotes the ex-husband in a lot of detail, so I guess that means he is alive--unless I use FOX's standards.
If you think you are being "punked", don't play along, don't make up ridiculous stories. Ask the people to leave and then call the police and make a complaint, otherwise you end up on FOX news as the next ACORN employee, even if you don't work for them.
I suppose. On the other hand, this has blown up in the conservative film makers' faces, so I'm glad she did play along.
Didn't one video feature this girl wearing a fur coat??? Was she a prostitute from the 70s? Did her pimp have a goblet, cane, and giant hat?
I didn't see them until well after I had seen the first clips of the ACORN employees.My first reaction was that the employees should be fired ( I still stand by that), but after seeing the actors, I can't believe anybody was taking them seriously, especially people who may work in less affluent urban areas, and might have seen actual prostitutes.
I too believe that the first employees in the first video should have been fired, but with the release of the latest video, I question the so-called investigation. Who is to say that the first woman wasn't playing along with these kids pretending to be journalists pretending to be pimps and prostitutes?
Because these kids decided to try to make a name for themselves by doing this undercover work, they not only violated laws, they have damaged their reputation and discredited any work that they have done already because of their lack of fact checking, and with Fox jumping the gun and airing these videos without ever verifying the story.
They report with their feelings, not with facts, and then they dismiss all evidence that proves otherwise. It's what makes Fox News work.
Gretch, get a clue.
I wonder
But kudos is due here! She did hold a very straight face.
Fox, once again, show that they have no desire to factcheck anything before airing it.
Yes and its a shame that a crack fact checker like Gretchen will not do her hard work. gees she did so well with the cars for clunk's research and all.
Just a shame that FOX has all that talent and just refuse to use it.
LOL
She's giving us all a bad name :(
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...winged
The star, Charles S. Dutton, had served several years in prison for manslaughter.
By Gretchen Carlson's standards, it was wrong for Fox to broadcast that sitcom.
Where's the outrage about that, nutjobs?
In fact, they waged an all out campaign on the show that they were going to exposed Acorn. They want America to believe Acorn somehow helped Obama win the presidency by cheating. How silly.
This is stupid and they are stupid- and you are stupid.
This is what this is all about. Fox News suppose to report the News not interjects them self in the story they created, that is what they are doing. Acorn is and organizations like other organizations; vulnerable to criminal activity. Even your Government had Watergate, remember. Tricky Dick and a few INDIVIDUALS was involved, not the whole government.
This is where Fox News and your argument fall flat. You want to cast aspersion on the organization as a whole, and the reason why is to try to connect Obama to it thereby tainting him. Most legitimate News Agency knows what Fox News intentions are (personally bring down Obama’s presidency), that’s why they are not covering the story like Fox does (.CBS, NBC, ABC and MSNBC) Fox News has ulterior motives invested in criminalizing Acorn. That’s why they are up and beyond the call of duty.
Would you like someone to video tape you without your consent or knowledge and have it aired without your permission? Of course not, but Fox News is willing to break the law (and policy), just to make a point, hell as far as I’m concern that is criminal activity.
The point is this organization has received millions of dollars of OUR tax dollars and are supposed to be helping the communities not telling people how to cheat on taxes. ACORN is slated to receive 8.5 billion dollars under the recently passed stimulus bill...do we really want to fund an orginization like this
What about the 30 employees convicted, yes CONVICTED, recently from this organization ...should we not look into the organization . The MSM has purposely overlooked the corruption in this organization for years and now 2 people had the courage to do the real leg work the MSM refused to do anymore.
Don't shoot the messenger because you don't like what you are hearing.
More often than not, the ex-ACORN employees who are convicted of crimes were tried on evidence willingly supplied by ACORN. That's the case with the 11 who were recently charged. ACORN doesn't like voter registration fraud. They get headaches from it with no gain.
I saw all of every video that's been put out. They are very edited and questionable in many regards. I predict that the individuals who created them will never make the unedited originals available for examination.
I'm an concerned that an orginization such as this COULD get billions or our tax dollars. This does not give you any pause?
So, yes I think any org that takes tax money should be held to the same standards.
Are you saying that becasue corruption occurs in other groups that we should overlook the "potential" of it here?
Does corruption not bother you?
Because, that'a actually going on while this ACORN crap is just a nutjob wet dream fantasy.
Not at all. My question was simple and straightforward. You'll be less confused if you don't make up things that you think I'm saying.
Does corruption not bother you?
Absolutely, and I said as soon as this story broke that the ACORN employees should be sacked (which they promptly were).
This minor "scandal" doesn't distract me from the much more serious corruption going on in other places, for example, Blackwater. Does their corruption bother you?
No informed intelligent person believes that ACORN would have gained responsibility for $10 million, much less $1 billion or more. Even the $10 million figure (plucked from air) assumes that ACORN doesn't follow through on their stated intention to not avail themselves of any of the money.
So the answer is no, it doesn't bother me. I wouldn't even be bothered by the idea of them getting the $10 million figure I threw out because I'm aware of their long history of providing excellent services for the poor.
This group IS helping out their communities.
ACORN IS NOT RECEIVING 5 billion dollars, this is just flat out false.
30 employees may have been convicted recently, and they were turned in by, yes, ACORN. And this was for the fraudulent voter registration cards that they turned in, ACORN flagged, ACORN turned into registrars (as they are supposed to), and then assisted in prosecuting those individuals, oh, and also for voter registration efforts, ACORN receives no federal monies, or doesn't use federal monies for voter registration drives.
There is no large scale corruption in ACORN.
We're not going to shoot the messenger, but at least bring something to the table that is new and or interesting about this. I don't remember right wingers getting all cranky and mad about millionaires being allowed to cheat on their taxes, or being advised to cheat on their taxes by white collar criminals. Why the hullabaloo about ACORN?
So, in that case, Dick Cheney is a rapist
you neo cons believe in everyone making it for themselves.
You had your chance but; you blew it when you weren't born into a rich family. Now your only chance is to lie, cheat, and steal until you become "nouveau riche" and you get a chance to hide your income from taxes.
Please note that the "real" rich will still look down on you but; at least you will have your chance.
Do yourself a favor and STOP repeating that lie! It just confirms you're a mindless sheep following whatever right-wing loonies on talk radio and Fox tell you!
And I was incorrect the number is $5.2 billion not the 8.5 I originally posted.
The bill does include funds for which ACORN would be eligible to compete - against hundreds of other groups. But most is for a housing rehabilitation program ACORN says it never applied for in the past and won’t in the future.
And what did the Republicans say? That ACORN was going to get a windfall, or that they were going to try for the money, etc. It was the Republicans who deceived people.
House Republican leader John Boehner’s Web site proclaims that the bill provides "a taxpayer-funded bonanza" for ACORN. And Republican Sen. David Vitter goes even further, telling Newsmax TV that the provisions amount to "a political payoff." Also, the National Republican Trust PAC has taken up the issue in fundraising pitches. But these claims are wildly exaggerated and rely upon faulty logic.
FactCheck goes on to say that the Republicans are guilty of a logical fallacy I have never seen described -
Boehner and Vitter commit two logical fallacies. Their argument has the form:
The stimulus bill provides funding for redeveloping neighborhoods.
ACORN does work in redeveloping neighborhoods.
Therefore the stimulus bill provides funding for ACORN.
That’s an example of what philosophers call the undistributed middle fallacy. It’s a common mistake; in May 2008, we caught Sen. John McCain making a similar logical blunder. But Boehner and Vitter compound their error by treating different terms as if they had the same meaning. ACORN does indeed work in redeveloping neighborhoods, but the work that it does is not the same sort of work for which NSP provides funding. By pretending as if the two are the same, Boehner and Vitter commit the fallacy of equivocation.
We’re accustomed to seeing logical fallacies in political arguments. But working two of them into a single argument is unusually bad logic.
You say, "Acorn is and organizations like other organizations; vulnerable to criminal activity." Have you typed Acorn scandal into a google search. You get 791,000 hits. I think they are a little more than vulnerable to criminal activity. They are corrupt and they have their agendas too.
Type in "Bush jerk" and you'll get 4,060,000 hits. Get the picture.
Just because someone "says" it's a scandal, doesn't mean that it actually IS a scandal.
ACORN does have an agenda, they make no bones about it (responding to Laird above), but we know what that agenda is. And that is to represent poor people, and make sure that poor folks know that they can have a voice in government as well.
ACORN as a whole, is NOT corrupt. As bintx says above, if we judged all organizations as corrupt, or not corrupt, based on people within said companies, or organizations that committed crimes, or were indicted for crimes, there would be NO "non-corrupt" company or organization out there.
What folks like laird are ignoring, is the fact that in order for a company, and or organization like ACORN to in fact, be corrupt, it has to be a top down ingrained way of how they do their business, and since it is NOT top down lead in ACORN, the knee jerk conservatives have nothing to go on.
If they were not getting my hard earned money I would not be as concerned. Other than the fact that until this weekend they were slated to "assist" with the census.
The GOP and the right wing media have been sniffing at ACORN's butt since the day Obama started campaigning.
Their biggest bombshell so far is a couple of geeks in Halloween costumes getting some crappy tax advice.
Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter DID NOT vote. There was no voter fraud. The registration fraud was perpetrated ON ACORN, not BY ACORN.
<Sarc tag off now>
That's not how news agencies are supposed to work. They are not supposed to just pass along and promote rumors. They are supposed to check their sources.
FOX got punk'd!
ACORN and others say the video is doctored yet ACORN has fired people from both the Baltimore and Washington offices...
New shocking ACORN video
The good old liberal media.
How pathetic. Maybe next time CNN won't take its cue from FOX.
Of course, Blackwater is mostly white, right wing Christians. Boys will be boys! Look over there!! ACORN !!
How in the world did ANYONE fall for that?
How in the world did ANYONE fall for that?
As for this being a shocking legal problem that must be addressed at the highest levels of government... Alright, so lets ignore the billions of dollars lost to tax evasion committed by people who earn more then $250,000 a year. Instead, lets focus on people giving advice to sex workers who we should be thankful are paying taxes - any at all - on something that's completely illegal. You ask my advice, if that ACORN employee had convinced a *real* pimp and a *real* prostitute to list any income on their tax return forms, that woman should be given a goddamn medal.
Fox "wanna be" News uses a unspoken brand of reporting. It is strictly nonfactual, strictly sensationalism, and strictly Republican. I am 53, and I have scene it time after time. However, now Fox and other MSM types seem to have mastered this form of entertainment which accounts for the recent increase in incidents coming from right. They now think they have a way to bring the left down. Do they?
Have you noticed every time Barack Obama makes a speech or scores political points, the following day is filled with more of the same Fox like news and accusations and claims filled with phony roots? At times you see them presented as balanced news -- like every claim about Obama should be used as a balancing tool. The Birthers are a good example of something that does not belong in public debate, so when the MSM uses it as something that has not been answered, you know the smears will follow.
The far right owns enough of our news media to carry anything they present as news. They can present it with no facts, phony representatives from the opposition, and if necessary, distort every aspect of a story -- this story is a good example of total control of story content, flow and facts.
Talk about "taking something back." It is time we take our airwaves back. Sooner then later.
Joseph
As a person with a right leaning slant I feel that you have CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC that all carry your viewpoint...way more than mine.
I think the birthers are crazy and should drop it...they represent a very small fraction of the population. There are crazy people on both sides; the left has the 9/11 truthers and many more i could name.
My point was ( responding to Newbee's point) that you had either deliberately created a strawman, or didn't understand Joseph's post.
Sorry if I seemed to be a little short with a new poster, but those of us who have been posting here a while have just seen ever right wing comment a hundred times, and it gets very repetitive.
Did the 9/11 "truthers" get the amount of press the Birthers has gotten? The Birthers beat the 9/11 "truthers" in their total exposure in one day. Not every media covered the "truthers." However, the Birthers have been given a daily spotlight to deliver their lies. Who owns the media?
Joseph
Fail. In case you missed it, more than half of those polled in Kentucky do not believe Obama is a US citizen.
It's not a small fraction. It's practically the entire wingnut voting base.
I used to joke about the stupidity of those who watch fox for their news, but no more. Never before in American history has a NEWS outlet been so full of lies. Heck, there's more truth on newsmax than on fox, and newsmax only tells the truth by accident!
Why fox is allowed on "THE PEOPLE'S AIRWAVES" is a complete mystery to me. They should be broadcasting on Comedy Central.... Oh wait, we get more truth on that station in one week than fox has delivered in more than 15 years on the air!
Mr. News