Latest fact-check fail: Fox News runs with claim that White House official worked for ACORN
After Matthew Vadum wrote in The American Spectator that "[e]vidence shows that years before he joined the Obama administration," White House political affairs director Patrick Gaspard "was ACORN boss Bertha Lewis's political director in New York," Fox News seized on the blog post, asserting that -- in Sean Hannity's words -- "ACORN has somebody on the inside of the White House." However Politico's Ben Smith has since reported that the allegation "just isn't true" and that the White House has denied the American Spectator report; in its reporting, Fox News gave no indication that they attempted to fact-check the Spectator report or contact the White House for a response.
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Conservative blogs grasp at Gaspard-ACORN ties
RedState's Erickson: Lewis "has Patrick Gaspard's office number, home number, and cell phone number." In a "RedState Exclusive," Erickson wrote that Gaspard and his brother Michael Gaspard are included in Lewis' Rolodex, a copy of which Erickson said "just showed up one day unsolicited." [RedState, 9/22/09]
American Spectator's Vadum: Gaspard is "longtime ACORN operative." Vadum cited Erickson's post about Lewis' Rolodex and further stated that "[e]vidence shows that years before he joined the Obama administration, Gaspard was ACORN boss Bertha Lewis's political director in New York." Vadum's evidence is a blog post by ACORN co-founder Wade Rathke, who stated that Gaspard "was ACORN New York's political director" before working at the union local 1199SEIU. Vadum asserted, "With Gaspard at work in the White House, Lewis might as well be speaking to President Obama through an earpiece as he goes about his daily business ruining the country," and later added, "Who knows how many administration officials were put in place by Gaspard with direct input from ACORN's Bertha Lewis. It boggles the mind." [The American Spectator, 9/28/09]
Fox News follows blogs, asserts ACORN "has somebody on the inside of the White House"
Hannity: "Sounds like ACORN has somebody on the inside of the White House." Hannity stated on his Fox News program that "questions are being raised" about Gaspard's alleged connection to ACORN and that "according to The American Spectator, he previously worked as the political director for none other than Bertha Lewis, who is now the chief organizer of ACORN." Hannity added, "Sounds like ACORN has somebody on the inside of the White House. Now there's a real comforting thought." [Hannity, 9/28/09]
Fox Nation: "Who is White House Aide Patrick Gaspard? What Is His Alleged Tie to ACORN?" The Fox News website TheFoxNation.com used the headline "Who is White House Aide Patrick Gaspard? What Is His Alleged Tie to ACORN?" to link to a page that stated Gaspard "is a 'longtime ACORN operative' and former union official, according to a report posted Monday on the American Spectator's online blog." The page also linked to a video of Hannity's segment on Gaspard. The headline has since been removed from Fox Nation's front page. From The Fox Nation on September 29:
Doocy: Gaspard "has been in bed with ACORN." Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy stated that Gaspard "apparently has been in bed with ACORN. And, in fact, Bertha Lewis, who heads up ACORN, he -- Mr. Gaspard -- was her right-hand man. So does ACORN have somebody in the White House in one way or another?" During the segment, on-screen text stated, "ACORN In The White House?" The on-screen text also asserted that Gaspard is a "Fmr ACORN Operative" and that he "Served as Org's Political Director." [Fox & Friends, 9/29/09]
Beck: Obama "is surrounded by these people." Appearing on Fox & Friends, Fox News host Glenn Beck stated, "What's really weird is [Gaspard] was also one of the top guys at SEIU. Oh, my goodness. SEIU, ACORN, the same organization in -- right -- he holds the Karl Rove position at the White House. The president has zero credibility when he says, 'I haven't been following this ACORN thing.' This is his army -- SEIU and ACORN." Beck added that Obama "is surrounded by these people. He's surrounded by SEIU, and he's surrounded by ACORN. While ACORN may have -- be back one step, SEIU and ACORN are the same." He also asserted that "what America has to understand is stop looking at the people on the ground. It's the people on the ground -- some of them know what they are doing, some of them don't -- most of them don't. The union members are not bad people. It's the people at the top. It's the Andy Sterns, it's the Gaspards -- it's the people at the very top of this." [Fox & Friends, 9/29/09]
RedState blogger repeats claim -- without challenge -- on MSNBC
RedState's Brian Faughnan suggests White House "political director" was "from ACORN." Faughnan stated, "I think that if there are senior people from ACORN who hold positions of power in the White House like political director, like chief of staffing, that we need to know what they are doing." MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan did not challenge Faughnan's assertion. [MSNBC's Morning Meeting, 9/29/09]
Politico's Ben Smith: Report that Gaspard worked for ACORN "just isn't true"
Smith's September 29 blog post:
ACORN attack misses mark
I hate to put a damper on the day's firestorm on the right over a White House staffer, but an American Spectator report making the rounds this morning that White House political director Patrick Gaspard used to work for ACORN in New York just isn't true.
The Spectator (accurately) quotes ACORN founder Wade Rathke claiming that Gaspard was political director at the group's New York chapter at some point before 2003.
I covered New York politics at the time, and that was news to me; the also White House denies it. But just to be sure, I checked checked just now with Gaspard's former boss, whom he ultimately replaced as the political director of the giant New York SEIU local, 1199, Jennifer Cunningham. Cunningham confirmed to me that he'd worked for her starting in 1999; that he'd worked for a City Council member before that; and before that, for the Dinkins Administration.
The fact that Rathke got this wrong does provide more evidence of how totally decentralized and disorganized -- contrary to the claims of both fans and detractors -- the group is, but that's all it says.
The Spectator piece is a model of the sort of guilt-by-association Google work in which partisans of both sides specialize. Gaspard is also allegedly linked -- gasp! -- to Rep. Jerry Nadler. Writes the Spectator:
As the old Washington saying goes, politics is personnel. Who knows how many administration officials were put in place by Gaspard with direct input from ACORN's Bertha Lewis. It boggles the mind.
Indeed.
Fox News' has previously skipped fact-check in rush to smear ACORN
Fox News reports fake murder story from ACORN video as fact. On September 15 and 16, Fox News devoted significant programming to conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe and Townhall.com columnist Hannah Giles' video of their interactions with an San Bernardino, California, ACORN worker who claimed that she had murdered her husband and gave advice on how to run a brothel. The ACORN employee stated after the video was released that she had merely been attempting to "shock them as much as they were shocking me." In running with the video, Fox News hosts frequently promoted the fake claim that the ACORN employee killed her husband without fact checking the allegation or indicating that they had contacted ACORN for a response. [Media Matters for America, 9/16/09]
San Bernardino PD: Investigators found ACORN employee's former husbands "alive and well." In a September 15 news release, which was repeatedly ignored by Fox News, the San Bernardino Police Department stated that the ACORN employee's claim that she shot and killed her husband "do[es] not appear to be factual."
Transcript
From the September 28 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: And tonight on "Your America," the undercover video investigation into ACORN continues to spell trouble for that organization. Now, earlier today Bank of America announced it had suspended its dealings with ACORN, and now questions are being raised about a top White House adviser's connection to the group.
Now, the director of the White House Office of Political Affairs, Patrick Gaspard, is said to be closely affiliated with ACORN, and according to The American Spectator, he previously worked as the political director for none other than Bertha Lewis, who is now the chief organizer of ACORN. Sounds like ACORN has somebody on the inside of the White House. Now there's a real comforting thought.
From the September 29 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Does ACORN have someone in the White House? An explosive new report that this morning that says one of President Obama's top aides is an ACORN operative. Who is it? Well, the answer may surprise you. He's keeping a low profile.
[...]
DOOCY: The White House political director --
BECK: Yes.
DOOCY: -- is a fellow by the name of Patrick Gaspard. And he apparently has been in bed with ACORN. And, in fact, Bertha Lewis, who heads up ACORN, he -- Mr. Gaspard -- was her right-hand man. So does ACORN have somebody in the White House --
BECK: You know what's --
DOOCY: -- in one way or another?
BECK: You know what's really weird is -- and the answer to that is yes. What's really weird is he was also one of the top guys at SEIU. Oh, my goodness. SEIU --
KILMEADE: That's a labor union.
BECK: -- ACORN, the same organization in -- right -- he holds the Karl Rove position at the White House. The president has zero credibility when he says, "I haven't been following this ACORN thing."
DOOCY: Right.
BECK: This is his army -- SEIU and ACORN.
JULIET HUDDY (guest co-host): So do you think this guy is going into the president, you know, "Hey, by the way," you know --
BECK: Absolutely. He is surrounded by these people. He's surrounded by SEIU, and he's surrounded by ACORN. While ACORN may have -- be back one step, SEIU and ACORN are the same.
DOOCY: Well, wait -- as we look at some of the purple-shirted SEIU members --
BECK: Yeah.
DOOCY: -- what about the fact that, you know, this should not be a surprise to anybody, because Barack Obama was ACORN's lawyer. And in the run-up to the election, he spent $700,000 of his campaign bucks to have a division of ACORN help get him elected.
BECK: ACORN and SEIU -- what America has to understand is stop looking at the people on the ground. It's the people on the ground -- some of them know what they are doing, some of them don't -- most of them don't. The union members are not bad people. It's the people at the top. It's the Andy Sterns, it's the Gaspards -- it's the people at the very top of this.
KILMEADE: I know you've traveled a lot, getting a lot of awards, a lot of keys to the city with your shirt out and having a good time. New York Times wrote a -- had their public editor go to work on Sunday, and the public editor admitted that The New York Times as an institution was very slow getting off the mark when it comes to the ACORN story and earlier Van Jones.
From the 10 a.m. ET hour of the September 29 edition of MSNBC's Morning Meeting:
RATIGAN: Brian Faughnan, contributor to RedState.com; we, of course, have the presence here in studio of Arianna Huffington, co-founder, editor in chief of The Huffington Post.
Brian, I want to begin with you. When you look at all the various conspiracies -- and we'll start with ACORN, which is where your attention is focused. What do you think the priorities should be for all of us, whether it's bloggers, people like myself hosting TV shows, Arianna, or anybody else, when it comes to asking questions of the relationship and conspiracies that are speculated in our government?
FAUGHNAN: Well, I don't think I'd couch this in terms of a conspiracy theory. What we have here, according to reports from the House government reform committee in July, is a criminal organization operating across state lines. ACORN has been involved in voter fraud and tax fraud, in hiding embezzlement in violations of the law prior to these recent sting videos. And I think that if there are senior people from ACORN who hold positions of power in the White House like political director, like chief of staffing, that we need to know what they are doing.
RATIGAN: I have a question for you, and again, I won't get into an ACORN debate one way or another. But I do wonder, when you see the corrupt nature or outdated nature of so many of our government systems, financial systems, obviously that we perpetuate a monopoly right now in health care for reasons I can't comprehend, why do you choose to devote your resources to this?
Not that it's not a valid concern, but it strikes me as maybe number 20 or 30 on the list of priorities in terms of outdated systems and problems in our government when you look at the few trillion that came out of the taxpayer last year, and a health care debate right now that refuses to address the elephant in the room, which is the health care monopoly and the employer-based health care system.
If it were inadvertent, it'd be one thing, but it's not - it's purposeful. Their aim is to hurt the Obama Administration, and if they have to distort the evidence, like with the kids' songs recently, they have no shame.
Fact Checking is dead at NEWS CORPSE.
It's a great article, required reading if I had my way. Albeit a smidge depressing...;-)
It's my opinion that you should post it often.
Does it really surprise anyone that FOX would not fact check their stories before they run them? I swear that they got most of their stuff from scribbles on the walls in their bathrooms.
Patrick Gaspard was political director of NY ACORN.
Out-and-out pathetic for an organization calling itself a "news organization".
Isn't it obvious now why Beck made the jump from CNN to Faux? At CNN, he was squelched when he tried to run with things he couldn't at least make an attempt at "fact checking". At Faux, he's just part of the crowd.
As I peruse this (unintentionally) amusing site, I am struck by how many people are still apologists (at least outwardly) for this blatantly corrupt organization. Tell me this socialists, if Acorn is so virginally pure, then why is this (Clinton administration awash; Soros funded) website in coordination with the Obama administration trying so desperately hard to distance itself from it. You don't NEED to distance youself from an organizaton that is on the up and up. This is a tacit admission that Acorn isn't pure.
I also love the poster who said that Acorn(and SEIU for that matter) hate, just hate (pause for laughter....continue)the fact that Acorn keeps getting caught up in voter registration fraud. This gave me uncontrollable belly laughs. I must visit this site more often.
Secondly, this has nothing to do with your side being caught being wrong about Gaspard's employment with ACORN, nor with FoxNews not vetting info like they should as a purported news organization.
We understand that your only option here is to try to derail the thread with baseless distractions since you can't admit nor deflect from FoxNews's lack of fact-checking!
Democrats are putting air between themselves and ACORN because Democrats are, by and large, cowards. With few exceptions, mostly those dyed-in-the-wool standouts we all know and love, Democrats have failed to deliver on every promise and potentiality intrinsic to the huge majority mandate we gave them because they have spines as flexible as the moral code of the "family values" crowd.
I guess it is just bad luck that they keep hiring people who register people over and over and over again . And people who register ficticious people, over and over and over again. Just like office after office all across the country stand prepared to assist in sex slave importation, of teens no less.
Seems like a pattern of corruption. I know if it were a right wing org every lib here would be calling for their heads and demanding that they be put in jail. Of course since acorn is a liberal group it is acceptable.
But you are right in your description of democrats.
Vadum cited Erickson's post about Lewis' Rolodex and further stated that "[e]vidence shows that years before he joined the Obama administration, Gaspard was ACORN boss Bertha Lewis's political director in New York."
That's totally different than saying that two organizations are affiliated!
FoxNews didn't do the fact=checking they should have, and so they should be ashamed as a news organization that they ran with the story without doing so.
Shoot, workers of the world, unite, right, Comrade?
If they were a "right wing" group you would be calling for their heads and condemning each and every one of them and you know it.
Global warming? , there are scientists on both sides of that issue and has nothing to do with this discussion.
Financial firms stripping homeownership? I guess you feel that people who borrow money should not have to repay it. I wonder what you would do if you loaned money and someone did not repay it. Do you feel that the principle should also apply to car loans? Where would it end? Sould we do away with the mortgage system in its entirety, that way nobody would be stripped of their homes. Of course not many would ever own one either.
The financial mess is quite complicated with both parties to blame, at least 2 presidents , Wall St , lending companies, Acorn and last but not least the public who overextended themselves and became house flippers overnight.
Project much?
No. No there aren't.
Slippery slope fallacy; the rest of the screed wasn't worth note.
Did you really just blame ACORN for the "financial mess?" Whoo boy! Now that's a stretch!
Oh, so now you original connection turns out to be six degrees of Kevin Bacon. We get it, now. You're crazy. Perhaps you should check what you post and not rely entirely on Fox News for your info.
Gaspard did? Or the SEIU did?
For someone claiming to have "facts" you haven't offered ANY proof or a link that shows what you've said is factual.
And ANYTHING Insanity, Limbo and Glenda told you, don't count!
We can document it till death.
But, where do we go from here?
Perhaps you can't see the difference.
Without saying that what some Acorn employees allegedly committed was not despicable, it does seem to me that similar advise goes on all the time on all levels of society, probably at the higher socio economic end to even a greater extend and the public's anger seems to be uniquely deflected to low end of the spectrum.
They help people to register to vote. That's patriotic.
If a bunch of right-wingers claimed someone worked for ACORN who didn't to portray it as a negative, it's the idea that it's negative which is the bigger mistake.
The ACLU supports the Bill of Rights. The "right" hates them too...
Are you talking about the Bush administration?
But I wouldn't give a tinker's damn if he was!
We have got to stop playing things by the wingnuts' rules. We have got to stop passively accepting their demonization of various groups and people and then spending our time and energy going "oh no no no, they're not with us" as if the tripe of the jacks and jennies of the right was valid.
Instead of letting ourselves get trapped into some individual's past or present association with ACORN we should be going after the cranks and cretins who are attacking the group with a combination of innuendo, exaggeration, and outright lies.
Every time one of them brings up ACORN, we should be going "prove it." Every time one of them talks about "investigations," we should be demanding to know why they resist investigating torture and criminality by Bush administration officials. Every time one of them says anything about cutting off contacts, we should be saying "What about Blackwater - or don't you consider murder important?"
And every time one of them says anything about ACORN we should point up the truth: This has nothing to do with it being the fantasy "criminal organization" of their fetid blatherings and everything to do with it having been an effective voice for the poor and its success in registering poor people to vote.
We've got to stop with the "duck and cover" and start with the "hit back."
Good point, Larry. I like how you think. I did visit your blog.
this must be what they mean by right wing research.
Even if this guy DID work for ACORN. So what? Nobody, repeat, nobody has shown ACORN as an organization has done anything wrong, or has done anything illegal, again, as an organization. Are there people who work for ACORN that may have broken the law (voter registration cards come to mind), yes. But I dare say, go into ANY company in the world, and you'll find people who have done things far worse than what ACORN employees have been accused of and arrested for (again, voter registration cards, that were flagged BY ACORN, and the names of the people who turned them in also FLAGGED BY ACORN, and turned over to the proper authorities where this happened).
And, even if this guy HAD worked for ACORN, again, what difference would it make? None at all really. I take from my life, my own work experiences that I've had. I'm 36, and since I graduated college, I've had 6 different jobs which I would consider gainful employment, and of those 6 different jobs, do I have much, or any contact with folks that I worked for before? Umm, no, no I don't. And again, if he HAD worked for ACORN, it should NOT matter.
Only in wingnut world would something like this apparently matter, or be "cause for concern".
And of course you conveniently leave out the pattern of corruption that we have seen from acorn offices all across the country. They are a criminal enterprise and should be prosecuted under the RICO statutes.
This is ACORN's mission statement from their website:
Mission Statement
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) aims to organize a majority consituency of low- to moderate-income people across the United States. The members of ACORN take on issues of relevance to their communities, whether those issues are discrimination, affordable housing, a quality education, or better public services. ACORN believes that low- to moderate-income people are the best advocates for their communities, and so ACORN's low- to moderate-income members act as leaders, spokespeople, and decision-makers within the organization.
yeah... sounds criminal to me.
The White House and most democratic senators are trying desperately to distance themselves from this group. What does that tell you? You want to defend them because they are fellow travelers. They're like a family member that you keep making excuses for. It's like a kind of tribalism. I see it on the left and the right.
Fox News with Bill’ O’Racist, Sean [klan]nity and bozo Glen Beck are just as dangerous and irresponsible as Radio Talk show host Bum-Rush Limbaugh. They are all head of lynch mobs.
Tea Baggers, Birthers and Deathers are nothing more than lynch mobs and Fox News promote them. In fact, recently one Fox News “commentator/reporter” was caught leading a mob in chants, in the open.
Fox News is spitting on democracy (we had an election and the people have spoken) and they are commenting treason. Fox News is inciting racial unrest and violence with subliminal messages disguise as News.
Fox News is dangerous and should be BOYCOTTED for being insensitive, irresponsible, propagandizing, misrepresentation, lying and unethical behavior.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/12/08/bank.workers.union/index.html
Donna Edwards for Congress and Janice Edwards as treasurer; Donna Edwards; 1199 Service Employees International Union Federal Political Action Fund and Patrick Gaspard as treasurer; Arca Foundation; Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN);
Roll Call - April 9 2009
According to Lewis, ACORN hasn’t received a dime. And she shrugs off the latest round of attacks.
“The Republican strategy is to demonize community organizing because it’s effective,” she said.
With a genuine community organizer now in the White House, Lewis admits that ACORN has friends in high places for the first time in a long time — though she’s quick to debunk the “Republican bugaboo” that somehow ACORN is pulling the strings for President Barack Obama.
“We don’t have our own special ACORN entrance at the White House or our own special hot line,” she said.
But Lewis does note that she has particularly good relationships with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and with Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director.
What Donovan, Gaspard — and Lewis — have in common is that they’re all veterans of the New York political game. Lewis was an ACORN organizer and leader in New York City for 20 years before taking over the national organization last summer. And apart from her work for ACORN, she is best known as one of the founders of the Working Families Party, a third party that prides itself on pressuring Democrats from the left.
(braindeadrepulicans.com)
A former SEIU health-care lobbyist by the name of Patrick Gaspard is now White House director of the Office of Political Affairs. No doubt a wise investment.
$8.5 Billion for Community Organization Groups like his beloved ACORN and it's 220 front companies, and the like minded entities such as Americorps.
http://centerforworkingfamilies.info/about.php
WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
“A Former SEIU Official, Patrick Gaspard, Was Named Obama’s Political Director.” (Alec MacGillis, “Union Official Allegedly Liaison Between Governor, Obama Team,” The Washington Post, 12/10/08)
In 2004, Patrick Gaspard Served As National Field Director For 527 Organization America Coming Together. “The Kerry effort will be aided by America Coming Together, an independent group working to get out the Democratic vote. The group plans to stage marches before Election Day to polling stations that open early in key states to put ‘peer and community pressure’ on low-propensity voters, said Patrick Gaspard, the group’s national field director.” (Jo Becker, “Voters May Have Their Say Before Election Day,” The Washington Post, 8/26/04)
The SEIU Helped To Coordinate America Coming Together, With SEIU Members And Staff Doing Much Of The Management Of The GOTV Effort. “Despite Stern’s criticism of labor’s relationship with the Democratic Party, he does understand the importance of political work. Last fall, SEIU generously lent its clout, helping to coordinate America Coming Together and America Votes, an alliance of Democratic interest groups that included the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and women’s organizations. Much of the management of this joint get-out-the-vote effort was done by SEIU members and staff (like me) in a massive union campaign effort without recent precedent.” (Clayton Nall, “Gompers’s Ghost And Labor’s New Look,” The Washington Post, 9/4/05)
Let us remind you: we don't think ACORN deserves the kind of hyperventilating demonization that you're flogging.
It appears to be a smear effort...first attack and label, then try to tie your fake organization to Obama.
What's to "ignore?" Having recognized the demonization of ACORN for the class warfare that it is, I would say that everything in the WAPO article would go very well on a resume.
Such as....?
Vadum cited Erickson's post about Lewis' Rolodex and further stated that "[e]vidence shows that years before he joined the Obama administration, Gaspard was ACORN boss Bertha Lewis's political director in New York."
It's not true. What part of that can't you understand?
Why, with such economic might, SEIU and ACORN may conspire to buy a skateboard! No, THREE skateboards!
Randy
By your logic (not really), Scooter Libby was heavy with Dick Cheney, so that means since Scooter's a convicted criminal, Dick's a convicted criminal too!!
Oh, sorry, my mistake.
Dick IS a criminal, he's just not a convicted criminal!
Jurors convict Libby on four of five charges;
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17479718/
NBC News and news services
updated 6:18 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 6, 2007
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted Tuesday of lying and obstructing a leak investigation that reached into the highest levels of the Bush administration.
Libby is the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal of the mid-1980s.
stark you are uninformed and irrelevent.
That is really a dumb comparison.
Dick IS a criminal, he's just not a convicted criminal!
And your proof? But how about the democratic convicted criminals, did you forget them. How convenient.
Randy
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/09/29/the-politico-gets-played-by-ac
Or did you all forget that little fact already?
The Obama campaign also gave $800,000 to ACORN during election 2008. Look it up and inform yourselves.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_584284.html
Don't drink the coolaid folks.