Stressing ACORN and Democrats, the NYT downplays “Bush administration officials”

Written by Eric Boehlert

Published

The Times has a big article today which stresses the connections between ACORN and Democrats. (Headline: “Acorn's Woes Strain Its Ties to Democrats.”) The daily emphasizes that Dems “have been put on the defensive over past relationships with the group.”

Yet look at who makes a cameo appearances right in the lede [emphasis added]:

Last December, in one of his last acts as New York City's top urban development official — and just days before President Obama nominated him as the federal housing secretary — Shaun Donovan attended a groundbreaking ceremony in the South Bronx.

A complex of 125 apartments had fallen into such disrepair that Bush administration housing officials had foreclosed on the building and transferred it to a group they and Mr. Donovan had come to trust: the New York Acorn Housing Company.

Readers quickly learn that Obama cabinet member Donovan served “five years as [Republican] Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's housing development commissioner.”

And oh yeah, this:

Even Bush administration HUD officials came to view some Acorn divisions as credible, awarding more than $40 million to national affiliates.

And more:

Under its leader, Ismene Speliotis, New York Acorn Housing Company Inc. developed an expertise that even officials in the Republican administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani — no fan of the group — grew to respect during the 1990s.

Yet despite the cross-party ties, the Times article shows no interest in examining the political ramifications of ACORN's Republican or Bush-era connections. The Times writes ominously that Donovan “is unwilling to speak publicly about that project or any other work with Acorn.” But did the Times ever try to talk to those “Bush administration housing officials” about their dealings with the group?

Nope.

Following the lead of “conservatives,” the Times is only interested in the narrative of whether Dems are on the “defensive” regarding ACORN. The Bush administration “had come to trust” ACORN (it was “credible”), but the org today is cast only as a thorn for Democrats.

The Times sees no contradiction whatsoever.