Bill O'Reilly Exposes New York Times ACORN News Management during 2008 Presidential Campaign
Tragically, due to the bias of the liberal media establishment in general and The New York Times in particular, not nearly enough voters knew what they needed to know about the relationship between ACORN and now President Obama before they voted for President last year.
Congratulations to Fox Cable News's Bill O'Reilly for reporting on "The O'Reilly Factor" on March 31, 2009 what the mainstream media did not report during the 2008 presidential election campaign or since: that < i>The New York Times chose NOT to report what it had learned about ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), then Democrat presidential candidate Obama and the Obama presidential campaign.
Wikipedia: "William James 'Bill O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American television/radio host, author, syndicated columnist and self-described 'traditionalist' political commentator. He is the host of the most-watched cable news program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. Prior to hosting The O'Reilly Factor, he served as anchor of the entertainment program, Inside Edition. O'Reilly is the author of eight books, and hosted The Radio Factor, a talk radio program syndicated by Westwood One, until early 2009."
In "New York Times Malicious News Management in the Duke Case," I noted that "[i]n Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and The Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case, co-authors Stuart Taylor Jr. (who reported on legal affairs and the UnitedStates Supreme Court for The New York Times for eight years) and KC Johnson....demonstrated conclusively that The New York Times 'worked...long and hard [in 2006] to prop up" the prosecution's baseless case and "[t]he editors of the Times...were finally forced by events to pivot suddenly away from the steadfast pro-Nifong bias of the coverage that had been happily running...' (pp. 317-18)."
But this despicable instance is not the last or the most egregious and important example of The New York Times managing the news."
President Obama owes the now financially-challenged The New York Times...BIGTIME!
A couple of years after its deplorable Duke case coverage, The New York Times "worked...long and hard to prop up" the Obama presidential campaign." Unfortunately, it was not "finally forced by events to pivot suddenly away from the steadfast pro-[Obama] bias of the coverage that [it] had been happily running."
Soon after Senator John McCain had won the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination, The New York Times ran a scurrilous page 1 story insinuating that McCain was having an affair with a much younger (female) lobbyist. This year, after now President Obama had been inaugurated, The New York Times quietly settled the lawsuit by the lobbyist under a confidentiality agreement and published a note to the effect that it had not intended to imply that anything immoral had happened.
In addition to working hard to sabotage the McCain campaign with that scurrilous story, The New York Times skillfully managed what it reported about ACORN, thereby protecting their choice for President, then Senator Obama.
What did The New York Times know and when did it know it?What did The New York Times know and when did it know it?
Plenty…and well before Election Day 2008.
The email exchanged by Anita MonCrief and Stephanie Strom reveal that The New York Times managed what would have been politically explosive news that did not fit The Times’ own agenda: the full extent of the ACORN-Obama relationship.
Set forth below are illuminating statements by Ms. Strom in email to Ms. MonCrief that reflect Ms. Strom's knowledge (and attitude) with date and time of the email in which made.
1. "I'm a little miffed with the funders, too. They have to be aware that the grants they make to c(3)s like Project Vote are being funneled to Acorn, which, whether c(4) or simply nonprofit corporation under state law, they aren't supposed to give money to. " July 10, 2008 8:18:52 PM
2. "I really want to see 1024 Elysian Fields in New Orleans. It's the official 'home' of something like 50-plus Acorn related entities. The real story to all this is how these myriad entities allow them to shuffle money around so much that no one really knows what's getting spent on what -- and for the charities like the housing orgs, that's a problem. Charitable money cannot be spent on political activities. It's a big no-no that can cost organizations their exemptions. July 31, 2008 5:17:49
"When you say the DC Local waives the credit report charges if clients sign up for bank drafts with ACORN, do you mean ACORN actually runs a banking services organization? That would be news to me. The rumor I've heard about the chief organizer's fund is that this is what the Rathkes have used to 'repay' Acorn and the two charities that Dale embezzled from. It's a huge slush bucket controlled by Wade and Maude Hurd, no one else." July 31, 2008 5:17:49 PM
3. "You are a gold mine! = )." July 31, 2008 6:06:26 PM
4. "Thanks so much for this. I'm getting a clear picture of what went down last week with the fund raising letter and their scramble to get money somewhere, anyway, in response to my questions. Why not just say they're having trouble? So are lots of nonprofit groups right now, even those that arent connected to a scandal of any sort. Sometimes the cover up is worse than what's being covered up." August 3, 2008 11:51:15 AM
5. "I'm a bit worried about reaching out to Amy if she's in the process of rejoining Acorn. Doesn't that mean she's drunkt the Koolaid?" August 4, 2008 1:40:52
6. "I don't need to 'out' the member who was intimidated. I basically just need her to confirm what I've been told. I can then recount the incident as if I know it to be fact." September 4, 2008 8:59:59 PM
7. "Am also onto the Obama connection, sadly. Would love the donor lists. As for helping the Repubs, they're already onto this like white on rice. SIGH." September 7, 2008 1:59 PM
8."Separately, I'm wondering whether you can give me any more details about the Nov. 2007 meeting with the Obama camp. Where did it take place? Who was involved? Any details would help." September 12, 2008 3:57 PM
9. "You're the best. If we could get the names of two or three people who were either sacked or forced out on suspicion of having passed information to me, that would clearly demonstrate the lie.
"What a mess." September 13, 2008 9:43 AM
10. "I just dawned on me that the law firm doing the scrub of the Acorn embezzlement is Sidley Austin, i.e. Obama's old law firm. Also, that Mesirow Financial, the firm hired to provide financial advice to Acorn, is headed by a guy who's a major Obama donor.
"Do you have any idea if the campaign played a role in recommending these outfits?" September 16, 2008 1:14 PM
11. "Hi. So sorry about what went down to do vis your office. It's really horrible. Why do they think it's so important to seal your lips? What have they got to hide?
"An email that I tried to send you yesterday failed to be delivered. It contained a link I thought would be interesting for [initial redacted]. It was a legal doc, showing that Richard Mesirow, the head of the firm, was charged with wrongdoing of some sort (I cant remember what right this minute.). My question is why Acorn wants to have a firm who's head is under a legal cloud doing its 'financial review.'" September 17, 2008 7:03 PM
12. "1,000 thanks. This is valuable, in particular because it provides me with a number for the Sandlers -- who are very difficult to contact. = )
"Are there no similar lists provided by the RNC or its alikes" September 24, 2008 9:10 AM
13. "Hi, there. Thanks again for all you're doing for me. I'm sorry to be such a pest, but people just don't shoot straight these days.
"Please mail the file to me c/o my employer at 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018. If you want, use our Fedex no., [number redacted].
"Again, 1,000 thanks." September 30, 2008 2:26 PM
14."Did you say you also have a donor file from the Clinton campaign? If so, can you forward?
"The DNC lists you sent are good because they have a column marked DNC." September 30, 2008 2:41 PM
15. "Hey, do you have the email to which the Obama list was originally attached, i.e. the email on which you received it? The date on that email would show that you all could not have downloaded the list from public Web sites because the data on it had not yet been filed with the FEC.
"Sorry to be such a pest.
"BTW, take a look at the NO Times-Picayune story about the hearing yesterday. Someone there must be close to Acorn because they say nothing about the judge throwing out the poll or telling the lawyer to approach the AG." October 3, 2008 3:06 PM
16. "I'm so sorry if any of my work is causing you problems. I've tried to be very careful.
"I'm calling halt to my efforts. I just had two unpleasant calls with the Obama campaign, wherein the spokesman was screaming and yelling and cursing me, calling me a rightwing nut and a conspiracy theorist and everything else. Without something that clearly links the campaign to the organization, I'm spinning my wheels. Sorry.
"I'd still like to get that file from you when you have a chance to send it. One of these days, the truth is going to come out." October 6, 2008
17. "I'm going to have a discussion today with a pal of mine at the paper. What's happened is that the campaign has answered some of my questions on the record -- but when I sought on-the-record answers to my questions about the meeting and about the list, the campaign insisted on speaking only on background. When I asked why, I got the barrage I described earlier. Clearly, I've hit a nerve with what you've told me. The campaign knows that having the allegations of meeting attributed to 'former employees' -- and there are more than one of you talking -- and having an anonymous denial of the meeting makes it harder for me to get it into the paper.
"The emails you've sent help nail the dates when these things were coming in.
"Thank you, thank you." October 7, 2008 7:56 AM
Thomas Jefferson famously said, "If I had to choose between a country without newspapers and newspapers without a country, I would unerringly choose the latter."
Jefferson trusted more in the wisdom of an informed people than he did in the powers of an unresponsive government, but he expected newspapers that would inform the people instead of conceal the truth from them.
Thank God (and Ms. MonCrief and Ms. Strom) for those emails!
And thanks to Bill O'Reilly for boldly standing up for "the folks."
When it comes to the truth prevailing, I say better sooner than later and better late than never!
Last fall I repeatedly warned about ACORN and its ties to then Democrat presidential candidate Obama.
In "Blame Obama's ACORN for the Financial Crisis," posted on September 29, 2008, I wrote the simple truth:
"Don’t expect the mainstream media to identify ACORN and its favorite community organizer and lawyer, rookie United States Senator and current Democrat presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. among the villains in the current financial crisis.
"But media bias does not change facts."
I quoted a January 14, 2007 Pittsburgh Tribune Review article as follows:
“…in Chicago, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is more important than Iraq or Washington. ACORN and its associated Midwest Academy, both founded in the 1970s, continue to train and mobilize activists throughout the country, often using them to manipulate public opinion through ‘direct action.’ It's sometimes a code for illegal activities.
“Prior to law school, Barack Obama worked as an organizer for their affiliates in New York and Chicago. He always has been an ACORN person -- meeting and working with them to advance their causes. Through his membership on the board of the Woods Fund for Chicago and his friendship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, Obama has helped ensure that they remain funded well.
“Since he graduated from law school, Obama's work with ACORN and the Midwest Academy has ranged from training and fundraising, to legal representation and promoting their work.”
In "Beware Obama, 'the Senator from ACORN,'" posted on October 1, 2008, I asked, "Will the current financial crisis that finally resulted from affirmative action lending and intimidation tactics to which Obama is connected ironically make him the next President of the United States?"
I answered:
"If Obama moves into the White House in 2009, it will be because his involvement with ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) was not generally appreciated and NOT because Stanley Kurtz, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a National Review Online contributing editor, did not give fair warning.
"On May 29, 2008, Mr. Kurtz shared his 'Inside Obama’s Acorn, By their fruits ye shall know them.'
"Mr. Kurtz warned in that article, 'if you’re looking for the piece of the puzzle that confirms and explains Obama’s network of radical ties, gather your Acorns this spring. Or next winter, you may just be left watching the "President from Acorn" at his feast.'"
In "ACORN Should Be Obama's Undoing," posted on October 2, 2008, I predicted: "We will never know exactly how many fraudulent votes ACORN will be responsible for in the upcoming presidential election, but If the whole truth about ACORN and its long and intimate relationship with rookie United States Senator and 2008 Democrat presidential nominee Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. becomes fully and generally known, on Election Night 2008 Obama and his ACORNites will moan."
In "Michelle Malkin Was Right About ACORN, Of Course," posted on October 4, 2008, I wrote hopefully: "ACORN, a key culprit in the current economic mess, made Obama a local, statewide and national political success, but awareness of what ACORN really is and how Obama has served it as organizer, trainer, lawyer and funder and received its political support (legal or not) in return can and should put an end to that political success in the nick of time."
In "McCain Can Still Win, By Exposing Obama and ACORN, posted on October 9, 2008, I noted:
"It would be the height of irony for Obama, 'the Senator from ACORN,' to benefit from the financial crisis that his kind of thinking created with his personal help as organizer, trainer, lawyer, funder and political supporter and win the Presidency.
"If Obama does win, things will worsen instead of improve."
In "Obama's ACORN: A Corrupt Organization of Revolutionary Nuts," posted on October 10, 2008, I wrote:
"Unfortunately, with Obama and ACORN, the bulk of the mainstream media is ignoring instead of scrutinizing and publicizing the danger.
"To put it simply, Obama is lying about his ties to ACORN, lest voters see behind the curtain and realize he is a front man and a fraud."
In "Does NYT Know More About Obama/ACORN,' posted on October 20, 2008, I wrote:
"Would The New York Times NOT report some things voters should know and instead spin for Obama, whitewash the Obama/Ayers relationship and run scurrilous stories about the McCains?
"Is the Pope Catholic?
"It's no surprise that The New York Times is backing the Obamas and battering the McCains.
"It's no surprise that McCain's alliance with The New York Times on campaign finance reform has turned out to be a boon for The New York Times and a burden for McCain.
"And it's no surprise that The New York Times has been handling the Obama/ACORN relationship the way it has."
In "ACORN Whistleblower, Obama's Third Strike," posted on October 22, 2008, I wrote: "Yesterday, [ACORN whistleblower] Anita [MonCrief] advised me, Ms. Strom [New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom] apologetically canceled a meeting for today and explained that New York Times policy was not to publish what might be a game changing article this close to the election."
I explained how Ms. MonCrief had contacted me and added:
"...before Anita emailed Michelle Malkin and me, she had been working with New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom, but what ended up published as Ms. Strom’s ACORN articles were so 'watered down' that Anita decided to turn elsewhere."
Tellingly, when Ms. Strom emailed Ms. MonCrief about my article later that day, she did not dispute its accuracy, but lamented about being outted: "I thought we had an agreement to speak off the record. In addition to outting yourself, you outted me, too. I have scrupulously protected your identity, refusing to even acknowledge speculation about our discussions. Wish I had received the same consideration."
If my reporting had been inaccurate, surely Ms. MonCrief would have said so.
In "John Fund: Do the Expose BEFORE the Election This Year, Please," posted on October 28, 2008, I wrote: "It's 2008 and Election Day is nearly upon us. So it's time for Mr. Fund to report what's really been going on this year, while it is helpful to those voters who care about the integrity of the electoral process and the rule of law and haven't voted early. Say by tomorrow?"
In "Why Obama and ACORN Fear Anita MonCrief," posted on October 29, 2008, " I wrote: "... Obama looked into the camera during the last presidential debate and flat out lied to the American people about it (in his calm, seemingly non-threatening manner).
"ACORN is the organization with which Obama has been associated throughout his adult life, as organizer, trainer, lawyer, funder and political beneficiary...and Obama's Achilles heel.
"Anita reports revealing connections between ACORN and the Obama campaign based on personal knowledge.
"In late 2007, Anita reports, Anita received a call from the Obama campaign asking if this was the same Project Vote that Obama worked for in the 90's. With the staff retreat fresh in mind, Anita answered yes and sent an email to Zach Polett, Karyn Gillette, Nathan Henderson James, and Kevin Whelan stating that the campaign wanted someone to call them back regarding some media questions that were being asked at the time.
"In late 2007, Anita reports, Karyn Gillette approached Anita to tell her that she had direct contact with the Obama campaign and had obtained their donor lists. This meeting took place sometime in November of 2007 and may have even been a conference call between the campaign and Project Vote. Anita was given an excel spreadsheet to work with for cultivation of new donors. When Anita had trouble because of the duplicates, Karyn stated that she would contact her person at the campaign and see if they had another one.
"Anita reports that Karyn Gillette also provided lists obtained from the Kerry and Clinton campaigns, as well as the 2004 DNC donor lists, and that these lists were shared with the Political directors of roughly 12 ACORN battleground states in order to raise money for a $28 million dollar (number as of 11/2007) voter registration drive (based on direct and indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that research uncovered after the Rathke embezzlement scandal showed that persons demanded a forensic audit and suggested a well-known, credible firm to do it, but Bertha Lewis told them that the auditors came back with a contract that was 'too expensive' and that's what Dale Rathke told funders back when they were hoping Arthur Anderson would take over auditing (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that ACORN and Project Vote used CCI to transfer money between the organizations and may be guilty of violating RICO statues (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita reports that Sidley Austin, Obama's old law firm, is representing ACORN pro-bono and Mesirow Financial, the firm hired to provide financial advice to ACORN, is headed by a major Obama donor, Richard Mesirow (based on indirect knowledge and documents).
"Anita also notes that questions have been raised about the shredding or destruction of documents by ACORN's own lawyers (based on documents).
"Bottom line: ACORN has been improperly coordinating with and operating as an arm of the Obama campaign, and 'the Senator from ACORN''s involvement with ACORN has been much more than his lawful representation of ACORN in the motor voter case years ago."
In "Anita MonCrief: Obama Supporter and Exposer, ACORN Whistleblower and Blogger," posted on November 2, 2008, I declared:
"Anita surely shares Obama's political views, but when she speaks the truth, she exposes Obama as a liar.
"It's his fault, not hers.
"Hurray for Anita!"
In "Will ACORN Steal the Presidency for its Man, Obama," posted on November 4, 2008, I wrote:"Anita did not mince words in her first blog article: 'ACORN is a corrupt organization that is preying on the marginalized in this society and they have become the cancerous growth of this election.'
"Voter, Obama is 'the Senator from ACORN' and he's been lying to you about his ties to it. That should be all you need to know."
Tragically, due to the bias of the liberal media establishment in general and The New York Times in particular, not nearly enough voters knew what they needed to know about the relationship between ACORN and now President Obama before they voted for President last year.
In "Why Obama Won and McCain Lost," posted on November 5, 2008, I explained:
"McCain was a liberal media darling when he was the alternative to President Bush and a Republican proponent of liberal versions of campaign finance reform and immigration reform. "But the liberal media always was ready to attack McCain if a more liberal alternative was available (and The New York Times proved that with scurrilous articles about both McCain and his wife Cindy and whitewashes of Obama's relationships with ACORN and William 'domestic terrorist' Ayers).
"McCain received the endorsement of The New York Times for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, but if he ever expected its endorsement over a more liberal Democrat presidential nominee like Obama, he was fooling himself.
The truth: ACORN whistleblower MonCrief gave The New York Times much more information than it chose to report and her email exchanges with Stephanie Strom soon to be submitted to Congress prove it.
It appears that, as in the Duke case, editors made sure Times coverage was slanted to fit the political correctness agenda of The New York Times instead of the pesky facts that undercut it.
Expose: "an exposure of something discreditable ."
Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.
Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.
The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.
Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.