Rep. Bachmann falsely Implies ACORN Had Been Indicted For Voter Fraud

May 20, 2009 5:31 pm ET

On May 20, 2009, Rep. Michele Bachmann wrote a blog post misleadingly implying that ACORN had been indicted for voter fraud and that Rep. Barney Frank had "gutted" a reasonable amendment she offered to a bill. It's not surprising, coming from Rep. Bachmann, that both of these statements are misleading.

Rep. Bachmann Implied That ACORN Was Indicted For "Voter Fraud"

Rep. Bachmann: "I've talked extensively about my recent ACORN amendment to the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act - an amendment that would keep tax dollars from flowing to organizations that have been indicted, or employ individuals who have been indicted, for voter fraud or related crimes. As you may remember, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank worked to gut my amendment, lowering the bar so that an organization would have to be convicted of voter fraud - not just indicted - before we turn off the flow of tax dollars." [Bachmann.house.gov, 5/20/09, emphasis added]

Reality: "'It's important to keep in mind that this was a case of registration fraud, not voter fraud,' said Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller." [Nevada Attorney General, 5/4/09, emphasis added]

Rep. Bachmann Painted Rep. Frank As The Villain For Turning Her Impractical Amendment Into A Reasonable One

Rep. Bachmann: "Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank worked to gut my amendment, lowering the bar so that an organization would have to be convicted of voter fraud - not just indicted - before we turn off the flow of tax dollars." [Bachmann.house.gov, 5/20/09, emphasis added]

Reality: Rep. Frank: "The other thing I would say is this. The amendment didn't say if there's a pattern of indictments. It said if any single individual, in any organization in America is indicted by any prosecutor, the funding ends. By the way, we substituted one that said conviction. If there is a conviction of an individual, then either that individual gets fired or they lose the money. [...]And we are making laws for the whole country. Your amendment said a single indictment anywhere of any individual. AIPAC, the Israeli -- pro- Israel lobbying group, they had two people indicted." [transcripts.cnn.com, 5/18/09, emphasis added]