ACORN Cleared of Criminal Wrongdoing In Prostitution Scandal
By STEPHANIE BARISH wpix.com

5:06 p.m. EST, March 1, 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
Brooklyn prosecutors cleared ACORN of criminal wrongdoing following a four-month probe that began when activists - dressed up as a pimp and prostitute - taped employees giving shady advice on how to hide their illegal earnings.

James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles filmed the three ACORN workers as they dished out what seemed like illegal advice. However, according to prosecutors, O'Keefe and Giles edited the tape in order to meet their agenda.

"The three [ACORN employees] had been secretly videotaped on Sept. 15, 2009 by two people posing as a pimp and prostitute, who came to ACORN'S Brooklyn office, seeking advice about how to purchase a house with money generated by their 'business,'" said Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes. "The 'couple' later made the recording public. That investigation is now concluded and no criminality has been found."

Giles and O'Keefe made national headlines for their video and were hailed as heroes by staunch Republican Rush Limbaugh.

"Acorn is gratified that the DA has concluded something we knew all along," ACORN lawyer Arthur Schwartz told the New York Daily News. In addition, he said it was "unfortunate" that O'Keefe and Giles used "subterfuge to convince congress and the media to vilify an organization that didn't deserve it."