Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has served a search warrant at the ACORN office at 2609 Canal Street, according to Tammi Arender Herring, a spokeswoman with the office. Investigators in khaki pants and polo shirts loaded several dozen computers and other electronic items into an SUV. They are also carrying records out of the building on handcarts.ACORN staffers were given no notice that a search would be conducted today, Herring said. "They have been extremely cooperative," she said.
Early last month, Caldwell's office issued subpoenas for records from ACORN's New Orleans office, where the organization -- now moving its national headquarters to Washington -- has long been based. Today's search is an outgrowth of those subpoenas, which stemmed from an investigation by Caldwell's office into the embezellement of ACORN funds by Dale Rathke, a brother of the organization's founder, Wade Rathke, Herring said.
In a statement, ACORN's attorney Pamela Marple said the group was told the raid was ordered because of reports that workers loyal to Beth Butler, the recently fired head of ACORN's Louisiana branch, had been taking computer data and other items out of the office.
"Over the last two months, ACORN has been cooperating with a variety of governmental entities across the country to provide requested information and documents," Marple wrote. "We were told that the AG's office has no criticisms of ACORN's cooperative efforts, but rather that the warrant was issued because of concern that former local ACORN staff members had, and may intend in the future to remove or alter electronic documents."
An ACORN official also said Caldwell's investigators will copy the hard drives from ACORN's computers and return them next week. The computers contain all payroll information for the national organization, the official said.
| Now there's a fascinating read ... |
But Lewis, reacting to the subpoenas, said that Caldwell apparently bought a misleading version of events that she said was being peddled by two dissident former board members for ACORN.
