Attorney General Jerry Brown, a likely Democratic candidate for governor next year, faces political blowback no matter how he rules on the undercover videotaping by conservative filmmakers at offices of the community group ACORN in Southern California.Brown is investigating the filmmakers, who posed as a prostitute and a pimp, for possible violations of state privacy laws. He is also investigating the group for what is shown in the video: an employee of ACORN apparently advising the filmmakers how to smuggle Mexican girls across the border to work as prostitutes.
After the tapes were released, House Republicans used a series of similar videos to pass a resolution to cut all federal funding for ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The group sued the federal government Friday to restore funding, claiming Congress punitively targeted an individual organization.