California Unites to Defend ACORN against Attack from Media Giants

Attorney General (and Gubernatorial candidate) Jerry Brown probes into ACORN video flap

Attorney General Jerry Brown's office has opened an investigation into the controversy surrounding videos that purportedly show members of community organizing group ACORN giving advice on how to open a brothel.

In a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dated Sept. 25, Chief Deputy Attorney General James M. Humes said the office has "opened an investigation of both ACORN and the circumstances under which ACORN employees were videotaped." The governor had asked Brown two weeks ago to look into the incidents.

The probe was sparked by a series of hidden-camera videos in which a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute are advised on how to set up a prostitution business by people identified as workers for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The videos were taken in Washington D.C., San Diego, San Bernardino and cities in several other states.

Members of the organization are also under investigation in other states for alleged irregularities in registering voters.

Schwarzenegger issued a statement praising Brown's decision to investigate. "I am outraged and deeply concerned by these allegations," the statement said. "If these reports are true, they warrant prosecution under the fullest extent of the law."