Former Employee on Fox: ACORN 'Most Corrupt Group in the Country'
Anchor Steve Doocy first asked the ACORN critic if he was surprised by the recently released undercover videos showing employees of the organization trying to abet underage prostitution, tax evasion, and other crimes. Hall answered, “No, I’m not surprised,” and explained that “there is not much good in ACORN anymore, as far as its mission, and definitely not through its executive board.”
Hall conjectured that many of the ACORN employees that appeared on the undercover video “probably received about 13 seconds of training and said- ok, go out and make your- make your salary for a month.” Anchor Brian Kilmeade followed up on this and asked, “Here’s the problem, Greg. I don’t need any training to know that we probably shouldn’t counsel people on how to make prostitution work for you, all right?...what do you say to the [ACORN] directors who say- well, this tape’s been manipulated. It’s been overdubbed....What do you say?”
The former ACORN employee then accused the left-wing organization of wide corruption:
HALL: No- no, I say it’s ridiculous. I say, probably exactly what you saw on the tape is exactly what happened. [As] a matter of fact, if they really want to see- the folks who made the video- I’ve got lots of things they can go see more corrupt than what you’ve seen now. But no- what they’re doing now is just spinning it the best way they know how. I mean, you so the- everybody that comes out from ACORN’s executive group says- ok, everybody else is at fault except us- obviously not. But they’re the ones that are constantly giving the orders that say- make the money, no matter what- lie, steal, cheat- and I’ve got the witnesses to prove it. So they’re- they’re always saying that.Doocy asked Hall to be more specific in his charge. He repled, “Well, I’ve seen the voter registration fraud,” and cited the “workers that have been abused working off-the-clock- working overtime- not just overtime with no pay- but working 90 hours a week.” After giving other examples, the ACORN critic used his “most corrupt group in the country” label against his former employer.
The full transcript of the interview, which aired just before the bottom of the 8 am Eastern hour of Wednesday’s Fox and Friends:
BRIAN KILMEADE: What does the scandal-ridden group ACORN actually stand for? It stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Now, they’re supposed to help poor Americans fight foreclosures, register to vote, and fix tax problems. Well, that's not happening in many locations.
STEVE DOOCY: That’s right. Instead, at least four undercover videos that we have seen so far released are showing ACORN employees offering advice on how to avoid tax, housing and prostitution laws, not to mention at least 50 people arrested for voter fraud. Yet, Gregory Hall, a former ACORN employee, still believes in its cause and he joins us live from Washington. Good morning to you, Mr. Hall.
GREGORY HALL: Good morning. Thanks for having me back.
DOOCY: I think it’s great that when you worked for ACORN you tried to- you know, help poor people with the intended mission of ACORN. But, as you look at these videos, are you surprised? Because you were there- you saw what went down.
HALL: No-no, I’m not surprised, and let me- let me change it again. Yeah, I worked for ACORN, but I run an organization- we’re trying to reform ACORN through its employees now and its former employees.
DOOCY: Right.
HALL: There is not much good in ACORN anymore, as far as its mission, and definitely not through its executive board. There’s not- some good in some of its people, but most of the people that get into this- most of the folks that- that actually sign up are trying to do the right thing. They sign up- they’re passionate- they’re dedicated- they want to go out and actually help the communities.
I was involved in- in one of the organizations in Raleigh. They actually cleaned up drug dealers off the streets- went around- citizens with signs- and got rid of the drug dealers off of their corners. They do good stuff. Unfortunately- and the people that did the videos- that’s rampant, it’s obvious- but they probably received about 13 seconds of training and said- ok, go out and make your- make your salary for a month.
KILMEADE: Yeah. Here’s the problem, Greg. I don’t need any training to know that we probably shouldn’t counsel people on how to make prostitution work for you, all right?
HALL: No.
KILMEADE: And how to lie on tax [sic], and say stuff like, if you tell the truth, that’s not going to get you a mortgage. So are you- what do you say to the [ACORN] directors who say- well, this tape’s been manipulated. It’s been overdubbed. There’s something wrong here. What do you say?
HALL: No- no, I say it’s ridiculous. I say, probably exactly what you saw on the tape is exactly what happened. [As] a matter of fact, if they really want to see- the folks who made the video- I’ve got lots of things they can go see more corrupt than what you’ve seen now. But no- what they’re doing now is just spinning it the best way they know how. I mean, you so the- everybody that comes out from ACORN’s executive group says- ok, everybody else is at fault except us- obviously not. But they’re the ones that are constantly giving the orders that say- make the money, no matter what- lie, steal, cheat- and I’ve got the witnesses to prove it. So they’re- they’re always saying that.
DOOCY: Yeah. I know, Gregory, you feel that government funds should be cut off from ACORN. But you just had a tantalizing sound bite there. What evidence do you have of wrongdoing at ACORN?
HALL: Oh, my gosh. Well, I’ve seen the voter registration fraud. I’ve also seen the- when we did the minimum wage drive- I was actually witnesses to one of those where we got the people off the street and brought them in, and they got paid a certain thing, and then us salaried folks got another set of instructions. The workers that have been abused working off-the-clock- working overtime- not just overtime with no pay- but working 90 hours a week [unintelligible]. The members that get their bank accounts drafted four and five times a month, and all of a sudden, they go and complain and nobody knows anything about it. There’s corruption. This group- I mean, the reason we started doing this is- some old organizer friends of mine- and I was a laborer for a while- we found that ACORN was the most corrupt group in the country.
DOOCY: Wow.
HALL: So yeah, it’s systemic. It’s across the nation. You know- the mission is good.
KILMEADE: Right, the mission might be good, but the reason that they’re still in business- is it because they’re politically connected?
HALL: Yeah, there’s no doubt about that. It’s- it’s connected- and I'm a registered Democrat- voted- and always will be. But- definitely connected to the left- [unintelligible] SEIU- they’ve got connections that just funnel money into this place. I mean, so- until the money is cut federally- until they get rid of the money coming from the politicians, they’re going to continue this.
DOOCY:All right, Capitol Hill, are you listening? Gregory Hall feels you should cut the money plug- pull the money plug. All right, we thank you, sir, for joining us live today from DC.
HALL: Thanks very much.
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