House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) released the following statement today regarding ACORN’s appointment of former Massachusetts Attorney General and President of Common Cause Scott Harshbarger to lead an internal investigation into ACORN’s activities:
“ACORN has already been down this path before. In June of 2008, they hired an outside counsel to conduct an internal review of ACORN, which produced a report that detailed an organization in crisis and the lack of firewalls between its charitable and political activities. More than a year later, ACORN is facing the same criticisms and the same calls for transparency.
“A self-run investigation is not a substitute for an independent investigation. There is no adequate substitute or mechanism that can replace the immediate need for congressional committees to exercise their oversight prerogatives and conduct hearings into ACORN’s management and use of taxpayer dollars.”