defending ACORN:

Bertha Lewis, ACORN’s chief organizer, says that the videos were doctored. She also said O’Keefe made similar attempts to solicit information on illegal activities at several other ACORN offices around the country, but was turned away. After O’Keefe visited ACORN’s Philadelphia office, workers there called police.
ACORN is a community organization that works mainly in poor communities around the country. It has faced controversy in the past. During the 2008 presidential election, ACORN faced charges that its workers widely submitted fraudulent voter registration forms.
“They’ve had problems with this kind of thing before, where they just don’t have very well-trained people, in a lot of cases, providing their services,” Fessler says.
ACORN says the allegations against it are part of a larger effort by conservatives to discredit the group because it deals mainly with Democratic voters.