Fake Hooker Who Exposed ACORN Is an FIU Journalism Student

By Kyle Munzenrieder Thu., Sep. 17 2009 at 12:32 PM

Categories: Media Watch, Politicks

Hannah Giles -- the 20-year-old FIU journalism student, minister's daughter, and fake hooker who, along with an accomplice, exposed some ACORN offices' habits of offering business advice to pimps and hoes -- is garnering praise from Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and even Jon Stewart.

Giles and a male accomplice, posing as a prostitute and a pimp, visited four (yes, four) ACORN offices and asked for legal advice -- which they received. In a Baltimore office, a worker told them to list their occupation as "performance artists" on their tax returns and even went as far as to tell them to claim as dependents 13 underage Central American girls that the two pretended they were illegally bringing into the country to work as prostitutes.

In response, the Senate voted earlier this week 83 to 7 to withhold funding from the group.

ACORN has called the workers' actions indefensible, while a Florida official from the group said Giles and her fake pimp tried to do the same thing in Miami but were turned away.

As for Giles, some are accusing her of playing "gotcha journalism" (in an interview with Glenn Beck, she admitted she got the idea because she didn't like ACORN and thought it was a group of thugs that was taking "her" tax money), while others are calling her and her partner "The Right's Bob Woodward."

Tags:

FIU, Florida International University, Glenn Beck, Hannah Giles, Jon Stewart, Sean Hannity

Write Comment

Email to Friend

Print Article

Related Content

More About:

not only a questionable practice, but it also turned out that the tapes were highly edited to show ACORN in the least favorable light possible ... it left out the portions where Giles and O'Keefe misled the ACORN workers as well as the portions where the ACORN staff laughed at them and asked if it was a stunt (and also took down information to give to the police). It was many things, and very unfortunate for ACORN, but it was not journalism ... and personally I have to ask where our Journalism school went wrong in teaching her about ethics.
If you ask me the whole stunt lacks creativity. Anyone with half a brain would know 2 impostors when they seem them. Posing as a Pimp and a Prostitute? Get real...watch the video below and listen to the head of Acorn tell her side of the story... ACORN Head Bertha Lewis Vows Action on Employee Misconduct, But Warns Group Targeted by �Modern-Day McCarthyism� http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/17/acorn_head_bertha_lewis_vows_action
I doubt Giles has ever had to work a day in her life.
If ACORN says its people didn't do anything wrong, why did it fire the employees that were in the videos?
By "gotacha" journalism I think they're referring to the moral (and possibly legal) problems posed by gathering a story under false pretenses (in this case, posing as a prostitute and a pimp). In response to Brad, 60 Minutes stopped doing exposes like this years ago because it did result in problems for them. I'm by no means suggesting they didn't uncover a greater evil by doing so, just that I can see why it's a questionable practice.
Thank you for reporting to the American people about the corruption that takes place in our country! By the way there is another video played last night on fox, now the new acorn worker from san diego asks the prostitute how much she would charge him for a weekend and tells her he can help her smuggle in illegals from Mexico!He knows someone specifically that could help her!!There is rumor that there are more video's to come!
ACORN and its supporters are suing them, right? Why are they suing these people? Why is it "gotcha" journalism when in reality it is an exposure of the highest order in a dubious organization? Did you know that ACORN fired two workers who were board members in the organization because they wanted full financial disclosure after discovering embezzlement? A criminal investigation is warranted. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/us/10acorn.html?_r=1 http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_606173.html
Brad, How exactly did we "go after" her? Did we do anything resembling "an intense anal probe"?
Typical, go after the exposers, not the exposed. Anyone, no matter how right they are, who goes after liberal misconduct will become the target of an intense anal probe. When 60 minutes does it, it's good journalism. When a non-liberal does it it's indefensible. Double standard?