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Marcel Reid wants answers.

Reid, of the ACORN 8 (a breakaway group of ACORN officials demanding an accounting from ACORN's leadership) posed 31 questions to an ACORN-CCI executive board meeting in July 2008 but failed to get answers. CCI, which stands for Citizens Consulting Inc., is the ultra-secretive financial heart of the ACORN network through which millions of dollars routinely pass.

Reid told me this afternoon that if these 31 questions had been answered ACORN's internal problems could have been dealt with. "Those are the questions we asked to get a handle on the situation," she said.

ACORN gave a halfhearted attempt in October to answer some of these questions, Reid said.

Instead of fixing its internal problems, they have been allowed to fester and as I write this ACORN is undergoing a period of intense turmoil.

The criminal charges are piling up. Voter registration fraud charges are pending against ACORN and ex-employees in Nevada. Voter registration fraud charges are pending against its former canvassers in Pennsylvania. An assortment of charges is pending against a man in Ohio whom ACORN repeatedly registered to vote. The man is actually charged with fraudently voting too, something we keep hearing from ACORN's supporters never happens. Not surprisingly, ACORN is under investigation in Ohio too.

Reid and the other members of the ACORN 8 are asking bloggers to help out with the research by googling, accessing databases, and tracking down the missing information wherever it may be.

Here are the 31 questions (two are boldfaced because, I'm told, they are particularly important):

1. Listing of all ACORN related entities; by name, function, organizational type and tax exempt status (with contact information).

2. Organizational Chart of all ACORN related entities.

3. Complete Listing of all ACORN related management and staff (with contact information); i.e., a copy of all ACORN related Corporate / Staff Directories.

4. Listing of all Accounting Firms (with contact information) for all ACORN related entities.

5. Copy of all existing contracts with the Accounting Firms for all ACORN related entities.

6. Listing of all present or former Law Firms (with contact information) for all ACORN related entities.

7. Copy of all existing contracts with the Law Firms for all ACORN related entities.

8. Listing of all Management Agreements (with contact information) for all ACORN related entities.

9. Copy of all existing management contracts for all ACORN related entities.

10. Listing of all ACORN related real estate or leased property.

11. Copy of all existing ACORN related leases.

12. Organizational Structure of all ACORN related entities.

13. Listing of all ACORN related banking and financial accounts.

14. Account numbers of all ACORN related banking and financial accounts.

15. Copy of all ACORN related leases made with Wade Rathke controlled entities.

16. Copy of all ACORN related lease payments made to Wade Rathke controlled entities.

17. Listing of all ACORN donors / funders (contact information).

18. Copies of all "settlement agreements" made with ACORN related entities.

19. Copy of all organizational documentation for the "Chief Organizer Fund".

20. Copy of all ACORN related payments made to the "Chief Organizer Fund".

21. Total Number of missed payroll checks from ACORN related employees.

22. Listing of ACORN employees with missed payroll checks (with contact information).

23. Total Number of ACORN related draft payments over last six months.

24. Listing of every ACORN member whose checking account has been drafted multiple times within a thirty day period (with contact information).

25. Listing of the Total Number of missed Tax Payments for ACORN employees.

26. Copy of Citizen Consulting Inc. (CCI) management / consulting contract.

27. Copy of Citizen Consulting Inc. (CCI) organizational structure.

28. Copy of Dale Rathke repayment agreement.

29. Copy of Dale Rathke repayment promissory note.

30. Listing of all ACORN related computer networks, servers websites and corresponding network addresses and passwords (with system administrator contact information).

31. Listing of all entities in which Wade Rathke, Dale Rathke or Beth Bumpers are owners, officers, directors or beneficiaries (past or present).

If you're not familiar with the back story, read this and a mountain of articles and blog posts I've written about ACORN at the Capital Research Center website and here at the American Spectator website.