Obama’s Lawyer Asks for Inquiry into Voter Fraud Claims

Barack Obama's campaign called for the U.S. Justice Department to expand a special prosecutor's probe to include possible improprieties surrounding reports the FBI is looking into voter fraud in the presidential race.

Obama's campaign attorney said the probe should look into a leakage to the news media that the FBI is probing allegations of voter enrollment fraud by a grassroots organization called ACORN. The group's activities were criticized by Republican nominee John McCain in the Oct. 15 presidential debate.

Robert Bauer, general counsel to the Obama campaign, wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey a day after the Associated Press, mentioning unidentified law enforcement officials, reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating ACORN. The name is short for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

A special prosecutor appointed by Mukasey already is checking whether improper political considerations influenced the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. At least one prosecutor was fired following Republican charges that he didn't aggressively pursue allegations of voter fraud against ACORN.

Bauer said the news leaks are part of a organized effort by McCain's presidential campaign and Republicans. They are ``fomenting specious vote-fraud allegations and there are disturbing indications of official participation or collusion,'' Bauer said.

``It is apparent,'' he wrote, that enforcement officials are serving ``improper political objectives'' that could inhibit voter involvement in the Nov. 4 election. The aim is to ``suppress the vote and to unduly influence investigations and prosecutions,'' Bauer wrote.

Mukasey nominated special prosecutor Nora Dannehy to look into the U.S. attorney firings in 2006.