A Convenient Time for Bob Bauer?

Hmmm. This story about a raid on the New Orleans ACORN office last week didn't garner much attention at the time, but now it appears it could be more significant and have wider consequences. At least according to GOP Congressman Steve King. Some may dismiss this as conspiracy quackery, but it's worth noting.

Newly appointed White House counsel Bob Bauer is "perfectly positioned to be tasked with erasing the tracks between Obama and ACORN," one Republican lawmaker charged Friday.

The lawyer's hiring, announced this morning shortly after Greg Craig officially resigned the post, was also an attempt by the White House to deflect any fallout that may arise from an ACORN investigation currently underway in Louisiana, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) added in a statement.

“Bob Bauer has a public record of defending Barack Obama’s relationship with ACORN, the congressman told supporters. "Bauer’s hiring appears to be a tactical maneuver to strategically defend the White House exactly one week after Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell raided ACORN's national headquarters in New Orleans and seized paper records and computer hard drives that may lead to the White House.”

However, the link between Bauer, the president and ACORN's Louisiana office is long, winding and confusing, at best.

According to King, Bauer -- who worked for Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign -- was they key player in a politicized fight between the campaign and President George W. Bush's Justice Department over an investigation of suspected ACORN voting fraud.

While Bauer, for the most part, signaled in a letter he was unconvinced that ACORN had committed any wrongdoing, he compared the investigation itself to the partisan battle over the firing of a number of U.S. attorneys in 2008 because of their political inclinations. Consequently, he asked the Justice Department shortly after to appoint the same special prosecutor who made the attorney determination to look into the ACORN matter.

"With this voter fraud [investigation], we're seeing an unholy alliance of law enforcement and the ugliest form of partisan politics," Bauer said in October.

King, however, believes that statement was code for "back off from interfering with ACORN's activities," according to his statement. He also said Bauer's return to Obama's team at a time when law enforcement officials just finished raiding an ACORN office in Louisiana -- part of an investigation into whether it committed tax fraud and embezzlement -- signifies malfeasance is again afoot.

Of course, malfeasance by ACORN is redundant. But you can be sure Obama's close ties to ACORN are a problem for him, even though most of his approved media continue to ignore his ties to this criminal organization. And surely I won't be holding my breath that Obama stooge Eric Holder will ever let an investigation get anywhere near his boss.

Instapundit links. Thanks!