Rep. Bachmann calls for a 'strong investigation' into non-profits

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called for a "strong investigation" into a variety of nonprofits in the wake of political corruption allegations at ACORN.

Bachmann, who has been an outspoken critic of ACORN, said that a broader investigation of other nonprofit organizations is needed because they could be using federal funds to influence the outcome of elections, like ACORN did.

"We need a strong investigation into nonprofits," she said in a conference call with conservative bloggers hosted by the Heritage Foundation. "No political party should be funded through a quote 'nonprofit.' "

"Without [government] money they would not be in existence," she added.

The conservative congresswoman said that "we've only started to scratch the surface" of allegations into ACORN's use of public funds to electioneer. Many Republicans have accused ACORN of committing voter registration fraud during the 2008 election, during which the community organization backed President Barack Obama.

Bachmann also accused ACORN of wrongly playing a role in the close Minnesota Senate race. After several recounts, Al Franken (D-Minn.) prevailed over incumbent Norm Coleman (R).

She called ACORN a "cold storage unit for campaign people to elect Democrats."

ACORN again found itself in the limelight after conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute caught employees advising the couple on how to conceal their income. Both houses of Congress have voted to strip several agencies' funding from ACORN.

But Bachmann stressed that more probing was needed. She said there should be "six or eight" investigations into ACORN conducted by the Justice Department, IRS and appropriate congressional committees.

"If this was a Republican organization, they would be dead right now," she said. "There would be scalps of Republican congressmen hung out to dry."

Bachmann also called on the president to publicly distance himself on ACORN.