President Barack Obama says there should be an investigation into the hidden-camera video involving employees at the activist group ACORN and a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp.

The two ACORN workers are seen apparently advising the couple to lie about her profession and launder her earnings to get housing aid.

The video is only the latest problem for the group, which had nearly $1 million embezzled by its founder’s brother and has been accused of voter registration fraud. The House and Senate voted last week to deny federal funds to ACORN.

Obama told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview broadcast Sunday that what he saw on the video “was certainly inappropriate and deserves to be investigated.” But the president did not say who should investigate. And he said it is not a major national issue he pays much attention to.

“Frankly, it’s not really something I’ve followed closely,” Obama said. “I didn’t even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money.”
Asked about the president calling for an investigation, ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said Sunday, “Well, that’s his opinion.”
ACORN said last week it would order its own investigation of the video scandal. Lewis, who had promised to name an independent auditor by Friday, told “Fox News Sunday” that the announcement would take place Monday. She would not reveal the auditor.

Later Sunday, Lewis issued a statement saying, “We agree with President Obama’s comments today that issues raised by the videos need to be investigated.”

In the meantime, the group has suspended the admission of new clients to its housing program.

“Over the next several weeks, you will see us working triple time to get this review right so that we can refocus attention on ACORN’s critical work for low- and moderate-income families,” Lewis said in the statement.

The government is investigating ACORN’s activities, though the scope of its activity is unknown. Voter registration fraud cases involving ACORN workers are pending. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general has acknowledged an investigation is under way.