The Times examines the circumstances of its reporting on ACORN, Heather Heidelbaugh, and Anita Moncrief shortly before the election.

Representative James Sensenbrenner, the Wisconsin Republican who called Heidelbaugh to testify, told me that he thinks the Obama campaign and Acorn clearly broke the law and that if The Times had published the story, it could have angered enough people over voter fraud to change the election. But Lawrence Norton, who was general counsel to the Federal Election Commission from 2001 to 2007, said he doubted the commission would even have opened an investigation because the evidence was so speculative and coordination between a campaign and a support group is difficult to prove. “It’s hard for me to see how this is a game-changer,” he told me.

I have to vote with Norton, and I think The Times handled the story as any responsible news organization would.