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Home Front: Politix
Inquiry looks at Fattah program
2008-12-22
Federal investigators are examining a multimillion-dollar scholarship program that U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah founded four years ago and abruptly announced last month that he was shutting down.
The inquiry appears to be in its early stages, with investigators asking about the use of federal grant money that has flowed into the program, named CORE Philly.

Two people familiar with CORE Philly said last week that the FBI had contacted them. One, a public-relations consultant, said she had been served a grand-jury subpoena requesting copies of videos she made for the program.

Fattah (D., Pa.), elected last month to an eighth term, said Friday that he had learned of the inquiry in July from the program's former executive director. "This is an audit of a past grant," Fattah said, "and that's that."

He said he believed it concerned a $700,000 Justice Department grant made in 2005 to help CORE Philly cover staffing, computers and more. He said he believed the inquiry had taken on greater urgency because of what he felt were unfair complaints by a "disgruntled" employee.

Though he holds no official position with the program, Fattah, as a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has secured at least $3 million in congressional earmarks for it.
He holds no official position, huh? How 'bout his spouse, kids, and second cousins?
CORE Philly, which has awarded $24 million in scholarships to college-bound high school students in Philadelphia, receives most of its funding from the city and the Philadelphia School District. Officials from both were surprised last month to learn Fattah was ending the program because, he said, a $1 million cut in the city's annual subsidy made its continuation impossible.

The federal scrutiny began with an audit at least six months ago by the Justice Department - one of many agencies that has helped fund CORE Philly - and is continuing with questions from the department's Office of Inspector General and the FBI, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Based on interviews with vendors who have worked for the program and others with knowledge of the inquiry, investigators are interested as well in a nonprofit named the Educational Advancement Alliance (EAA). It was also founded by Fattah and, in an unusual arrangement, provides some of CORE Philly's funding.
Posted by:Fred

#1  Didn't even have to get to the third paragraph to learn the political party affiliation. That is so sad. Yet predictable.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2008-12-22 15:10  

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