ACORN engaged in a scheme to use taxpayer money to support a partisan political agenda, according to a new report from Republicans on a House oversight committee.
The report, to be released Thursday afternoon, accuses ACORN of fraudulent activities and widespread corruption and calls for a criminal investigation into the advocacy group. It offers the first detailed account of the allegations that have dogged the organization in recent months.
ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform, has been under constant fire from conservatives since last year for its support of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy and its planned participation in next year's 2010 census.
The report will be released by Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Issa's GOP colleagues.
The executive summary of the report says ACORN provided contributions of financial and personnel resources to indicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and candidate Obama, among others, in what the report calls a scheme to use taxpayer money to support a partisan political agenda, which would be a clear violation of numerous tax and election laws.
"Both structurally and operationally, ACORN hides behind a paper wall of nonprofit corporate protections to conceal a criminal conspiracy on the part of its directors, to launder federal money in order to pursue a partisan agenda and to manipulate the American electorate," an executive summary of the report reads.
ACORN, which was sent a copy of the executive summary by FOXNews.com, dismissed the report as a "partisan attack job."
"We are busy fighting to stop the foreclosure crisis, to win quality affordable health care for all Americans and to build a stronger economy for working families, so we haven't had the opportunity to read Rep. Issa's screed at length," Bertha Lewis, CEO of ACORN, said in a written statement to FOXNews.com.
"But an initial review indicates that the document is a recycled and repackaged partisan attack job on ACORN's good work," she added.
The report accuses ACORN, after receiving more than $53 million in federal funds since 1994, of blurring the legal distinctions among 361 tax-exempt and non-exempt entities to divert that money into partisan political activities.
Evidence found in the report relies in part on documents provided by former ACORN employees.
"Operationally, ACORN is a shell game played in 120 cities, 43 states and the District of Columbia through a complex structure designed to conceal illegal activities, to use taxpayer and tax-exempt dollars for partisan political purposes, and to distract investigators," the report read.
"Structurally, ACORN is a chess game in which senior management is shielded from accountability by multiple layers of volunteers and compensated employees who serve as pawns to take the fall for every bad act."
Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Issa, said ACORN's response suggests the report "hit a nerve."
"We stand by the findings of the report," he told FOXNews.com. "There are a lot of legitimate questions raised about the political activities and organizational structure of ACORN. We'd certainly like to have a venue and platform for ACORN to respond to our report."
Bardella added that the report is not about partisan politics.
"It's about getting to the truth," he said. "And when there are significant accusations and questions about millions of taxpayer dollars, those questions should be answered and any significant doubts should be addressed and the truth should be brought to light."
It would be up to the chairman of the oversight panel to hold hearings on the ACORN report and up to the Justice Department to pursue a criminal investigation. Likewise, the census director will determine whether ACORN remains a partner with the U.S. Census Bureau to assist with the recruitment of the 1.4 million temporary workers needed to go door-to-door to count every person in the United States.
A spokeswoman for Rep. Edolphus Towns, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
#4
I can't help but wonder why the trunks haven't bothered to introduce legislation to divert the $10,000,000,000.00 in stimulus finds earmarked for ACORN to a more rational use. Like keeping the F-22 line open for instance.
#5
Don't worry. Holder will squelch the investigation.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/23/2009 19:04 Comments ||
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#6
"Structurally, ACORN is a chess game in which senior management is shielded from accountability by multiple layers of volunteers and compensated employees who serve as pawns to take the fall for every bad act."
Nothing new here. All in compliance with the Socialist Democratic party, ÐÑÄÐÏ methodology.
HT to JWF, who's got more and pics - name that party!
Dozens of arrests are taking place across New Jersey this morning and many public officials -- including the mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus, the deputy mayor of Jersey City -- are among those being taken into custody.
FBI and IRS agents are making the roundups all across the state in what is being described as one of the biggest investigations of its kind in Jersey's scandal-plagued history.
Arrests and searches are underway across Jersey City, Secaucus and numerous Hudson and Bergen county locations. huge Republican strongholds....er...no?
In past years, New jersey has seen more than 100 corruption-related arrests of public officials. No word on the specific charges against those being rounded up today. A press conference is expected later today.
Among those arrested this morning were Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano and Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, authorities said. Several area rabbis and other community leaders including Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega were brought into custody in connection with this case, officials said. This isn't gonna help Corzine's re-election bid...
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2009 08:33 ||
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Link ||
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#1
I suspect this bust only went through because of the evil Juice connection.
#4
IIUC, at least some of the arrested are Repubicans
Posted by: Lord garth ||
07/23/2009 13:08 Comments ||
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#5
A partial list of the arrestees here -- two trunks, six identified as "independent" or no party affiliation given (including one Obama donor), the other fifteen identified are Donks.
Total of 44 arrested, on charges that include trafficking in human organs. (shudder)
Corruption? In Jersey? Inconcievable!
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2009 15:47 Comments ||
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#6
That's the nice thing about Noo Joisey, garth - it's an equal opportunity cesspool.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/23/2009 16:32 Comments ||
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E. Denise Simmons is the current mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is the first openly lesb1an African-American mayor in the United States. The previous mayor of Cambridge, Kenneth Reeves, was the first openly gay African-American mayor in the United States.
On Thursday morning, the mayor of Cambridge, E. Denise Simmons, said she had been in contact with Professor Gates, and had apologized to him on behalf of the city of Cambridge, but she said she had not yet spoken to Sergeant Crowley. The mayor said she was still gathering information about the arrest, and planned to have meetings with the police department. On Tuesday she issued a statement saying that she was "pleased" that the charges had been dropped.
Though the joint statement he issued with the city, the police force and the Middlesex district attorney's office on Tuesday said the matter was resolved, Professor Gates has continued to speak about the incident in national media interviews, and President Obama's remarks kept it in the spotlight.
"The president did say that he was friends with Professor Gates," Mayor Simmons said in a telephone interview. "Like the rest of us, he had not yet heard all the facts. I don't want to make a comment based on the president's comments."
Although the mayor, who is black, would not comment when asked if she had any concerns about racial profiling in the city's police department, she said that she hoped the incident would spur an instructive dialogue about race.
"Is there a problem with race issues in the county? Yes," she said. "Is there a problem with it in Massachusetts? Yes there is. In Cambridge, we are a small part of society, and we're trying to be proactive.
"I am looking at this situation as opportunity to have open and candid conversations around our city. How do we make this a place where everyone can feel safe?"
#3
New police rules in Cambridge soon:
1) If you see a black man (or woman) apparently committing a crime, do NOT question him or interfere with him in any way. I don't care if he is standing over a lifeless body with a smoking gun and a bloody knife in his hands. He is innocent. To think otherwise is racist, and you will be fired.
2) Hassle a few white folks just to even things up.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/23/2009 19:01 Comments ||
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#4
Mayor Simmons said in a telephone interview. "Like the rest of us, he had not yet heard all the facts. I don't want to make a comment based on the president's comments."
But you already fucking apologized! What did you apologize for?
She assumed that, just because Gates is Black - he must be telling the truth. Because she apologized for the city before she even spoke with the white officer - she assumes that because he's white he's lying.
Who is the racist here?
I am looking at this situation as opportunity to have open and candid conversations around our city. How do we make this a place where everyone can feel safe?
Ok so not questioning someone simply because they are a particular color is going to make everyone feel safe? What planet did you grow up on again.
When Sergeant James M. Crowley climbed the front steps of Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s house last week and unexpectedly placed himself in international headlines, it was not the first time he had a memorable encounter in the line of duty with a prominent black man. Nearly 16 years ago, as a Brandeis University police officer, Crowley desperately tried to save the life of Reggie Lewis after the Boston Celtics star collapsed while practicing in the school gym.
"It bothers him terribly that he couldn't save him,'' Crowley's 74-year-old mother, Verina Crowley, said yesterday, speaking of her son and the famous basketball player.
Yesterday, as President Obama condemned the Cambridge Police Department during a prime-time White House news conference and Crowley steadfastly refused to issue the apol ogy that Gates has sought, a fuller picture began to emerge of the 42-year-old sergeant who arrested the Harvard scholar last week on a charge of disorderly conduct on the porch of Gates's Cambridge house.
Crowley was a certified emergency medical technician when he performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Lewis, to no avail, after the player's heart stopped on July 27, 1993. In a Globe interview later that day, Crowley said he rushed to the university's Shapiro Gymnasium, confirmed that Lewis had no pulse, and frantically tried to revive him.
"I just kept on going,'' he said. "I just kept thinking, 'Don't let him die - just don't die.' ''
Now, 16 years later, he stands accused of racism by Gates, one of the foremost scholars on race in America. Gates had just arrived home to his Cambridge house from a trip abroad to find his front door stuck shut. As he and the driver who brought him from the airport tried to push it open, a passerby called police with a report of a possible break-in. Crowley arrived and demanded that Gates, now inside, show him identification. Crowley's police report said Gates behaved belligerently when he questioned him, which Gates denied. Authorities dropped the charge Tuesday after it ignited accusations of racism.
But people who know Crowley were skeptical or outright dismissive of allegations of racism. A prominent defense lawyer, a neighbor of Crowley's, his union, and fellow officers described him yesterday as a respected, and respectful, officer who performs his job well and has led his colleagues in diversity training.
"He's evenhanded and, in the cases I've had with him, he's been very much in control and very professional,'' said Joseph W. Monahan III, a criminal defense lawyer in Cambridge and former Middlesex County prosecutor. Monahan has represented several defendants arrested by Crowley for domestic assaults and for drunken driving.
#2
Already the race-baiting machine has ridiculed the officers account of performing CPR on the black NBA player as a version of I cant be a racist Ive got black friends. Yet somehow even Obama doesnt require the actual facts of the case when it comes to a white police officer interacting with a black man. Apparently, on the assumption of racial profiling, The President finds it acceptable for a respected African-American Harvard scholar to go completly unhinged in the course of an official investigation. Ill once again agree completely with AG Holders admonishing. When it comes to the discussion of race relations America is a nation of cowards Indeed!
#3
Confronting the cops increasing your odds of arrest. So you only do it if you are a moron or looking for headlines. Only time will tell where Henry Louis Gates Jr fits.
#4
Time, hell, rj. We already know the answer - both. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/23/2009 12:36 Comments ||
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#5
"What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately," Obama said. "That's just a fact."
I wonder how all those cop unions that supported him in the last election feel about that statement?
#6
Well one of the state unions wsn't crazy about it...
I was actually shocked that the president of the United States, during a nationally televised news conference on one of the most important issues facing us, healthcare, weighed in on this, said Harold MacGilvray, president of the Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition, an umbrella organization for Crowleys union.
I think its regrettable that he made those comments about the Cambridge Police Department without, in my opinion, having full knowledge of the facts of the case. They are professionals and they do an outstanding job serving the citizens of Cambridge, said MacGilvray.
But then you go to one of the national union, who's head probably knows Barry on a first name basis and it's...
A spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations described Obamas comments as premature, but said he hopes that remarks have little bearing on the presidents relationship with law enforcement union hacks.
I hope we can take a very rational approach to this, said IUPA spokesman Rich Roberts. The Sarasota, Fla.-based union represents 100,000 law enforcement officers nationwide. What needs to be done here is to analyze the situation on a purely rational basis and put aside the emotion and the questions of race, said Roberts.
#7
Here's a report about how the Boston Globe removed the official police report about this incident from their website. According to the police report Gates refused to show any identification. Then he's quoted as saying "You don't know who you're messing with." So my question is, how are the cops supposed to know who they're "messing with" if the man won't show his ID?
The case sounds strangely similar to the recent case in Encintas, CA where the hostess of a fundraiser for Democrat congressional candidate Francine Busby was arrested for her refusal to tell a sheriff's deputy her age. I'm guessing she's past her prime and a little sensitive about questions like that. I can relate but I'd have shown the deputy my driver's license anyway, just to avoid a scene. The deputy showed up after a neighbor complained about noise. If the women had cooperated the deputy would have most likely asked them to pipe down and that would have been the end of it.
#10
Here's a question for any Cambridge locals on R'burg - any word from the Mayor or Police Chief? I see tu cites the state union chief, but what about the formal chain of command?
I hope Sgt. Crowley's next remarks refer up the chain and base his actions on the lengthy training he's received.
The reports files by the Sgt. and his fellow officer, read as if straight from the manual, and I hope the prosecutor/town counsel is building the file quietly while letting the prof and his friends spout off - without all the facts as the POTUS freely admits, which is not really a good thing to freely admit, as the press used to point out, and hopefully the political opposition will continue to do so.
#11
Some report I read a few years ago indicated that blacks and Latinos are not stopped disproportionately. They are, however, arrested more often after those same stops.
Now seeing the case of Henry Louis Gates Jr it becomes clear why. instead of smiling and showing his ID (30 seconds elapsed time) and thanking the cops for ensuring his home was not being robbed (the door was messed up from a previous attempt according to Gates' own statements) he escalated the situation again and again.
I was always taught when pulled over by the cops to swallow my pride, put my hands on the steering wheel, move slowly and announce what I'm gonna do when I grab for things. Also say Yes sir, no sir a lot. Oddly enough I've never gone to jail for being disorderly.
#12
CLEVELAND, Ohio The White House says President Barack Obama was not calling a Cambridge, Mass., police officer stupid when he criticized last weeks arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday that Obama felt "cooler heads on all sides should have prevailed" once the officer realized Gates was in his own home.
On Wednesday Obama said the police "acted stupidly" when they arrested Gates even after it was clear that he was not a burglary suspect. Gibbs said that Obama did not regret the remark, but wanted to clarify that he was not calling the arresting officer stupid.
#13
he stands accused of racism by Gates, one of the foremost scholars on race in America.
I think I see the problem. Sounds like Gates is looking to increase his street cred.
I wonder how Mr. Gates would feel if it was a real burgler in his house and the police simply took their word for it because they are 'black' and the perp proceeded to steal all his stuff. Can you imagine his outrage?
This is not a racial comment but wasn't there a rule in one of the planet of the apes movies about "You never say NO to an ape!". (In this case it was an ape - could have been anything).
This guy wants a rule "Police should never, ever, question a black man!".
Both are stupid rules - no matter who they are applied to.
#14
Prof Gates had never been arrested in his life and probably felt he could gain some street cred if he could get the cops to at least cuff him.
Of course, in a sane world, the post modernist sociological gibberish that Gates has written wouldn't even be published.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/23/2009 14:20 Comments ||
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#15
A Harvard professor living in a big house in Cambridge and summering on the Vineyard who's known as "Skippy"?
Henry could use more then a little "street cred"...
#18
Oh-oh. It seems that Sgt. Crowley might know more about racial profiling then the esteemed Professer Skippy...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The white police sergeant criticized by President Barack Obama for arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his Massachusetts home is a police academy expert on understanding racial profiling.
Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming.
"I have nothing but the highest respect for him as a police officer. He is very professional and he is a good role model for the young recruits in the police academy," Fleming told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures that officers could encounter in their community "and how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/23/2009 16:31 Comments ||
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#20
Read the smoking gun arrest report. It pretty much what I expected, the officer showed great restraint and Gates was the racists. I notice none of the many witnesses are refuting the police report.
#21
Yeah, Now that they've been caught with their pants down, I think pretty soon we're gonna hear that old refrain from Professor Skippy, and President Barry, and Governor Deval and "Reverend" Al..."Can't we just...move on?"
#23
Gates lives 6 blocks from me. I haven't seen any reaction from the local pols, but I predict they'll be keeping their heads down and hiding from the press.
#24
Once again Obambi's motor mouth overcame his midgit mind, and HE said something stupid. I quit keeping track, but it looks like a race between him and Biden. Hard to tell who's leading at this point.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2009 19:50 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
ACORN engaged in a scheme to use taxpayer money to support a partisan political agenda, according to a new report from Republicans on a House oversight committee. 
