From The Hill:
ACORN and its affiliates received $200,000 in Justice Department grants between 2002 and 2009, according a report issued today by the department’s Inspector General.
No DOJ grants went directly to ACORN, but a handful of grants were awarded either to ACORN affiliates or to other organizations that sub-contracted with ACORN.
The report, requested by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), also found a few instances of ACORN mismanagement of federally contracted work.
For example, ACORN received a $20,000 sub-contract to do community outreach on crime prevention in New York. The organization that contracted with ACORN has not released the funds yet, claimimg that ACORN submitted reimbursements “outside the scope of the agreement,” including “fringe benefits” for the salaried staffer working on the project.
In another instance the city of Phoenix contracted with the “ACORN Institute” to receive about $9,000 to canvass citizens and raise awareness about a tax credit and a tax assistance program. The city hasn’t paid ACORN yet due to “poor reporting by the ACORN Institute regarding another project not related to DOJ grant funds.” Phoenix is trying to terminate the contract with ACORN.
The DOJ did not audit the funds that went to ACORN or its affiliates, but did conduct an audit of one of the organizations that contracted with an ACORN affiliate. That audit concluded that the organization “did not properly manage the grant and did not adequately monitor some of its 36 sub-grantees, including the [American Institute of Social Justice],” an ACORN affiliate.
Smith seized on the report to call for a broader review of ACORN activities.
“Given the willingness of some ACORN employees to ignore the law, it comes as no surprise that the IG’s report found several instances in which ACORN and its affiliates failed to adhere to proper procedures,” Smith said in a statement.
Read the whole thing here.
Yesterday, Andrew Breitbart urged Attorney General Eric Holder to open an investigation of ACORN. An investigation by the Justice Department is even more pressing with this latest revelation. The potential misuse of funds by ACORN alone should be enough to warrant an investigation. As the need for an investigation builds, it will be interesting to see the new ways Holder and the Obama Administration avoid accountability for ACORN.
Full DOJ Report below: