It means the ACORN official (Joe McGavin) will go from operating a corrupt leftist community group that’s banned by Congress from receiving federal funding to controlling over $445 million in U.S. taxpayer funds.  The money is part of a $7.6 billion Treasury Department program to help the “unemployed or substantially underemployed” make their mortgage payments.

In this case, JW found that a subcomponent of the state-run Illinois Housing Development Authority, known as the Illinois Hardest Hit Program, received a generous $445,603,557 Treasury infusion. The Obama Administration established Hardest Hit in 2010 to provide targeted aid to families in states hit hardest by the economic and housing market downturn, according to its website.   

In early 2011 McGavin was appointed as director of Hardest Hit. Before that he was director of counseling for ACORN Housing in Chicago and operations manager for a Chicago ACORN offshoot called Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA). His strong ties to ACORN make him a suspect candidate to handle such a huge amount of taxpayer dollars.

The Obama-tied community organization supposedly shut down after a series of exposés about its illegal activities, including fraudulent voter registration drives and involvement in the housing market meltdown. Read all about it in Judicial Watch’s special report, “The Rebranding of ACORN.” The legal scandals led Congress to pass a 2009 law banning federal funding for ACORN, which for years enjoyed a huge flow of taxpayer dollars to promote its various leftwing causes.

The Obama Administration has violated the congressional ACORN funding ban, however. Last summer Judicial Watch uncovered records that show ACORN got tens of thousands of dollars in grants to “combat housing and lending discrimination.” The money came via Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which awarded a $79,819 grant to AHCOA.

In addition to violating the ACORN funding ban, the grant was astounding because federal investigators had previously exposed fraud by the same Florida-based ACORN/AHCOA affiliate. HUD’s inspector general found that the group “inappropriately” spent more than $3.2 million in grants that were supposed to be used to eliminate lead poisoning in its housing program.

New England United 4 Justice (NEU4J), a reincarnation of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), has joined forces with several other civil rights groups to sue Massachusetts for disenfranchising millions of low-income citizens by not registering them to vote during visits to welfare offices where they collect free taxpayer services. Specifically, this means poor ethnic minorities who traditionally vote Democrat.

This sort of minority disenfranchisement widens the gap between the registration rates of high and low-income individuals, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court this month. The 32-page complaint was posted by a national legal newswire that quotes a state welfare official indirectly committing to remedy the situation; “voting is one of the most important civic duties, and helping people comply is one of our top priorities,” the official proclaimed.

NEU4J is the reincarnation of ACORN in New England, according to a Judicial Watch analysis of records. Its president, Maude Hurd, was previously the national president of ACORN and a board member at ACORN Housing.  Its executive director is Noemi Ramos, who was ACORN Boston’s head organizer, and its vice president is former ACORN Massachusetts President Sandra Ramgeet. Much like ACORN, NEU4J promotes social justice by representing low and moderate income families.

This is scandalous because ACORN supposedly shut down after a series of exposés about its illegal activities, including fraudulent voter registration drives and involvement in the housing market meltdown. Read all about it in Judicial Watch’s special report, “The Rebranding of ACORN.” The legal scandals led Congress to pass a 2009 law banning federal funding for the Chicago-based community activist organization with strong ties to the president. For years ACORN enjoyed a huge flow of taxpayer dollars to promote its various leftwing causes.

The Obama Administration has violated the congressional ACORN funding ban, however. Last summer Judicial Watch uncovered records that show ACORN got tens of thousands of dollars in grants to “combat housing and lending discrimination.” The money came via Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which awarded a $79,819 grant to yet another ACORN reincarnation called Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA).

In addition to violating the ACORN funding ban, the grant was astounding because federal investigators had previously exposed fraud by the same Florida-based ACORN/AHCOA affiliate. HUD’s inspector general found that the group “inappropriately” spent more than $3.2 million in grants that were supposed to be used to eliminate lead poisoning in its housing program.

1. ACORN Documents from the Federal Election Commission
2. Matter Under Review 5820, Florida
3. Related Documents
4. Matter Under Review 5843, Missouri
5. Related Documents
6. Matter Under Reivew 5859, Pennsylvania
7. Related Documents

ACORN Documents from the Federal Election Commission

The following documents were obtained from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) website and are in the public domain. The cases outlined below are examples of FEC’s apparent inability to thoroughly examine complaints. In each of these three complaints filed against ACORN, a number of charges were brought. In every case, the FEC relied on statements from the accused party(ies) as enough grounds to dismiss the allegations.

Matter Under Review 5820, Florida

In September 2006, a complaint was filed accusing ACORN of engaging in “A Coordinated Campaign With The Express Purpose of Defeating Republican Candidates for Federal Office and Supporting Democrat Candidates For Federal Office.” Specifically, ACORN’s Florida branch was accused of preparing campaign plans that stated objectives including “defeat George W. Bush and other Republicans by increasing Democrat turnout” and “increase voter turnout of working class, mainly Democrat voters without increasing opposition turnout.” Since ACORN and Project Vote are not registered as political action committees (which is required for political organizations that make more than $1000 per year), they are not legally allowed to participate in campaign activities. In addition, ACORN and Project Vote failed to file expenditure reports and Statements of Organization with the FEC.

The case was never fully investigated by the FEC, as ACORN stated that the campaign plan designed to defeat Republicans was a “draft” and that the questionable material had been removed. The FEC did not examine the matter of failing to file expenditure reports or Statements of Organization, and the case was dropped in November 2006.

Related Documents

• Complaint
• Designation of Counsel
• Request for Extension
• Extension Granted
• Response from ACORN
• Second Response
• Notification to Iglesias
• Notification to ACORN
• Certifications

Matter Under Review 5843, Missouri

The Missouri Republican Senate Committee filed a complaint with the FEC in October 2006. Like the case in Florida, ACORN and one of its affiliates, Give Missourians a Raise, Inc., were accused of failing to file their expenditure reports with the FEC. Again, ACORN was also accused of failing to register as a political committee.

Give Missourians a Raise, Inc. was accused because its workers were directed to “solicit votes for Democorat candidate for the U.S. Senate, Claire McCaskill.” This was well documented by a group of workers from Give Missourans a Raise who protested the involvement with elections. One employee, Josephine Perkins, suggested that “this was a willful and knowing violation of the Act by Acorn.” Perkins stated in the video that, “If you go out and you are working for Give Missourians a Raise you cannot have Claire McCaskill’s campaign in the same spot…The funds allocated for the minimum wage is for the minimum wage, not to campaign for Claire McCaskill.”

The FEC dropped the case almost immediately without investigating it after ACORN denied the accusations. Since the youtube video quoted in the complaint was primarily addressing employees not getting paid, the FEC chose to ignore the statements concerning unfair campaign practices. When Give Missourians a Raise was asked about the complaint they “go so far as to assert that the complaint is ‘as thin as homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death.’” Their quote, originally from Abraham Lincoln, apparently was enough for the FEC to dismiss the matter.

Related Documents

• Complaint
• Request for Extension
• Request for Extension
• Extension Granted
• Extension Granted
• Response 1
• Response 2
• Notification 1
• Notification on Give Missouri a Raise
• Notification to ACORN
• Certifications
• First Statement of Reasons
• Second Statement of Reasons

Matter Under Reivew 5859, Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, Congressman Jim Gerlach submitted a complaint in October 2006. He accused ACORN of “illegally coordinating activities” with Lois Murphy, a candidate for congress. Under 11 CFR 114.4(c)(6), corporations such as ACORN are not allowed to endorse candidates. Gerlach states, “The regulations were clearly intended to prevent these organizations from illegally coordinating with a federal campaign as a way of evading the very strict limits of both the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.” As proof, Gerlach cited a press release from ACORN: “The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) endorsed Lois Murphy for Congress. Lois will join members of ACORN to canvass in Pottstown following the endorsement today. Lois and ACORN will be reaching out to members of the community to talk about minimum wage, education, and health care.”

The FEC dismissed the accusation, again by using statements submitted by ACORN saying they had done nothing wrong. Apparently, “the Murphy Campaign incorrectly identified ACORN in its press release as the entity that endorsed Candidate Murphy, when it was actually a related state political committee…Pennsylvania ACORN…that made the endorsement.” The FEC does not address the ACORN press release stating they had endorsed Murphy, or specify whether they examined the press release to see whether ACORN or Pennsylvania ACORN issued the release.

Related Documents

• Complaint
• Request for Extension
• Extension Granted
• Designation of Counsel
• Extension Granted to Murphy
• Designation of Counsel for ACORN
• Response by ACORN
• Response by Murphy
• Notification to Gerlach
• Notification to ACORN
• Notification to Murphy
• Certifications

The documents revealed that ACORN Housing, ACORN’s sister organization, is ineligible for grants because of its abuse of an AmeriCorps grant:

“ACORN Housing, an affiliate of ACORN was funded by CNCS in 1994/1995. ACORN Housing was accused of using the funds for protests…Following an issuance of subpoenas by CNS’s Inspector General, CNS and ACORN Housing agreed to stop the AmeriCorps grant. CNCS later recovered more than $16,000 of funds that were improperly spent.” (page 4)

While ACORN’s main advocacy group has not received funding since 1997, other affiliates still receive grant money from CNCS. Among the documents obtained from CNCS is an email listing a grant given to Detroit ACORN. Given the massive number of affiliates ACORN has (estimates are anywhere from 150 to over 300 affiliates), there are almost certainly other grants being awarded to them.

ACORN may also benefit from CNCS grants by partnering or working under other groups. A member of CNCS confirmed in an email that “a small number of individuals served at ACORN sites through the Education Award Program in the past few years, as a site of American Humanics” (page 5). There is no definitive information on how prevalent this occurrence is, or how much money goes to these grants.

Due to ACORN Housing’s violation, the AmeriCorps grant program no longer provides any funding to ACORN, according to an email from AmeriCorp’s Deputy Director Lois Nembhard. “[State] and [National] hasn’t funded ACORN directly since before my time here.” (page 29) However, Nembhard acknowledged that she was unsure if ACORN was receiving funding through its affiliates and subgroups. Affiliates of ACORN still have other grants through CNCS, including Detroit ACORN, which has an open National Direct grant.

Below are excerpts shedding further light on ACORN and its eligibility for funding under AmeriCorps and other grant laws through CNCS.

Email from Adam Briddell, Senate HELP Committee:

“Can you send me some bullets/facts on how/why ACORN isn’t/can’t get national service dollars? Can’t believe this has blown up…” (page 11)

Response from Frank Trinity, Counsel for CNCS

• In 1995, the first year of the AmeriCorps program, ACORN Housing – a separate organization from ACORN – received a grant to provide housing counseling to low-income individuals.
• Based on information provided by the Corporation’s Inspector General that the two organizations had not maintained appropriate separation, the Corporation suspended the grant.
• Thereafter, the grant was terminated and ACORN repaid the Federal government were unallowable costs (sic).” (page 13)

Trinity also provided a “Summary and Chronology of Events Related to ACORN Housing’s AmeriCorps Grant” (pages 17, 18).

To follow up on the information produced, Judicial Watch submitted another Freedom of Information Act requesting the following:

1. All documents concerning ACORN Housing and misconduct/violation of grant stipulations.
2. All documents concerning CNCS’s investigation of ACORN Housing.
3. All audit reports of ACORN Housing Corporation.

This request was sent on July 28, 2009.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will determine which “qualified organizations” get leftover settlement cash and Democrat-tied groups like the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the open-borders National Council of La Raza (NCLR) stand to get large sums based on the hastily arranged deal which got court approval in just a few days.  

Judicial Watch has investigated this controversial arrangement and in 2010 sued the DOJ to obtain information about the policy directing big portions of cash settlements from its civil rights lawsuits to organizations not officially connected to the cases. In response to JW’s lawsuit, the DOJ was forced to acknowledge that it has no official guidelines regarding “qualified organizations” that get leftover settlement funds and that it doesn’t monitor how the money is used.  

In the Countrywide case, details of the unscrupulous arrangement are buried deep (page 10 of the 17-page settlement) in the court document where Bank of America’s Countrywide Financial Corporation agrees to pay to resolve allegations that it discriminated against qualified black and Hispanic borrowers. The lender denies all of the charges, but wanted to end the case and caved into the government’s terms.

Here’s a synopsis straight out of the court settlement; all money not distributed to allegedly aggrieved persons within 24 months shall be distributed to qualified organizations that provide services including credit and housing counseling, financial literacy and other related programs targeted at African-Americans and Hispanics. Recipients may include “non-profit community organizations that provide education, counseling and other assistance to low-income and minority borrowers…”

This language essentially comes from ACORN’s mission statement. The famously corrupt group has raked in tens of millions of taxpayer dollars over the years but a series of scandals involving misuse of public funds, embezzlement, intimidation tactics, employee abuse, questionable hiring tactics and fraudulent voter registrations led Congress to pass legislation prohibiting the federal government from funding ACORN. The group simply transformed into various “spinoffs” and affiliated organizations and continues to get public money. Read all about it in a special JW investigative report, “The Rebranding of ACORN.”

The NCLR also stands to get money under the Countrywide settlement because the influential Mexican La Raza group is tight with the president and offers Latinos “housing counseling” that’s previously been funded by Uncle Sam. A JW probe uncovered documents in June that reveal federal funding for the group has skyrocketed since one of its top officials— Cecilia Muñoz—got a job in the Obama White House. Keeping with the mutual praise, the NCLR quickly issued a press release commending the administration for holding Countrywide “accountable for targeting communities of color.”

The landmark deal is the largest residential fair-lending settlement in history and has been widely celebrated by liberal groups as well as various media outlets, some of which believe the punishment wasn’t harsh enough. One newspaper editorial called it a “pittance compared to the grievous harm the lender brought to families across the nation.”

The money is supposed to be distributed to more than 200,000 minority victims—nearly one-third of them in California—who took out home loans between 2004 and 2008. According to the DOJ they were charged higher interest rates and fees than white borrowers based on their race not their credit. Thomas Perez, head of the DOJ’s bloated civil rights division, called it “discrimination with a smile” because victims had no idea they were being victimized and instead were thrilled just to get a home loan and realize the American dream.

Judicial Watch continues to investigate partisanship in Obama’s NLRB. Last year, President Obama bypassed the U.S. Senate and recess-appointed Craig Becker to head the NLRB’s five-member board. The Becker appointment was made after the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate refused to move forward on his confirmation. An ally of ACORN, Becker had previously worked for the SEIU and the AFL-CIO, major financial backers of Obama and the Democratic Party.

It marks the latest of several controversies for the DOJ’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) which has managed to maintain a copious budget through the years despite multiple allegations of cronyism. During the George W. Bush Administration, the OJJDP was accused of giving money to politically-connected groups that didn’t necessarily meet the agency’s goals.

This week the DOJ Inspector General released a report that exposes corruption surrounding a $138,130 grant that OJJDP awarded to an ACORN branch in New York City. The audit found that there were internal control weaknesses, unsupported grant expenditures, lack of contractor monitoring, weaknesses in budget management, inadequate grant reporting, unmet conditions and deficiencies with the program’s overall performance.

The IG also describes the New York group as a “pass-through entity” for ACORN, the crooked nonprofit that’s raked in huge sums of taxpayer dollars over the years. In 2009 Congress actually passed a law (Defund ACORN Act) to ban federal funding for ACORN after a series of exposés about the group’s illegal activities, which include fraudulent voter registration drives and involvement in the housing market meltdown. The group also has close ties to President Barack Obama.

Earlier this year a Judicial Watch probe found that the Obama Administration violated the ban on federal funding for ACORN by giving the beleaguered group nearly $80,000 to “combat housing and lending discrimination” against minorities. After sorting through droves of government records, Judicial Watch investigators discovered that an ACORN affiliate in New Orleans, ACORN Housing Corporation Inc., got $79,819 as part of a larger $40 million allocation to “fair housing organizations” that educate the public and combat discrimination.

This year Judicial Watch also published a special report (“The Rebranding of ACORN”) about the organization’s transformation into various spinoffs and affiliated groups. Amid a massive fraud scandal and a series of criminal probes, ACORN supposedly dismantled but the reality is that it simply changed its name. For instance, under the rebranding New England United 4 Justice, ACORN has been one of the driving forces behind the movement to end economic segregation and social injustice in the U.S. (Occupy Wall Street).