“Forgiveness of the debt caused by the embezzlement may
harm the participants and beneficiaries of the current ACORN
health care and pension plans,” he says. “If the money was not
paid back it may put at risk the funding necessary for ACORN
retirees or the healthcare of ACORN employees.”
The
report from Republican investigators on the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee about corruption within ACORN —
including the embezzlement and cover-up saga — was blunt.
Those staffers found that by “intentionally blurring the
legal distinctions between 361 tax-exempt and non-exempt
entities, ACORN diverts taxpayer and tax-exempt monies into
partisan political activities.”
They described ACORN as “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 ACORN network’s abusive interlocking
directorates are deliberately organized to help ACORN escape
legal and public scrutiny. “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 political agenda and to manipulate the
American electorate.”
Of the pension fund improprieties, committee investigators
“concluded that ACORN plundered employee benefits and violated
fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA by relieving corporate
debts through prohibited loans to a related party.”
The investigators added:
Moreover, ACORN affiliates lack independent control of
their own assets and maintain shoddy accounting practices that
serve to hide ACORN’s secret and illegal use of
monies. ACORN conspired to conceal information concerning
prohibited transactions from its board in violation of its
corporate charter. ACORN’s termination of board members who
sought to uncover its illegal activities perpetuates a cover-up
at the expense of adherence to its own bylaws.”
Americans are paying attention. They want answers to these
questions but it is unclear when or if Congress and the Obama
administration, which has strong ties to ACORN, will act.
As I wrote
previously, longtime ACORN operative Patrick Gaspard now
holds the title of White House political affairs director, one of
the titles Karl Rove held in President Bush’s White House.
Evidence shows that years before he joined the Obama
administration, Gaspard was ACORN boss Bertha Lewis’s political
director in New York. Of all the entries in Lewis’s
rolodex, the entry for Gaspard is the most extensive.
Erick Erickson and
Moe Lane have also done a good job connecting the dots
between Gaspard, ACORN, and President Obama.
When I unveiled the memo last week I referred to it as the
Holy Grail of ACORN research. I was not exaggerating. It is to
date the most significant smoking gun of a document to emerge
from the developing ACORN scandal.
I should note here that I neglected to mention in the
article unveiling the memo that its authenticity was
confirmed by ACORN insiders. The only irregularities related to
it are the incorrect fax time stamps and the missing page. I have
no idea why the missing page isn’t there. Perhaps it will turn
up. I never had it. As for the fax time stamps, many people don’t
keep the date and time current on their fax machines. Presumably
that’s what happened in this case.
I haven’t heard a peep from either ACORN or
Kingsley’s law firm, Harmon, Curran, Spielberg Eisenberg LLP,
disputing the authenticity of this memo that was referenced and
excerpted — but not published in full — by the
New York Times last fall. (The Kingsley
memo is available as a PDF file at
BigGovernment.com.)
That speaks volumes.
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 6:20AM
The American Spectator : ACORN's Pension Shell Games links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Marc Jeric| 10.7.09 @ 6:34AM
Bertha Lewis. the current boss of ACORN, is a typical candidate for the future American Gulag boss - when her current local soviets (community organizations) are ready for the coming revolution, helped along by the SEIU union thugs. They only lack appropriate armaments.
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 6:40AM
The American Spectator : ACORN's Pension Shell Games | Masti Network - A News and Inf links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 10:23AM
Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : ACORN's Pension Shell Games [spectat links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Trackback| 10.7.09 @ 10:33AM
ACORN's Pension Shell Games, on www.govcorruptionwatch.com, links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Tom| 10.7.09 @ 11:58AM
ACORN needs a little RICO
trapper| 10.7.09 @ 11:59AM
Why are they receiving my taxpayer money. Perhaps the most vile action a government can make is to take money from a person and then use that money against him politically. And that is what is being done when Acorn is given taxpayer money.
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 12:14PM
The American Spectator : ACORN's Pension Shell Games | Rent Video Games Cheap links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 1:22PM
ACORN’s Liar-in-Chief Blames Everyone Except Herself « NewsReal Blog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 3:10PM
The American Spectator : ACORN's Pension Shell Games links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Richard Baker| 10.7.09 @ 7:23PM
ACORN is using a Ouija board to speak with Jimmy Hoffa on pension funding and investments.
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 8:27PM
ACORN’s Liar-in-Chief Blames Everyone Except Herself | Prayer And Action links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.22.10 @ 2:52PM
» ACORN Crime Family Renames New York Chapter - Big Government links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.22.10 @ 4:43PM
ACORN’s Latest Trick: Shutdown and Rename « Mayrant&rave links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.22.10 @ 6:09PM
ACORN’s Relentless Push To Deceive Taxpayers Continues | NewsReal Blog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.22.10 @ 7:14PM
Capital Research Center: links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 2.22.10 @ 7:23PM
Exclusive: Statement From Rep. King on ACORN Collapse: Also ACORN changing names « Da links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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