Money from Justice Dept. funneled to ACORN via a third party

While the Justice Department did not award any direct grants to ACORN between 2002 and 2009, it did fund one group that funneled money to the controversial advocacy group, an inspector general reported Friday in response to a congressional inquiry.

The department also gave one direct grant to an affiliate of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, and three other affiliates received sub-awards from DoJ grantees. All told, the grants and sub-awards to groups in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Phoenix over the seven-year period were worth approximately $200,000.

Two of the sub-awards, worth $28,539, were not paid in full, thanks to reported mismanagement of funds and disputes over expenses and record-keeping, the inspector general reported. Another sub-award for $20,000 was found to have inadequate record-keeping to determine what it was used for.

The largest grant, for $138,130, came as the result of a congressional earmark and went to an ACORN affiliate working with youth in New York.

"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," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), who in September had urged the investigation into possible grants to ACORN.

Smith called on inspectors general from other federal agencies to undertake the same kind of review as the Justice Department.

"The Justice Department IG's report may prove to be just the tip of an iceberg-size fraud," he said.

"The only commentary in the report on the actual work ACORN did found that ACORN and its partners had in fact contributed to making communities safer. This report and Rep. Smith's comments remind us why conservatives are so bent on stopping ACORN: because we are effective at empowering low-income communities and communities of color," said Brian Kettenring, a spokesman for ACORN.