Scott Harshbarger

ACORN Local Chapters Declare Independence; Makeover Appears Cosmetic

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 02/22/2010 - 20:06

ACORN officials It's hard to imagine the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, suddenly developing a case of contrition or modesty. So the raft of reports racing across the blogosphere today that the New Orleans-based nationwide radical nonprofit network is on the brink of dissolving itself should be taken with a degree of skepticism. The move may be little more than savvy public relations. "ACORN has dissolved as a national structure of state organizations," remarked an unnamed senior official close to the organization. "Consistent with what the internal recommendations have been, each of the states are developing plans for reconstitution, independence and self-sufficiency." The source added that the splinter organizations "will be constituted under new banners and new bylaws and new governance.

Citigroup Refuses to Rule Out More ACORN Funding

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Fri, 01/08/2010 - 10:23

Citigroup logo Bailed-out Citigroup is not ruling out continuing its support for ACORN. Citigroup spokeswoman Andrea Hurst told Fred Lucas of CNSNews.com:

Just for the time being, we are still basically continuing to review materials as far as the internal audit or investigation is concerned. I don’t really have any comment beyond that at this stage.

Hurst is referring to the recently concluded “investigation” by ACORN ally Scott Harshbarger, a former Attorney General of Massachusetts. In response to NLPC’s request in September that Citigroup to end its support for ACORN, the bank said that it was “awaiting the results of the independent audit of ACORN activities now underway.”

Harshbarger Whitewashes ACORN Lawbreaking

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 19:20

Bertha Lewis The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, has a justly earned reputation this decade for voter registration fraud, embezzlement and other illegal acts. Yet according to an eagerly-awaited internal assessment released yesterday, the radical nationwide nonprofit network's main, if not sole, problem is inadequate employee training and oversight. The audit, supervised by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, had been prompted by employees of ACORN offices in different cities caught in a video sting this summer giving advice on how to hide assets and falsify loan documents. The New Orleans-based "anti-poverty" organization and its defenders see vindication. Critics see a whitewash, a set of rigged conclusions. The latter view is hard to avoid.

Citigroup’s Eric Eve Resigns From ACORN Advisory Committee

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 10:01

Citi logo Citigroup has advised NLPC that Senior Vice President Eric Eve has resigned for ACORN’s Advisory Committee. In a September 28 letter to Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, I asked that the bank sever its relationship with ACORN, including Eve’s membership on the Committee.

In an October 29 reply, Citigroup also stated that it has “suspended our charitable financial support and program relationship with ACORN, and we are awaiting the results of the independent audit of ACORN activities now underway.”

This is ominous, and certainly leaves open the possibility of continued Citigroup support for ACORN. The “independent audit” is no such thing. It is an investigation of ACORN by itself, under the direction of ACORN ally Scott Harshbarger.

Taxpayer-Owned Citigroup Still Bankrolling ACORN

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Sun, 09/27/2009 - 18:59

Now that taxpayers are Citigroup’s biggest shareholder, owning 36% of common stock, it is time for the company and its foundation to end its relationship with ACORN and its affiliates.

Citigroup has received $45 billion in taxpayer TARP funds. In addition, taxpayers are on the hook for the lion’s share of losses on the company’s $335 billion loan portfolio.

According to the 2008 annual tax return of the Citi Foundation, it provided the ACORN Institute, Inc. with grants of $500,000 for each of the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, for a total of $1.5 million.

IRS Severs Ties to ACORN in Wake of Scandals, Tax Liens

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 15:33

ACORN logo The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, is fast becoming radioactive to any organization contemplating doing business (or further business) with it. Federal agencies are no exception to the growing list of entities that recently have dropped their ties to the New Orleans-based nonprofit network. The Internal Revenue Service announced yesterday that it no longer would include ACORN as a partner in its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

Scott Harshbarger ‘Bad Choice’ to Investigate ACORN

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 16:23

Harshbarger photo ACORN announced today that former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger has agreed to head ACORN’s investigation of itself. Leaving aside the valid question of whether any ACORN-funded probe can actually be “independent,” Harshbarger is a particularly bad choice.

Harshbarger has impressive-sounding credentials, but he is well-known for his political and ideological intensity. A quick Google check of his affiliations shows him sharing the program as a speaker at a Campaign Institute event in 2004 with Dan Cantor who is described as “founding executive director of the Working Families Party (WFP),” an ACORN front. See New York ACORN Front Group Based in New Orleans Gets Taxpayer Money.

New York Boss Missing, Believed Dead

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 11/02/1998 - 01:00

Ralph Coppola, a former United Brotherhood of Carpenters boss in N.Y., pled guilty in Sep. to a $1.2 million fraud and was set to receive a 24 to 30-month sentence in Nov. But, Coppola, an alleged Genovese crime family associate, has been missing for a month and is now believed to have been executed for pocketing money that should have been passed on to his Mafia superiors, according to sources of the Daily News. If true, Coppola would be the first N.Y. boss to be killed since Oct. 1993, when a bloody intrafamily war left 10 dead. Those killings, and dozens more by the Gambinos and Lucheses, led to the Mafia's ruling body to reportedly issue a no-killings directive until things cooled off. Coppola's lawyer said it's unlikely that he ran away because they had delayed his sentencing so he could be present for the birth of his third child, born in Oct. Authorities still question why Coppola's body was not dumped in a visible place as a reminder to others to obey the rules. But an underworld source, told the Daily News the message had been received: "The people they're looking to send a message to is not the entire public.

Coia's Attorneys Meet with DOJ, Discuss Future

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 10/19/1998 - 00:00

Representatives of the Laborers' Int'l Union of North Am. and the Justice Dep't met Oct. 6 to assess the union's future after Jan. 31, 1999 when DOJ's oversight of LIUNA is supposed to end. Michael S. Bearse, LIUNA's general counsel and New England labor lawyer, said this was the first in a series of meetings “to decide what happens next and understand each other.” The next meeting is Oct. 21. Bearse said, the union would like to see “more arm's length supervision” from DOJ. However, others outside LIUNA's inner circle have called for DOJ to take over LIUNA and oust the current leadership before DOJ's authority do due so lapses. Among the many reasons for a government takeover is the fact that Gen. President Arthur A. Coia, who DOJ said in its 1994 draft RICO complaint had “associated with, and been controlled and influenced by, organized crime figures,” is still running the union. [BNA 10/14/98]