The $5 million ACORN embezzlement figure is not new — and the NYT knows it
Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports tonight that the ACORN/Rathke embezzlement sum was $5 million, not the widely cited $1 million figure admitted publicly to date by the left-wing racketeering group.
But guess what? The figure is not new — and it is not news to the whitewashers at the New York Times. More on that in a moment. First the Times-Picayune story:
Louisiana’s attorney general has broadened the scope of an investigation of ACORN to include a possible embezzlement of $5 million a decade ago within the community organization, five times more than previously reported.
ACORN Chief Executive Officer Bertha Lewis said the new reported amount is “completely false.”
Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has been conducting an investigation of ACORN since June. He issued subpoenas in August seeking documents related to former ACORN International President Wade Rathke and his brother Dale Rathke, who kept the group’s books. Those subpoenas were focused on possible ACORN violations for non-payment of employee withholding taxes, obstructing justice and violating the Employee Retirement Security Act. No charges have been made.
The attorney general had inquired in June into an alleged embezzlement within ACORN that happened 10 years ago. The group last year dealt with an internal dispute and a lawsuit involving accusations that Dale Rathke made nearly $1 million in improper credit card charges in 1999 and 2000. The brother and a donor repaid the money.
Laughably, the New York Times runs its own brief story tonight (without crediting the Times-Picayune) and regurgitates ACORN chief organizer Bertha Lewis’s spin:
Amount Embezzled From Acorn Is Disputed
An internal review at Acorn, the embattled community organizing group, revealed that its founder’s brother had embezzled $5 million from the group, five times more than the amount disclosed, according to a subpoena served Monday by the Louisiana attorney general. But the organization’s chief executive denied that any internal review had revealed that figure.
The subpoena, part of an investigation into accusations of state tax violations and obstruction of justice at Acorn, said the internal review was raised in a board meeting in October 2008 that was attended by Bertha Lewis, the chief executive.
“Current high-ranking members of Acorn have publicly acknowledged that the embezzlement did in fact occur, but the exact amount of the embezzlement was unknown,” the subpoena said. “It is still unclear if some of the monies embezzled are from state, federal or private funds.”
In a phone interview, Ms. Lewis acknowledged that the internal review found that Dale Rathke, brother of Wade Rathke, the founder of Acorn, had embezzled money from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000. But she said that the review had found that the amount embezzled was a little less than $1 million, a figure that has already been publicly disclosed and acknowledged.
She said the $5 million figure came from two former directors who had since been voted off the board.
“Wherever they got that is absolutely false,” Ms. Lewis said.
Now, the rest of the story that the New York Times won’t tell you.
Former ACORN/Project Vote worker Anita MonCrief — the independent whistleblower who worked closely with NYTimes reporter Stephanie Strom on exposing ACORN financial shenanigans last year before Times editors “cut bait” just weeks before Election Day — informed Strom that the true figure was $5 million.
MonCrief also reported the $5 million figure to Warner Todd Huston in April 2009.
Hey, New York Times conservative media monitor: Why don’t you ask Strom about this? Why don’t you ask MonCrief?
Michael McCray of the ACORN 8 had also reported the $5 million figure in an interview with blogger Doug Ross in July 2009:
Q: One of the complaints we’ve heard related to funding among all of the various ACORN-related entities. What were some of the more egregious activities you saw perpetrated by top management?
A: Well the multi-million embezzlement and 8 year cover up has to lead the list of egregious illegal conduct. The embezzlement was publicly reported to be $1 million, however the board was notified that the true number was at least $5 million.
Senior Staff and the Executive Committee knew about the embezzlement and covered it up for eight years.
We believe that any participated in, benefited from or knew about and withheld information about the embezzlement from the board should be terminated and/or removed from any association with ACORN. We demanded a forensic examination and independent financial audit of ACORN and all of its related entities to ferret out the wrongdoers.
Michael Gaynor noted at the time in response to McCray: “Tellingly, Mr. McCray did NOT complain about keeping the information from prosecutors and the public. Perhaps that is because ACORN 8 leaders also kept important information from prosecutors and the public and put off the possibility of legal action to protect then presidential candidate Obama’s election prospects. Incredibly, Mr. McCray essentially claimed that bad leadership is ACORN’s only problem. Mr. McCray admitted that the ACORN 8 are out to replace the current ACORN control group, but the ideological difference is limited…Mr. McCray and the ACORN 8 did not complaint that ACORN has functioned wrongfully as an unofficial arm of the Democrat Party for many years. Instead, Mr. McCray celebrated ACORN’s “effectiveness” and complained only about ACORN leadership corruption.
“ACORN is highly effective; my problem is that its leadership has become corrupt,” McCray told Ross.
“But ACORN’s corruption is NOT new and just replacing ACORN’s leadership will not do,” Gaynor responded.
***
In case you missed the ACORN/Rathke special with FNC’s Megyn Kelly over the weekend, find out more here.
Would that more of our lawmakers in Washington truly understood the nature of the beast.
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Far too many of our lawmakers in Washington, of both parties, are married to, and in love with, the beast.
Well, I’m sure some of the money was recycled to Obama and company…
WTF, steal government money buy politicians get more money. Rinse, repeat…
And bow before the altar of the beast. There is so much corruption in DC that it would be hard to separate the good from the bad.
My guess is that a very, very large percentage, if not all, of the politicians have had some financial gain in their careers from lobbyists and therefore are not in a position to call for investigations.
If every crooked politician was investigated and prosecuted, it would completely clean house. Maybe that’s a good thing but it will never happen.
You know, I have it all wrong! I need to become a organizer… That is where the money is!
The NY Slimes is once again a day late and 4 million dollars short.
In other news, the sun rose in the East…
zyzzyg will be along to accuse you of either reporting old news, lying, or exaggerating in about 5,4,3,2,……
One thing became very clear in that the Megyn Kelly acorn special.
Rathke is a total liar that sees nothing wrong with using any corrupt means to get to the end he desires. Do not be surprised if he flees the country to avoid prosecution.
After watching the Ratke interview with Megyn Kelly, I took a long hot shower.
It seems to me that the Obama campaign contributed $800,000.00 that coincidentally was the amount that ACORN was in arrears on their taxes. But BO did not really know that ACORN got alot of federal money. You know he doesn’t keep up with them and he has other important things to do. You the Olympic failure and other stuff!
As a segue, please watch the various short videos that Breitbart’s Baker and Stephans put together on the Coalition of Community Organizations and Unions.
http://www.breitbart.tv under ‘Stealthy Agenda’: Obama Ally Reveals Mission for Radical Change.
Their leaders are now well-entrenched in our government. While we were distracted with Van Jones, Obama was appointing others with very similar qualifications as the Green Czar. They have brought/hired their staff, therefore they are entrenched at least three deep. They are creating the policies for this administration. Remember, civil service employees stay forever.
Take note of their use of the same terms, the same language, and the reference to their Stealth Agenda. No wonder Deepak Bhargava congratulated Barak Obama for having done so much after only four months in office. He had their Stealthy Agenda in place as early as May.
Remember who denounced Obama’s “Stealth Agenda”? Sarah Palin. Where are the other Republicans in Washington? Seems she was the only one who kept her eyes on the ball. She, an outsider and all!
We should all keep our eyes on the donut, not the hole! All the smoke should not distract us. Both Emanuel and Bhargava spoke of using crises. I believe they are creating them, not putting them out.
When you’re getting ready for state sponsorship, you’ve got to please the “leadership”. The NYT is already a failed business.
By the way, has anyone else noticed that whenever conservative values gain traction, there’s always some GOP “moderate” that jumps in to look for compromise (which usually turns into eating 3/4 of the crap sandwich instead of a full helping). Like how Lyndsey ‘he’s mah commandah’ Graham-nesty dEcided to go after Glenn Beck last week?
Even though others like Michelle were way ahead on ACORN, Breitbart took the Hannah & James videos to Beck because he had a bigger bullhorn. Then not three weeks later, Sen Graham-nesty attacks.
Why doesn’t Glenn Beck have Anita MonCrief on his show?
So are felony charges pending for the rest of the embezzlement?
Buy Danish…email Glenn and ask him…
me@glennbeck.com
Another day, another ACORN story. Perhaps if we all start calling ACORN a “greedy corporation” instead of a commuity organizing group the MSM might start paying attention.
mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm
ACORN’s corruption
is not new
Replacing ACORN’s leadership
will not do.
mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm
mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm
Take the billions Congress
stole for them.
Give them to our troops
in Afghanistan.
mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm
State attorneys general need a nationwide coordinated and concerted effort to root out all partisan quasi-governmental rackets like ACORN. Marxist doctrine relys heavily on the discruptive influence of the rackets and other “progressive” special interests to aid the breakdown of the nation’s social and economic networks. Death by a thousand cuts leading to statist takeover of the constitutional republic known as America.
We can overcome but we must reestablish a free and independent news media, public schools, and reduce the power of the federal government which is the seat of marxist power. Hamstring the government and you greatly limit their power and ability to cause social and economic damage for their own benefit.
Hey Corkie! How’s that headline? Anything need fixing?
There are some very ignorant people at the NYT, unaware of what history has proven time and time again. When a corrupt power seeks total control, one of the first things lost is “freedom of the press”, right after the government takes weapons away from its citizens (to protect itself). Apparently, they believe if they “toe the line” they will be exempted. It won’t happen. Someday, if things aren’t corrected, all news articles must pass approval through the new “press czar’s” office. Watch the moaning and gnashing of teeth. Either way, NYT is on a losing path. They will either go under because of contempt of the public, or be controlled by some czar. Even if I was a loyal liberal, I would be very wary of the new government in D.C., as the CEO. Supporting the government may delay control, but it will come. I would be out, and some government “elite” in.
ACORN is a criminal insurgency. Look at how it is organized.
I think that the corruption and waste in our government is largely responsible for the economic dilema facing us today. It is our of control and congress, over the years, has carefully refined the legislative process to isolate and protect themselves from scrutiny while they bend and twist the laws beyond recognition to suit themselves. A major house-cleaning is in order here. The system needs to be gutted, steam-cleaned and modified with safeguards. Our government needs to be held accountable too. Justice needs to be done.
A major mistake that the liberals insist on making, is alienating the military. A corrupt, totalitarian government needs the “friendship” of the military to enforce its rule. When citizens finally say, “enough”, with the military on their side, the government will never last. As long as Obama and the radicals in D.C., continue to “loath the military”, they will never have the total power they seek.
can any of you really see holder prosecuting these thugs? or obama not giving them rehabilitation money once they give the top management some golden parachutes? corruption in gubmint? say it ain’t so! when i’m spending your money, my posse will be well taken care of. that’s true for chavez, kim, bush or obama.
I think the term housecleaning is far to sanitized. I think it’s more appropriate to think of needing a high colonic or in lay terms, an enema. DC is constipated with crooks and cronies.
Back in the good ol’ days of nursing we called it a 3H enema–high, hot and hell of a lot. And it worked.
Internal review?
Interesting. Non-criminal enterprises actually welcome auditing/reviewing by outside entities because it shows they’re transparent. They want to show their customers they are truthful. Companies like Enron and WorldCom (the exceptions) tried to buy off the auditors but that backfired and they got caught.
But ACORN does an internal review and we’re supposed to believe that?
The FBI today said the Mafia has failed to pay $5 million in back taxes. But the Mafia’s chief executive denied that any internal review had revealed that figure.
Anyone can play the game of semantics.
Today, I found that 10mls of Lactulose, q1h, for 3-4 hours, is quite effective in cleaning out the whole system…in this case, WH, Congress and all the offices connected.
It may cause some temporary abd discomfort, but, there will be always a little discomfort (temporarily) when replacing a corrupt government with an honest one.
Remember Bill Clinton’s AG, Janet Reno? The only reason she was AG was to play CYA for the Clintons.
This is just more of the same. Democrats know they’re going to be breaking all kinds of federal laws so they choose an AG that will give them cover.
Typical. Liberal. Scum.
I can’t even imagine what this country will look like in 2012. These people have been busy little bees since the 1960′s. Hell, I was a kid in the 60′s and I know my parents never thought this could happen to our country and now I am more afraid than ever before.
People make fun of Beck for crying, well I’m crying too.
I see Bertha Lewis is speaking at the Press Club. I’m not going to bother watching it: I’d like to keep my breakfast down.
Michelle, you are totally pathetic. ACORN 8 has been having a rivalry with your savior, Anit Moncrief, so you use their pages to smear them. How pathetic are you? ACORN 8 was trying to root out corruption long before Moncrief had any thoughts about it. They see her as an opportunist and she just can’t stand it, and so she’s been taking pot shots at them. Did you talk to McCray before smearing him? Why are you so adamant at smearing ACORN 8. Yes, they think that the original mission of ACORN is good. They believe that groups can be created that represent the poor. McCray grew up in a very poor community in Arkansas and he thinks that poor folks need a group like ACORN to represent them. Now, you think that’s a sign that he’s in bed with them. He was kicked out of acorn for supporting the rest of ACORN 8. Ms. Malkin, you’re unquestioning support of Anita Moncrief will have consequences soon enough.
I’m just curious why in all the times you mention Ms. Moncrief you never mention that she admitted to using an ACORN credit card for more than a thousand dollars of personal expenses. Isn’t that important?
Michell, I just got off the phone with Mike McCRay. Surprise, suprise, he’s never talked to you. How exactly do you level charges at someone without even attempting to talk to them first? What sort of journalism are you engaged in here? How do you know what ACORN 8 has and has not given to prosecutors? Have you spoken to someone at ACORN 8 or is that an accusation someone, say Anita herself, has leveled and you took it as fact.
Me too! He is so slimy, and watching him look Megyn Kelly in the eye and spew his lies, I expected a snake tongue to start darting out of his mouth. Gross! Ugly inside and out.
Who the he11 are you, and where did you come from? Do you work for ACORN, by any chance? If so, prepare to go down, because your organization is unraveling as we speak.
I work for myself. ACORN 8 is trying to reform ACORN. Do you think it’s right to accuse Mike McCray of misdeeds without talking to him. Aren’t you supposed to get both sides of the story. Just so everyone knows, twelve years ago, Michael McCray exposed a $40 million scam in Bill Clinton’s U.S. Department of Agriculture and for that he was targeted, threatened and eventually fired. Malkin has decided to hitch her wagon to Moncrief and that has consequences. Malking is about to face those. Malkin is upset because ACORN 8 only wants to reform ACORN. They don’t also want to take down Obama. That’s why Malkin won’t talk to anyone at ACORN 8. The reason that Malkin loves Moncrief is because Moncrief hates Obama as much as ACORN. ACORN 8 doesn’t make it about Obama and so Malkin has no use for them. Never mind that they are all whistleblowers who blew the whistle on ACORN while still being a part of ACORN. Moncrief, on the other hand, waited until she was fired, with cause, from Project VOTE to blow the whistle. That’s a huge difference, but yet it’s Moncrief that Malkin has hitched her wagon to.
The only way to get rid of all the rats at ACORN is to fumigate.
Michelle, let me quote from A Few Good Men,
“who the f$%k is PFC Michael Gaynor?” Why are you attributing a quote to him? Why should the reader believe that he has any credibility? He isn’t identified. Is he with some organization? Why does his opinion matter? What if he has an axe to grind? What if I told you that Michael Gaynor has been using his little read website to take pot shots at Michael McCray for months, you probably already knew that, but somehow that slipped your mind in writing the story.
This is what you call journalism. You can’t accuse McCray of anything yourself so you attribute a quote from someone no one has heard of and let them smear McCray. That’s how you operate.
Basic journalism says that when you quote someone you say who they are. So, tell everyone who is Michael Gaynor and why should anyone care what he has to say about ACORN or ACORN 8? Why should his opinion be viewed as important?
The bottom line is that ACORN is a criminal enterprise, run by corrupt people. Voter registration fraud, probable voter fraud, imbezzlement, advising a pimp and prostitute how to avoid taxes, set up house of prostitution and, by the way, bring in underage illegal prostitutes and claim them as “dependants”. What have I left out? Spit.
By the way, who do you think you are, talking about good journalism? I have a feeling you support the fringe media, NYT, etc. who are such great journalists, right? You aren’t fit to criticize Michelle Malkin or any other Patriot who is spending her life, and risking her life to try and keep our country from marxist takeover. Many of the liberals in the WH right now are evil. Rangel, Dodd, Schumer, Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Obama, Biden, all the President’s Czars, Valerie Jarrett, Dead fish Emanuel, Axelrod…to name just a few. They must be taken down, and MM is one of many who are working to do that. But then, you woudn’t know about true Patriotism, would you? Go back and read a few history books, not the ones that have been tainted by liberal political correctness, but the REAL history of this great country. Then come back and talk to us.
That was truly a unique experience; unabated, irrational shrieking conveyed by the written word.
Buried in that garbage is what seems to be veiled threats:
That is really bad form little man!
And, bad spelling! YOUR, not YOU’RE.
really, I notice none of you address what I said. Do you think it’s appropriate to quote Anita Moncrief over and over and never once say that she admitted to embezzlement herself? She did. She falsely applied for a credit card and spent over a thousand dollars on a company credit card for personal expenses. That’s the facts.
You can go into whatever diatrobe that you want but nearly every single Malkin article has a reference to Moncrief and if Malkin has ever said this, I don’t remember it.
Shotty journalism is shotty journalism. Period. Misrepresenting facts is wrong. Period. You don’t quote someone without identifying them. Michael Gaynor also writes about ACORN a lot and surprise, surprise, he also almost always references Anita Moncrief. Hmm. Don’t you think there’s a corrupt conflict of interest there? The same sort of corrupt conflict of interest that Ms. Malkin has righteous indignation against in her book. Don’t you think it’s totally hypocritical to engage in the sort of corrupt conflicts of interest yourself and then write about how they are bad. That’s what Malkin is doing by quoting Gaynor and not telling the audience that she and Gaynor both often speak to Moncrief and that’s about it as far as ACORN is concerned.
No need to, you haven’t actually said anything worth responding to moron.
Really, you all are responding just not to the facts I stipulate. Weak personal attacks are the first sign of a losing argument. Tell me, did you know before I said it that Moncrief admitted to falsely using a Project VOTE credit card and was fired for doing so. Is that not important? If you didn’t know it, why not? This isn’t the first time that Malkin has referenced Moncrief. Who is Michael Gaynor? Why is she quoting him? Don’t you normally identify a person when quoting them? Isn’t it important to know who the person being quoted is? Or do you not care, like say for instance, when the New York Times quotes an uber liberal and doesn’t identify them as an uber liberal? I’m sure that doesn’t bother you either. If you care when the NY Times does it, you should care when Michelle Malkin does it.
yes I knew that Moncreif was fired for credit card fraud and theft, and MICHELLE REPORTED THAT FACT. This is nothing new here.
Valeri Jarrett of Chicago: Five million? What a piker.
Why is it a surprise that the NY Times is spinning for the Obamas? That is like saying that the night follows the day. The NY Times is far too busy promoting Richard Goldstone’s antiIsrael to worry about things like Acorn corruption. Only day after the left wing Goldstone report came out, the NY Times already had a huge Goldstone oped in the prime space in the NY Times editorial page. The Times had an article about Goldstone from proSyrian reporter Neil Macfarquhar that referred to Goldstone as “an internationally respected jurist” and Macfarquhar castigated Israel. Then Macfarquhar wrote an article sugarcoating Ahmedinejad’s speech at the UN.
And MikeV make sure to include Hannible Crossed the Alps just in case Michelle Malkin missed it.
mmm mmm mmm
Malkin did, I must have missed it. You can dig through her stories and link to it. I will be waiting. All I want from Malkin is three things.
1)if you identify someone as a whistle blower, a very positive adjective, you must also report on negative behavior if there is some. In the case of Moncrief, there is and it needs to be reported as well. Malkin can’t constantly refer to Moncrief as a whistle blower without also saying that she used a company credit card for personal business. That’s not right.
2)If you quote someone, they must be identified. Malkin still hasn’t identified who Michael Gaynor is. His quote is used to smear Michael McCray. Doesn’t the audience have a right to know who Gaynor is?
3)If you attack someone, they must be given an opportunity to respond? Malkin attacked McCray. It’s only right that she ask him to respond. She didn’t.
Those are the only problems I have and if anyone disagrees with those three, then you can let me know.
If you knew about the theft, why aren’t you telling Michelle that the New York Times couldn’t have reported on the embezzlement since journalistic standards would dictate that if it was only Anita Moncrief reporting the number, that wouldn’t be enough. The Times can’t possibly quote Moncrief knowing what they knew about her. If Malkin knows all about the theft, why is she still hounding the times for not quoting Moncrief about the embezzlement figure? They couldn’t have gone with the word of someone that had stolen money. They just oculdn’t. Besides that Moncrief couldn’t have known anything first hand. This was all said at a board meeting and she was never on the board. So,frankly, the times had no choice but to not run the story.
So, why aren’t you also criticizing Michelle just a little along with the insults to me.
Goo Goo Ba Jube
I got no dog in this fight, mike volpe, but MM’s first mention of Moncrief cites the reason for her firing.
How can anyone defend Acorn or anyone even associated with them. They are a totally corrupt organization with Obama as one of their principal supporters.
You really are taking up way too much space and time on this thread. You are here at the generosity of our hostess. So insulting her is not wise. By the way, it is shoddy, not shotty. Geez.
I suspect that anyone defending Acorn at this stage is either themselves corrupt, or at least are missing parts of their moral compass.
And now they are $1 million richer thanks to FEMA.