Thread: Ousted HUD Sec. Federally Investigated

Ousted HUD Sec. Federally Investigated
Fri, 04/18/2008 - 14:34 — Judicial Watch Blog


A presidential cabinet member who was recently forced to resign is being federally investigated for enriching himself and his friends by giving them lucrative government contracts during his tenure as secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

President George W. Bush’s HUD secretary, Alphonso Jackson, has long been accused of practicing cronyism at the federal agency that works to give Americans access to affordable housing and increase home ownership. He resigned under fire last month although his biography still appears on the HUD website as its secretary.

Federal investigators say that Jackson awarded numerous lucrative agency contracts, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to a tightnit group of rich friends since being confirmed HUD secretary in 2004. The agency allocates a big chunk of its nearly $40 billion annual budget to contracts with outside companies and Jackson committed crimes if indeed he pressured his subordinates to award contacts to specific firms.

Additionally, Jackson is under investigation for taking kickbacks in exchange for the hefty deals he gave his buddies, a small circle of prominent black businessmen who capitalized on Jackson’s promise to expand opportunities for minority contractors.

Among the friends was an Atlanta developer who got a $127 million contract to rebuild a New Orleans public housing project, another who received at least $610,000 for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction work and the owner of a law firm that was paid at least $1 million by HUD to run the Virgin Islands housing authority.

The probe that ultimately led to Jackson’s resignation last week was first launched by the FBI last year, following the lead of HUD’s Inspector General. It focused on a friend that got a $392,000 no-bid government deal to serve as a construction manager—for a period of a year and a half—in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

HUD has been plagued by scandal before. In 1999 Bill Clinton’s housing secretary, Henry Cisneros, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about payments to his former mistress. An influence-peddling scandal under Ronald Reagan led to the conviction of 16 people, including top aides to then HUD Secretary Samuel Pierce.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/ouste ... vestigated

As HUD Chief Quits, a Look at Close Ties
By RACHEL L. SWARNS

Alphonso R. Jackson will leave his post as federal housing secretary on Friday under a cloud.

HILTON HEAD, S.C. — Most of the time, the prominent men hovered in different orbits and different cities. Yet for years now, their lives have converged here on this resort island of white beaches and rippling sea.

There was William Hairston, a local builder whose wife is active in Republican circles here. There was Michael R. Hollis, an Atlanta lawyer, entrepreneur and presidential history buff who vacations here.

And there was President Bush’s housing secretary, Alphonso R. Jackson, who golfed and socialized here and led the federal agency that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in business to friends and acquaintances, including Mr. Hairston and Mr. Hollis.

One such friend, an Atlanta developer, received a $127 million contract last year as part of a joint venture to rebuild a New Orleans public housing project. That developer’s company has paid Mr. Jackson more than $250,000 in fees since Mr. Jackson joined the Bush administration in 2001, for work done before Mr. Jackson joined government, the developer’s lawyer said.

Mr. Jackson, who announced his resignation in March, leaves office on Friday as federal authorities continue to investigate whether he enriched himself and friends with lucrative contracts. The inquiry has also laid bare the connections between Mr. Jackson, who was determined to expand opportunities for minority contractors, and the ambitious men who benefited from those opportunities.

It is the story of a small circle of black businessmen linked by their financial interests in the revitalization of troubled public housing and, in most cases, a shared affinity for conservative politics, and how those connections may have helped force the housing secretary from public life.

In 2003, the year before Mr. Jackson was named secretary, 14 percent — or $134 million — of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s contracts went to black-owned firms, officials say. By 2007, black-owned businesses were receiving 25 percent of the department’s contracts, or $195.6 million.

Mr. Jackson has proudly promoted such statistics, saying that “a good bottom line with small and minority businesses helps to build a stronger America.â€

Another great choice Bush.