Louisiana's ACORN Investigation

The non-profit Pelican Institute for Public Policy is reporting a new state investigation into ACORN. According to Steve Beatty, reporter for the Pelican Institute, La. Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has opened an investigation and is asking for anyone with credible information to phone in.

Beatty reports that "The chief complaints involve a case of a nearly $1 million embezzlement by the brother of the group’s founder which was never reported to authorities; the lack of accountability for the millions of dollars in taxpayer dollars that ACORN and its related groups have received over several years; and the potential for public money to be used by partisan affiliates of ACORN."

Of the embezzlement, Beatty writes:

"Only last year did most of the 51-member governing board of ACORN learn ofnearly $1 million in inappropriate charges to an ACORN credit account byDale Rathke, brother of ACORN founder and then-leader Wade Rathke. Rather than report the incident to authorities, Wade Rathke worked with a small group of ACORN leaders to arrange for a repayment schedule by his brother. After more than $200,000 was repaid, an outside donor stepped in and repaid the balance."

See Beatty's story here for more.

The New York Times reported on the embezzlement in July 2008, pointing out that ACORN chose to treat the matter as an internal "error" and not report it to the board. A whistle-blower forced ACORN to finally report it.

On July 31, 2009, Bill O'Reilly took some credit for forcing AG Caldwell to finally open an investigation, saying that he, along with Glenn Beck, had been pushing for such an investigation by putting pressure on Bobby Jindal.

Nobody is saying much about the investigation at this point as it is ongoing, but it should be interesting to watch.