Posts Tagged ‘Beth Butler’

Kevin Kane

Federal Grand Jury Seeks Information from ACORN

by Kevin Kane

Story filed by the Pelican Institute’s Steve Beatty:

Amid the paperwork associated with a search warrant served on ACORN’s New Orleans headquarters Friday is a one-sentence acknowledgement by the embattled activist group’s attorneys that it is has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.

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“Regarding the federal grand jury subpoenas, ACORN does not object to the provision of information and documents to the federal government…” reads a letter from Abbe David Lowell of the Washington law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery. 

The letter was included in court filings from ACORN explaining the legal basis for why they weren’t complying with a subpoena issued by Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, which seeks a wide range of accounting information regarding the group’s many affiliated agencies. 

Lowell disclosed the federal investigation as he was writing to a New Orleans lawyer representing ACORN’s local outside accountants. The accounting firm of Duplantier, Hrapmann, Hogan & Maher was served with a subpoena from Caldwell, and, apparently, at least two from federal officials. In the letter, Lowell said ACORN was asserting accountant-client privilege, which is recognized in Louisiana, but not at the federal level.

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Posted Nov 6th 2009 at 6:23 pm in ACORN, Congress, Justice/Legal, Politics, State Politics | 37 Comments

Kyle Olson

ACORN is About Power; Pittsburgh Trib-Review Nails it

by Kyle Olson

When we read about the firing of Louisiana ACORN head Beth Butler, wife (”longtime companion”?) of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, we knew ACORN was still girding its loins.

It all came about when a local ACORN volunteer, Vanessa Gueringer, remarked to the Times-Picayune that President Obama should spend more time in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans when he was going to visit there last week.  The Lower 9th, of course, was hardest hit during Hurricane Katrina 4 years ago.

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It seemed like a fairly harmless request, and one that would certainly expect to read from ACORN in a newspaper.

Well, it appears Bertha Lewis and ACORN national still are a bit touchy (and powerhungry?).  Lewis was supposedly coincidentally flying down to New Orleans the very next day.

Lo and behold, Lewis cited “a lack of accountability to process” in figuratively lopping off Butler’s head, who apparently failed in her duty to keep her minions quiet.  From the Times-Picayune:

On Sunday,  ACORN Chief Executive Bertha Lewis said the remarks,  which were not uttered by Butler,  were “without authority and do not reflect the position of the national leadership.” Lewis said she would “be personally going to New Orleans to deal with the individual involved.”

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Posted Oct 20th 2009 at 8:00 am in ACORN, News, Obama, Politics | 45 Comments

Chris Berg

Wade Rathke’s a ‘Dangerous Fellow’

by Chris Berg

“I’m Recognized to be a Fairly Dangerous Fellow Out There in the Community” – Wade Rathke

Let’s be honest, if Wade Rathke saw me walk into his book signing last Tuesday, he wouldn’t have been at his most candid.  I wanted insight into the man who created this racket that is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or is it the American Institute for Social Justice, or Citizens Consulting Inc?  I’m still not too sure.  I know it operates under 361 different affiliates in at least 43 states and the District of Columbia.

In his newly released book Citizen Wealth, he paints himself as a modern day Robin Hood, stealing from the evil faceless corporations to give to the poor.  But as he recounts these campaigns it becomes clear the corporations have faces, their CEOs, who he doesn’t hesitate to harass at home to demand financial concessions.  Wade’s stilted story almost makes him sound noble as he provides innocuous reasons why he would like to collect and store copies of people’s personal financial records and birth certificates or as he tries to rationalize why people would be well served by becoming dues paying ACORN members.

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These past few months I believed Wade’s the blissfully ignorant captain whose been stripped of his command but still seems intent to go down with the ship.  He hasn’t “run” the organization since the very public revelation that his brother embezzled close to $1 million from ACORN and Wade went about covering it up.  He was negotiated out of the coveted “chief organizer” role that he had held for decades.  The ACORN Board allowed him to retain control of ACORN International, but when public pressure started building, he even went ahead and changed its name to COI – Community Organizations International.

Even in exile he denies that ACORN is a criminal enterprise and claims that allegations that federal and tax-exempt funds have been used for political purposes are a “complete fabrication.”

I had to hear him speak.  I had to see for myself if he really bought what he was selling.  But let’s be real.  I’m a twenty-eight year old Republican lawyer… and I look like one.  I wear Brooks Brothers suits, bold ties, and nine times out of ten there’s a pair of elephant cufflinks on my wrists.  If he saw me coming I doubted he would be as open in his proselytizing for community organizing.

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Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 2:15 pm in ACORN, Culture | 60 Comments

Matthew Vadum

ACORN’s Lobbying Shenanigans

by Matthew Vadum

Citizens Consulting Inc. (CCI), the shadowy financial nerve center of the embattled radical activist group ACORN, has filed false lobbying disclosure reports with Congress, according to Ron Sykes, a former ACORN employee.

This revelation is important because, as former ACORN national board member Charles Turner said earlier this year on “The Glenn Beck Program,” CCI “is where the shell game begins.”

“ACORN has over 200 different entities that the money gets moved around to – for this purpose to that purpose, this organization to that organization,” said Turner. “We believe the way the money has been moved around, they’ve been laundering money.”

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ACORN founder Wade Rathke (left) and ACORN enabler Drummond Pike (right) of Tides Foundation in an undated photo taken in Peru. On the wall is a large poster of Communist icons Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.

When former ACORN activist Ron Sykes was informed by this reporter that ACORN affiliate CCI registered him as a lobbyist, he was angry. “It’s like identity theft,” said Sykes in an interview. “I have no idea why they registered me. I didn’t register myself and was not aware that they were doing it.”

Whether this reflects ACORN’s institutional carelessness or a calculated effort to deceive, the discovery throws some light on how ACORN treats its employees, moves money around the ACORN network, and deals with the federal government. Federal lawmakers have known for years about ACORN’s unorthodox and possibly illegal practices, including its use of government resources to promote legislation and its extensive commingling of funds within its network of affiliates.

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Posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 1:15 pm in ACORN | 52 Comments